Jensen

I woke the following morning with the plan to beat all plans. One of the guys had told me about a gift he’d given his fiancée for their anniversary, and because I was enjoying keeping Bethany on her toes, I thought it was the perfect idea.

I walked to her house after my work out later the following afternoon, gift in hand, more determined than ever to get the girl to share a meal with me. Just a few hours of her time was all I was asking. Just enough to see if this thing between us was as real and true as I had a feeling it was. I’d never been much for dating, too focused on my career and the sport to take time out for a relationship, until I’d wrapped Bethany in my arms on that dance floor. Not only did her laugh send anxious butterflies battering around my stomach, but she was sensual, funny, sexy, and smart. I couldn’t get enough of her.

I knocked twice on the door, waiting on the top step.

“Jenson,” she half groaned when she greeted me.

I smiled brightly, unwilling to be outdone, and thrust the bouquet at her. “Up for dinner?”

“It’s going to look like a funeral parlor in here!” she giggled.

“One helluva funeral parlor then.” I winked at her mischievously when she took the bouquet, now close enough to see the detail.

“Jenson!” she squeaked, her cheeks flaming red. “Are these panties?”

I laughed at her coy embarrassment before taking another step closer to her. “One dozen of them. I only hope I’m the one who gets to see you model them,” I whispered in her ear. A shiver ran through her body as her breathing hitched a moment. She was affected, I could see the physical reactions all over her body.

“I can’t believe you did this.” She fingered the delicate laced edge of one pair of dark red panties, twisted up in a thousand folds to look like a rose.

“Share a dinner with me?”

“You are persistent, aren’t you?” She grinned, then stepped aside. “Come in.”

“Finally, entering the sacred lair.” I stopped as I passed her. “I’ve missed you.”

The kiss I placed on her forehead surprised her, ocean-blue eyes widening in shock.

“Don’t get your hopes up. I don’t have time for dinner, but I’ll get changed and we can run out to a deli. Or takeout maybe.”

“I’ll take it.” I grinned and winked as I stepped into her apartment.

“Just give me a minute to change. I’ll be right down and we can leave.” She smiled sweetly, eyes glancing from me, back to the bouquet of panties, then back to me.

“Love seeing that smile.” I traced the elegant curve of her lips with my thumb. Her pupils dilated, and her thighs shifted. She cleared her throat and pulled away.

“I’ll be right back.”

She ran up the stairs, her leggings hugging her sweet little ass as she went. I hoped at some point I’d get it in my hands again, get her under my body to kiss and claim and take care of, but she needed time, and that I would give her. I understood a woman with drive and motivation. I’d been raised with a working mother myself. I loved strong, independent woman who knew what they wanted, and maybe gave me a bit of a hard time while they were doing it. Challenges excited me. I was a competitive man.

Bethany sped back down the stairs minutes later, panty bouquet decidedly absent from her hands.

“You look beautiful,” I said when she reached me, a light floral dress swishing around her creamy thighs.

“Thank you,” she replied, a little shy in accepting my compliment.

“What are you in the mood for?” I looped her arm with mine when we set off down the sidewalk.

“There’s a hot dog stand around the corner. It’s so good.” Her excitement for the kid’s meal took me by surprise.

“I finally get to take you out to eat, and you want hot dogs?!”

She laughed at me then, her giggle sprouting wings in my heart. “I told you I didn’t have much time. And I promise you, best hot dogs ever.”

“Okay, you win, you win.”

“We can eat them in the park.” She looked up at me, as if in compromise.

“Can we sit? I’d like to actually have a proper meal with you.” Without thinking. I reached for her hand, locking it in mine. She froze for a minute, not responding, her eyes glancing down at our locked hands.

“Jenson.” She pulled her hand from mine. “Why are you doing this? Why are we here? What do you even see in me?” Her questions threw me for a total loop.

“What do you mean, why am I doing this?” I stopped us in our tracks and turned to cup her chin gently. “We’re doing this because I like you, Bethany. Because I’ve already had you in my bed once and I can’t stop thinking about it. Your skin under my hands, my lips across your body, the taste of you, the feel of you…I want more.” My eyes burned into hers, and I hoped she would see I meant it. No lies here. I wasn’t one of those asshole players on the team who banged every groupie in sight. I’d stayed away from that on purpose, realizing that someday, when I did find the right one, I wanted something special still between us.

“Jenson, you’ve either got to be the most romantic man I’ve ever met, or the best liar on the planet.”

“Your words wound me.” I covered my heart teasingly. “Look, I don’t want to push you into anything you’re not ready for, but I’m here waiting. Okay? That’s all you need to know. I’ll be waiting.” I placed a kiss on her lips, knowing I was taking a risk, but I was surprised when she kissed me back, tentatively at first, then pulled away slowly.

