My thumb sweeps over him again. “You want this, Hayes?”
His lips part, but no sound comes out. He just watches me, his cheeks slightly flushed, and his pulse racing hard enough that I can feel it under my fingertips.
I lean in the last fraction, let my chest brush his. Heat rolls off him and straight into me, every shaky breath he takes rattling through both of us.
“Logan, I…” He exhales on a rough whisper. “I don’t think I’m ready.”
All I want is to close the last inch, get my hand under his jaw, and find out how he tastes when he says my name like that. But he isn’t ready and there’s no way in hell I’m going to pressure him into this.
I drag in a breath that does exactly nothing to calm me, not with him standing there with a lean line of muscle vanishing beneath those sweats. Unreal.
My hand slips off his hip and I let it fall.
“You don’t have to figure it out tonight,” I tell him, looking into his brown eyes. “You wanna mess around? Cool. You wanna wait? Also cool. I’m not gonna push you.”
His shoulders ease a little. “Really?”
I arch a brow. “Give me a little credit, Hayes. I’m a little more patient than that.”
The corner of his mouth twitches like he’s trying not to smile.
“I mean it, though,” I say. “I’ll wait until you’re ready.” I take a breath, running a hand through my hair. “I mean, don’t get me wrong—waiting is gonna suck. I’ve got a pretty low tolerance for delayed gratification. You’ve seen me with microwave popcorn.”
That pulls an actual huff of amusement from him, and my chest loosens a little.
“But…” I shrug. “You’re worth it.”
His eyes flick down to my mouth, then back to my eyes.
“But just so you know…” I lean in, a smirk curling onto my lips. My eyes flick down to his mouth—those stupidly pretty lips—then back up. “I’m gonna make it really fucking hard.”
He huffs out a laugh, dragging a hand through his hair. “You’re so fucking annoying.”
I hum, tilting my head slightly. “That’s funny. ‘Cause I could’ve sworn you just told me you wanted me. Andonlyme.”
His eyes flick up to mine, a glare in them. “I said no such thing.”
I grin, loving the flush coating his skin. “Sure, Hayes.”
I take a step back. “Night,” I say as I grab the cold lasagna and a fork and head for the door. I pause in the doorway, glancing back at him over my shoulder with a grin. “Try not to dream about me.”
He rolls his eyes, but I catch the flicker of a smile before he turns away.
I take that win and head for the door, biting back my own grin.
This night ended up being a hell of a lot better than I thought it would be.
16
NATHAN
Half the class looks like they’d rather be anywhere else.
Can’t really blame them.
I’m not doing much better. My notebook’s only half full of real notes, the rest is taken over by rough sketches for the next panel of my comic. Nothing good yet. Just a few loose ideas and one character I keep redrawing because I can’t get his expression right.
I tap the end of my pen against the desk as I try to figure out where to take the story next.