Chapter Twenty-One
“What are you doing here, Carter?”
Elena’s head popped up, her wide eyes meeting Hannah’s at the sound of Matt’s gruff voice coming from the living room. They sat at the kitchen table, open pints of ice cream in front of them as Elena filled Hannah in on her impromptu coffee with Daniel earlier in the day.
“Daniel Carter?” Hannah whispered.
Elena shook her head, listening. She heard a low voice respond to Matt that sounded like Daniel. Then Matt hissed something that sounded like, “Haven’t you done enough?”
At that she was on her feet, Hannah right behind her, heading into the living room. Daniel was here?
Matt stood in the doorway, one arm on the doorframe, blocking Daniel’s way in. “Dude. She’s finally getting back to herself again. You really wanna fuck that all up for her?”
“Let me in, man. I need to talk to her. She’ll want to talk to me. I saw her earlier today.”
Matt let out a menacing growl. “I know. She was in tears when she got home. Again. I’m guessing you’re the reason why.”
“Matt, stop.”
Both guys turned at the sound of Elena’s voice cutting through their argument. She met Matt’s hard blue eyes, letting him see that she was serious. “It’s okay. I’ll talk to him.”
He examined her face a moment longer before letting his arm drop, shaking his head as he stepped out of Daniel’s way. “If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.” Her eyes met Daniel’s. He stepped into the living room and closed the door behind him, his throat working as he swallowed, his eyes never leaving hers.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
Hannah stepped up and slipped her arm through Matt’s, drawing Elena’s attention. “Let’s give them some privacy.”
Matt, still frowning, allowed Hannah to pull him back toward the kitchen. He stopped before leaving the room, focusing on Elena. “Let me know if you want me to throw him out. I don’t mind at all.”
With a small smile, Elena nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
He gave Daniel one more glare before letting Hannah tug him the rest of the way out of the room. Hannah cast one last glance at Elena, rolling her eyes and giving a little shrug as though to say, What can you do? Even though Matt was being a little over the top and she didn’t need it, she appreciated his protectiveness.
Once they were out of the room, she let her full attention return to Daniel, taking him in. He looked … tired. Worn out in a way he hadn’t been earlier this afternoon. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Stepping around to the couch, she gestured for him to sit too. And she waited. He took off his jacket, scrunching the fabric in his hands, his veins standing out in relief against his skin. He didn’t look at her, his gaze focused on his hands gripping his jacket, his posture rigid as he sat with his elbows propped on his knees.
Finally, unable to bear the strained silence any longer, Elena spoke. “Daniel? Why did you come?”
His head whipped around, his eyes boring into hers. He pressed his lips together. “Should I not have come?”
“That’s not what I said.” She took a deep breath. “I’m just wondering. Because you seemed adamant that you see me. And now,” she lifted a hand toward him, indicating his stiff silence. “Now, you won’t speak or look at me.”
He blew out a long breath, like a balloon deflating, his posture relaxing as he did so. He ran a hand over the scruff on his jaw. “I don’t really know how to start.” He looked away before meeting her eyes again. “I usually like to plan in advance. I like things to be laid out, predictable. Logical. Either true or false. In math, there are right answers or wrong answers, and it’s not up for debate. Here? This? I don’t know what’s going to happen, and I don’t know what the right answer is.”
Scooting forward a little, Elena’s breath quickened at what she thought he was implying. “And what’s the question?”
He stopped glancing around and focused on her. “Should we try again?”
Her heart thumped in her chest, and she forced herself to breathe. “And what do you want the answer to be?”
His eyes held hers, and he didn’t answer right away. She might die from lack of oxygen if he didn’t answer soon. When his mouth opened, his voice came out as a hoarse whisper. “Yes.”
“Yes?” Her chest heaved as she tried to breathe again. “Really?”
“Really.” One corner of his mouth turned up in a sexy half smile. She’d missed that half smile. And his full smile, too. It had been too long since she’d seen either one.
He reached for her, pulling her in and brushing a kiss over her lips. “I’ve missed you so fucking much.”
“I’ve missed you too.” She cupped his face in her hands, bringing his mouth to hers once more.
He kissed her, but not for as long as she wanted before he pulled away. “Wait. I need—“ He closed his eyes, his jaw flexing. When he opened his eyes again, he rested his forehead against hers. “If we’re going to do this again, we need to do it right. That means dating first, learning how to be in a relationship together before we take the next step.”
She pulled back, her eyes going back and forth between his. He looked so sincere and tortured, and she could see this was important to him. “Okay. We’ll date. And I’ll wait for you to decide when you want to go further.”
He groaned, kissing her again, this time more than the chaste brush of his lips against hers. His tongue licked at her lips, and she opened for him, sliding her tongue against his. His arms locked around her, one hand holding her head in place, the way she loved him to do.
When he broke away, they were both breathless, and she was straddling him, his cock hard between her thighs. He let out another groan, his head falling back on the couch, peeking at her out of one half-closed eye. “You’re going to make it really hard for me to stick to that plan, aren’t you?”
She snort-laughed. “You said hard.”
He let out a groan again, this time in dismay at her juvenile joke, but it broke the mood, which was what she’d been going for. She climbed off his lap, standing in front of him. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist. But yeah, I don’t think this’ll be easy. Maybe we should plan on only being together in public for a while.”
The wide smile that took over his face, his teeth standing out in contrast with his gorgeous, dark brown skin, eased some of her own frustration. “I’m going to enjoy taking you out. Especially since you never let me do that before.”
Her answering smile turned sad at his words. “I’m really sorry about that. I—“
He stood, his hands going to her face, forcing her eyes to meet his. “Hey. No. Enough apologies. I forgive you. You need to forgive yourself. We’re going to do this right this time.”
She nodded as much as she could with his hands cupping her cheeks. “Okay,” she whispered.
A wicked smile came over his face, his voice dropping lower. “And just think, after all the foreplay we’ll be doing, it’ll be explosive when I’m finally inside you again.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “If you want that to be at some point in the future, we really need to stop talking about this and either invite Hannah and Matt back in here—who, by the way, have been listening in on all of this from the kitchen—or go out to eat. Something. But you can’t keep saying things like that and looking at me like that if you don’t want me to stick my hand down your pants.”
His eyes closed as he made a sound in his throat that was half sexy growl, half groan of anticipation. He kissed her hard and fast, then took three big steps back, running his hands over his face. “Fine. Would you rather hang here with your roommates or go out?”
Grinning, she thought for a second. “Let’s go out. I’ve missed you too much. I just want to spend time with you.”
He rewarded her with another big smile. “Sounds good.”