“We’re not breaking in,” Grant tried to reassure me. “I have a key.”
“That you basically stole from an employee.”
“Darlin’, if we get caught, I’ll let them haul me off to jail. Just don’t hurt my truck, all right?”
I rolled my eyes and slipped out of my clothes. I self-consciously covered my stomach as I stood before Grant in my blue-and-white striped bikini. He’d seen me in less, but I couldn’t help it. His eyes roamed my body, and I quickly skipped into the heated pool.
What he couldn’t see before, he had his hands all over as soon as he’d gotten into the pool. “Have you ever broken into a pool before?”
“You just said we didn’t break in!”
His eyes shined with amusement.
“Gah! No.”
“Ever done anything illegal?”
“I’ve drank alcohol before,” I answered lamely.
“Drugs?”
I shook my head.
“Stolen anything?”
“Nope.”
“Do you at least speed in your car?”
I smiled up at him.
“Damn, you’re picture-perfect, Princess.”
“I once slapped a guy across the face for grabbing my butt at a bar,” I offered with a shrug.
He responded by grabbing my ass. Typical.
He held my slick body against his, and all I saw were the deep chocolate orbs and flecks of gold catching the moonlight through the windows. He seemed more contemplative than usual. Normally, he just wanted to attack me.
“What do you like to do when you’re not studying?”
“I’m always studying.”
“You’re not right now. Are you saying you like to do me when you’re not studying?” He winked.
“Wouldn’t you already know if that were the case?” I shot back.
“Indulge me, Ari.”
His lips grazed mine tenderly, and for the hundredth time since we’d decided to give this a shot, I thought that I was definitely going to let him do whatever he wanted.
“Horseback riding,” I finally answered, coming to my senses. “I did it as a kid, and I almost always go when I’m at home.”
“I could see you on a horse.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, but I kept going with his game. “I like to bake cupcakes.”
“Coincidence—I like to eat cupcakes. German chocolate.”
I giggled and shook my head. “I used to play piano, but my hands are too small.”
He grabbed my hands and brought them up to his eye level, inspecting them thoroughly. His lips touched every inch of skin from my pruney fingertips to the small scar near my thumb where a dog had bitten me in high school and on to the other one.
“Your hands are perfect.”
Date Seven
My last class was canceled on Tuesday afternoon, which gave me free time to plan out my date. We’d been doing whatever Grant wanted for over two weeks, and I thought it was about time to plan something myself.
Cheyenne eyed me suspiciously from behind the kitchen counter while I was baking cupcakes. After Grant’s outburst in The Coffee Bean, we’d thought it best to keep everything on the down low. I wouldn’t lie to my roommates about what was going on, but I wasn’t exactly being forthright with information, not that that was new.
“What are you doing?” Cheyenne asked.
“Making cupcakes.”
“For whom?”
I shot her a look.
“Grant?” she offered.
I just shrugged. What did she want me to say? Yes, I’m dating Grant. No, it isn’t a big deal.
“Are you guys, like…together now?”
“Something like that.”
Cheyenne bit her lip and jumped from foot to foot. “How was the sex?”
“Can we not?” I asked, turning my back to her.
“Give a girl a break! I’ve been dying to have sex with him since the first time I laid eyes on him. I’ve heard he’s amazing.”
Heat pooled in my chest, and I ground my teeth together. I didn’t want to think about Cheyenne having sex with Grant or the innumerable other women who already had.
“We haven’t had sex, Cheyenne,” I responded irritably.
“I mean, if you just don’t want to provide details, that’s fine,” she said in a tone that made it seem far from fine.
I whipped around with the whisk in my hand, dripping chocolate batter onto the floor. “I’m not providing details because we haven’t had sex! So, just drop the subject, all right?”
“Sorry,” she whispered. “Touchy. I just didn’t think Grant…did that.”
“He doesn’t.”
Suffice it to say, that wasn’t the way I’d wanted to start my first planned date night with Grant. Now, I was all grouchy when baking usually calmed me down, and all I could think about was sex.
I showed up at Grant’s place right after band rehearsal let out. When Vin saw me waiting outside, he snickered and punched Grant. Miller and McAvoy pulled Vin behind them, completely ignoring whatever vile comments were likely coming out of his mouth.
“Hey, babe,” Grant said as he walked up to me. “What’s that?” The other guys stood around apparently wondering the same thing.
“I, uh…” I began. I hadn’t expected an audience. “I brought you something.”
“The only thing girl’s ever bring Grant is pussy,” Vin said under his breath.
McAvoy smacked him across the back of the head. I just rolled my eyes and ignored him.
Grant took the box from my hands. His smile grew tenfold when he opened it up. “Cupcakes.”
“German chocolate. Your favorite.”
I knew I was blushing hard, but the look on his face was worth it.
“I don’t think you can fuck cupcakes,” Vin said loud enough for me to hear that time.
“Then, I guess you don’t want one,” I snapped right back.
“Wait…” Vin said, trying to correct himself to get a cupcake.
All three guys busted out laughing in unison.
Vin glared at them. “Shut the fuck up, assholes!”
“You walked right into that,” Miller said.
“Who said I was going to share anyway?” Grant asked.
He slid the box under one arm and his other around me. My world spun. He was talking about more than just the cupcakes.
Grant devoured four cupcakes before we even made it to the concert I was taking him to. It wasn’t even a far drive. I didn’t think he’d said anything the whole trip besides mostly moans and groans about how good they were. I guessed the key to a man’s heart really was through his stomach.
When I pulled up to the concert venue, Grant’s eyes narrowed. “You’re taking me to a show?”
I giggled. Oh my God, Grant McDermott makes me giggle. “I thought you would want to see what music I like.”
He hopped out of the car eagerly, and before I could walk two feet, he covered my mouth with his. His hands were on either side of my face while my fingers played with the dog tags that were perpetually around his neck. He broke away first, which was unusual. His eyes searched my face, and then he kissed the tip of my nose.
“What was that for?” I asked a little breathlessly.
“Music speaks to my soul.”
“So do cupcakes apparently.”
He smirked. “I can see how you have an unfair advantage at this date thing. You’re way better at it than me.”
I laughed and shook my head. “No way.”
“You have more practice.” He leaned in really close to me. “I can’t wait to show you the things I have more practice with.”
The concert couldn’t have gone on for a second longer with the heat building between us all evening.
Once we were back at his place, we couldn’t get out of my car and up the stairs fast enough. I’d never felt this blind lust before. It was both terrifying and exciting. I couldn’t decide which feeling was more overpowering. I tried to tell myself to stop overanalyzing every emotion hitting my body and just enjoy being.