Fuck. Savannah smells so good. I quietly inhale her intoxicating scent as I lean to kiss her cheek. Her breath catches when my lips make contact with her cheek. I know she feels the chemistry.

Her voice is breathy when she whispers, “Hey, Liam.” I harden behind the zipper of my jeans, my name coming out of her mouth in that breathy way makes me picture her under me, over me, in front of me. I step back from her personal space, even though I want to stay. I want to invade every one of her senses, where nothing else exists, except the two of us.

I look around the gym. There are four large, wooden tables with place settings at each spot. James is unfolding smaller tables in the area where weights are usually set up. A few more people mill around doing various tasks.

Hudson asked me to show up early and help with set up. I told him I would. I want to help out. I have a lot of respect for James for helping out families in this area of Austin. But I also showed up early because I had a feeling Savannah would be here, too. I’m happy to see I was right.

“What can I help with?”

“You don’t need to help.” She waves her hand as if shoving the idea away.

James walks by at that moment. “Put his ass to work, Sav.”

Savannah rolls her eyes and mutters something I can’t catch. “Okay, well, I still need to set up a drink station. James just set up tables for different games. We have boardgames and card sets that we leave on each one. You could...” She trails off as James comes walking out from the back carrying a huge stack of boardgames.

“I guess you’re helping me with the drink station.” She turns and walks toward the back office area. There are multiple coolers and two-liter bottles all around the small office space.

“We need to set up these tables by each of the dinner tables out there.” She points to the folding tables. There are small handles on the top. I pick up four in each hand and start to walk out of the room when I hear her say, “Showoff.”

I turn back to her. Her eyes widen in surprise that I heard her. “Baby, I could show off to you in many ways, but this…” I lift the tables slightly higher. “Wouldn’t be one of them.” A pretty pink blush spreads over her cheeks. She turns her back to me and shivers. I smile, hoping she’s interested.

When I walk back into the room, she’s pouring ice into coolers. I watch her for a moment as she bends over, suppressing a groan at the show. Her dress is just long enough to keep her completely covered. I look away, not wanting to freak her out if she catches me staring. I look back in her direction when I hear the lids close. She takes a step back and slips on water. I rush forward just in time for her to land on my chest, and my arms wrap around her waist. I gently lift her back to her feet and turn her around. Still in my arms, she puts her hands on my chest and leans back, looking directly into my eyes.

If I move even a touch closer, our bodies will meld. Her breathing is accelerated, lips parted. I gaze down and notice her nipples are hardened beneath the fabric of her dress. I ache to press my body up against her heat.

“James said I should give you a chance.”

I rear my head back, completely surprised. He threatened murder the other night, I didn’t think he would be telling her to give me a shot. “Well, that confirms what I thought about him.”

“What’d you think about him?”

“That he’s a smart man.” She stares at me, then bursts into her signature cackle. I know everyone in the gym hears her laughing. My chest fills with pride—I made her laugh. Each time I’m near Savannah, I have this drive to make her smile and laugh, to be the one that makes her happy. I crave her. I crave everything about Savannah. I want every one of her thoughts, desires, and fantasies. I want to know what makes her tick, what makes her smile, what makes her explode with anger, what makes her fall apart under my touch. Making her laugh is just the first step to claiming every foreign want this girl is eliciting in me.

She pushes away from my chest and out of my embrace. “I thought he was smart, too, then he told me to go out with you. Guess I was wrong.” She laughs to herself as she walks past me and out of the office. She calls over her shoulder, “Bring out those coolers, would you?”

I chuckle. Sassy little thing.

Families start pouring in shortly after everything is set up. I’ve been helping Hudson and James throughout the night playing games with the kids, teaching them to spar, and making sure they’ve had enough food. The kids are wonderful and funny. The only place I won’t go is the table set up with cards. I don’t care if the game is goldfish, I’m not going near a deck of cards again. I’ve been watching Savannah all night. The little girls flock to her and follow her around. She’s taken time with each of them. I watched her teach some moms how to defend themselves if there’s an attacker. She is on fire tonight. Her smile is the brightest I’ve seen, I want to make her smile like this all the time. And selfishly, I want her smile to be directed at me.

Savannah is now sitting at a table with a young boy who looks to be around ten years old. He’s scrawny, has glasses, and clothes that don’t fit him properly. I walk over to see what they’re doing. She looks up at me as I approach their table and gives me a sweet little grin, her cheeks turning slightly pink. “Hey.”

“Hey. Who’s your friend?” I ask, pointing to the young boy. He wasn’t with the group of boys who wanted to spar earlier. When I look at him, I’m surprised to find him glaring at me.