“Thank you for saying those things. I really do like you, but if I’m being honest, I don’t think my schedule is going to lighten up anytime soon.” Her eyes burned with emotion, and I sensed she was telling the truth. She did like me, she just really didn’t have the time for anyone else right now.

“Well, the offer still stands. And whenever you’re hungry, I’d love it if you could call me for a meal. We can be friends in the meantime.”

“The meantime?” A smile split her face.

“Until you realize how much you can’t resist me again and attack me like a rabid animal for sex.”

She choked on her laugh, covering her mouth as she giggled.

“That just became my favorite noise,” I laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and placing a kiss on her forehead. “Now let’s eat. You’ve kept me starving waiting on you to share a meal with me.”

We ordered our dogs—mustard only on mine, ketchup only on hers.

“I have a feeling we’re total opposites,” she teased when he’d passed us our dressed hot dogs.

“Well, I happen to believe opposites attract,” I responded, locking her hand in mine again. We turned and headed the few short yards to Central Park. We ate in silence, watching joggers and families with fluffy fancy dogs play as we finished our poor excuse for a dinner.

When she was done eating, Bethany laid back on the picnic table we'd been perched on, her hair splayed around her as she looked up at the sky.

“You're so beautiful.” I danced my fingers down the underside of one arm watching a chill erupt across her skin. “Your skin is like silk under my fingers.”

Without saying anything, her eyes fluttered closed, her thighs shifting as she soaked in my compliments. “I'd take you right here if you'd let me, in front of everyone to see.” I dusted my fingers at her upper thigh, registering her breathing picking up.

“You're dirty, Jenson.” She mused as a smile turned her pretty lips.

“You like it.” I glanced around, thankful we'd chosen a table tucked into a private corner of the park. My fingers inched further up her thigh, landing at the delicate crevice of her leg and her soft, sweet center.

“Mm...” she husked as her hips shifted back and forth.

“Did you miss my fingers on you? In you?” My fingers drifted across the delicate mound of her pussy, only her cotton shorts separating me from the promised land. I twisted and caged her in beneath me under one deft arm, my fingertips never leaving their place, dragging up and down the seam of her shorts. I lifted the hem of her t-shirt and dragged my nose across the flesh at her waistband, my tongue darting out for just a taste. “I can smell how much you want me, Bethany.”

The words had fallen from my tongue without thought, and as if she'd lost herself in a cloud of lust, her hips bucked and brought my fingers to land at the perfect little bud of her clit. “Should I send you home with an orgasm?”

Her eyes darted open, as if she'd suddenly just become aware that there were others around.

“No one's watching, you're safe.” I dragged my teeth down the shell of her ear on that last word. “Show me how much you missed my hands, Bethany. I want to hear those sweet moans again.”

My fingers sped up their assault on the little cotton-covered nub, her hips rocking as her fingertips dug into the wood of the tabletop. “I've missed your body so much. Every night I close my eyes and I see you, I wake up in the morning and you're the first thing on my mind.” I urged her on with my words. “That's it, let it go.”

Her eyes slammed shut and small pants fell over her lips as the muscles in her thighs bunched and shook. Her chest heaved, and her hands gripped at my elbows as her release pummeled through her. “Jenson...”

“Mmm, so beautiful sweetheart.” I kissed my way up her body, catching her cheeks in both hands and kissing up the line of her neck.

“I-I can't believe we just did that.” She stumbled for words before she twisted out from beneath me, running her hands through her hair as her eyes cast around the immediate area.

“I'm so glad we just did that.” I tossed her a cocky grin.

“I hate to say it, but I should head back. I’ve got to finish some research tonight. Paper due at the end of the week,” she said, a frown marring her lovely face.

“Mm, okay, Bethany.” I recognized now running was her defensive mechanism. Whenever things got a little too intimate, she bolted. I was beginning to know her better than myself at this point. “Thank you for sharing a dinner with me.” I locked her hand in mine after we’d thrown away our wrappers and started heading back to her apartment, her legs heavy and sated from the orgasm I'd just given her.

“Thank you for being so concerned about my diet,” she laughed, and it made my damn heart sing. It felt like I was thawing her. Her words may say one thing, pushing me away and constantly reminding me that she was too busy for this, for us, but her physical reactions told me something entirely different. They gave me hope.

“Until next time?” I grinned when we stopped on her step.

Her eyes cast down at our feet, and she nodded. “Until next time, Jenson.”

We stood silently, long beats passing between us. “I really want to kiss you,” I uttered, saying the only thing running through my mind.

She glanced up, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. “Jenson—”

“But I won’t, not until you’re begging me for it.” My eyes gleamed, and I settled for a soft kiss across the apple of her cheek. “Next time.”

“Good night, Jenson,” she called, her sweet voice haunting me the entire walk home to my lonely apartment.