“What’s it to you?” he asks me with as much attitude as he can muster. He’s looking back and forth between Savannah and me with a scowl on his young face. He pushes his glasses up his nose, still glaring at me.

“Parker! That’s not very nice. This is my friend, Liam. Liam, this is my friend, Parker.”

I hold out my hand to him for him to shake. “Nice to meet you, Parker.” He ignores my hand and turns back to Savannah. He slides an inch closer to her and shoots me a smug smile.

Savannah is trying to hold in her laugh at his obvious diss of me. I sit on the other side of Savannah, and Parker’s smug smile slides off his face. He’s smitten with her. I understand. She’s got me tied up in knots, too, kid. I make sure to keep enough space between Savannah and me in front of the kid.

Savannah clears her throat, still choking back her laughter. “Parker was just telling me about a cool video game his older brother gave to him.”

“Which game?” I ask Parker.

“You ain’t ever heard of it, geezer.”

Savannah throws her head back, her whole body shaking with laughter. Parker looks at her with wide eyes. I swear I see hearts in his little eyes. Again—me, too, kid. Me, too.

“Sav,” James calls from across the room.

“I’ll be right back, gentlemen.” She rushes over to James. I watch as he tells her something, nodding over to a group of women. Savannah nods.

“She’s mine.”

I look at Parker, trying to conceal my grin. He’s giving me the stink eye again. “She’s going to be my girlfriend one day. When I’m old enough. I’ll take down anyone who tries to get in my way.” He smashes his fist into his other hand. Even with the kid glaring at me, I can’t help but like his style.

“Well, I got to be honest with you, Parker. I like her, and I want her to go out with me.”

He looks me up and down, but doesn’t say anything.

I ask him, “What about a girl your age?”

“Ms. Savannah is the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.”

“She’s the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, too.”

Parker sizes me up again and pushes his glasses up his nose. He lets out a tiny scoff before his eyes leave me and land on Savannah. “We’ll see which man comes out on top.” He gets up and walks away.

A woman comes up to him, I’m assuming it’s his mother. He nods and runs off toward Savannah. He hugs her around the waist, his head lying on her stomach. He looks over at me with a huge grin on his face. I can’t fault him for his tenacity.

After Parker leaves, Savannah makes her way over to me and sits. “Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah,” I tell her. “The kids are great. It’s a cool thing James is doing.”

“It is. I’ve been helping him since the beginning. It’s come a long way, and he’s helped so many people.”

“I’m hoping he’s helped me, too.” Bumping my shoulder lightly into hers, I try to get her to look at me.

“What do you mean?” Her face is scrunched up in confusion. She looks damn cute with her nose scrunched up.

“He told you to give me a chance. I’m hoping you listen to him, which would help me out.”

She smiles. “He did tell me that.”

James takes that moment to walk up. “I’m going to be closing up soon. You good?”

Savannah stands, giving him a hug and a peck on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Later, Liam,” James says before he walks away.

“I’ll walk out with you.” I stand to walk with Savannah and place my hand on the small of her back. Her warmth radiates into my hand. She stiffens a bit but doesn’t usher herself away from me. She stops outside of the building, taking keys out of her purse. She turns to face me, her face a blank mask. She watches me for a moment.

I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. “Go out with me tomorrow night.”

She bites her lip, never taking her eyes off of mine. “Fine.”

I hide my surprise. I didn’t think she would agree. I make a mental note to buy James a bottle of his favorite whiskey.

I cup her cheek. “I promise we’ll have a good time. Let me walk you to your car.”

She tenses, her features molding into a hard expression. “I can walk myself to my car.”

“I know you can, but I’d like to walk you to your car. It means I get another minute with you.” I smile and take a step back, sensing she needs a little bit of space. She may have said yes quickly, but from the tense set of her shoulders and panic filling her eyes, it was anything but an easy decision for her. I want to hug her close to me, but I need her to know I’m a good man who will respect her.

She begins walking toward the right side of the building, and I fall into step beside her. When we reach a small, white SUV, she turns to me and jerks her thumb over her shoulder. “This is me.”

I take my phone out my pocket. “What’s your number?” She rattles off her phone number. I send a quick text, and her phone dings from inside her purse. “That’s me.”

I cup one side of her face and lean in, hovering above her pouty lips. She sucks in a breath. After a beat, she closes her eyes and leans in a little more. A groan erupts from my chest. I want to devour her mouth, explore and taste every part of her. I erase the last bit of distance between us and kiss her cheek, right at the edge of her mouth. A whimper escapes from her.

I whisper, “Tomorrow, Savannah.”