I shake my head with a laugh. Hadleigh put us in our places more times than I can count. "No truer words have ever been spoken. Believe it or not, most of that shit was either Knox's idea or he dared me."
"Trust me, I believe it."
"You ready for dessert?" I ask once our dinner is somewhat settled. "I wasn't sure what you liked, so I got some of everything."
"Sure."
I put up our empty plates, then grab the box and clean forks from the kitchen. When I return, I sit even closer than I was before.
"Okay, so the options are..."
"Surprise me!" She closes her eyes.
I stare at her open mouth for a moment as my cock hardens.
Before it grows awkward, I take a scoopful and slide it between her lips.
"Mmm...cherry pie."
She bites on her lip, and I swallow hard.
"Yep," I finally respond. "Want another?"
"Yes, please!"
I try to surprise her and scoop something completely different in texture into her mouth.
"Hmm...something with pudding."
"Mm-hmm. Want one more bite?" I ask.
"Yeah, I think so, just to be sure."
I give her a mouthful this time.
"Jesus," she says. "I wasn't ready for all that."
I chuckle. "Do you know what it is?"
"It's gotta be Tiramisu."
"You're right. The best I've ever had too."
After opening her eyes, Ivy wipes some powdered cocoa and pudding off her cheek.
"So delicious," she says after popping her finger into her mouth.
Fuck. I'm going to hell for the thoughts invading my mind.
“Here, you missed some.” I brush along her bottom lip, contemplating if I should give her a taste or steal it.
She doesn’t give me time to decide because her hot tongue licks the tip of my finger. My eyes don’t leave hers as she smiles. “God, that’s so good.”
I swallow hard, trying to keep every ounce of willpower I have left.
Ivy takes the fork from me and turns the box toward her. "Okay, my turn to feed you. Eyes closed, no peeking," she sing-songs.
I do as she says, nervously waiting.
"Okay, open up," she demands. As soon as the flavors hit my palate, I immediately taste cream cheese frosting.
"Carrot cake," I answer.
"Is it good?" she asks.
I open my eyes with a nod. "The absolute best."
"Hmm, I've never had it." She cuts a forkful for herself, but I quickly take it before she can eat it.
"Let me do the honors," I offer. "You need an equal amount of frosting and cake to get the full effect."
She smirks. "Okay, I'm trustin' you."
Ivy opens wide, and I slide the perfect amount into her mouth. She bites down and moans. Fucking moans.
"You were right," she finally admits, capturing the leftover cream from her lips. "That's delicious."
Our eyes lock, and only our ragged breathing can be heard. Ivy's too goddamn tempting, and I shouldn't be this close to her.
"Ivy, I—" I begin, then stop, unsure of where I was even going with that.
"I'm not makin' a fool outta myself for a second time, so if you wanna kiss me, you're gonna have to make the first move," she confidently states.
For being a quiet bookworm, she sure can be blunt too.
"I want to. I'm just decidin’ if it's a good idea or not," I say honestly.
"Why? Because I'm Hadleigh's sister?"
"That, and I'm much older than you."
"Only ten years, Kane. Not like you're about to sign up for AARP anytime soon."
I crack a smile, shaking my head at her sassy tone. "Well, I will be thirty next year."
"And then I'll be twenty. And then twenty-one the year after that and twenty-two the—"
I cup her face and crash my mouth to hers. She goes stiff for the briefest second before her body melts into my chest and her lips move with mine. Her tongue dips inside, and the taste of her has me groaning.
My hands move to her waist as she straddles my legs. Then she wraps her hands around my neck and presses down on my erection.
"Ivy..." I breathe out her name, lowering my mouth down her jaw and neck. "You're drivin' me crazy with those little whimpers."
"I can't help it. I've dreamed about kissing you since I was twelve years old."
"What?" I push back, meeting her eyes.
"I've had a crush on you for like, years. I figured it'd go away because it was just a typical teenage fascination, but as I got older, it never faded. But even then, I knew you liked my sister, so I figured it’d only ever be one-sided."
Damn. Literally everyone knew but Hadleigh, apparently.
"I thought I did, but in reality, we were always better off as just friends." Too bad I didn’t figure that out sooner.
"So the fact that you crushed on my sister while I crushed on you doesn't bother you? I kinda imagined you'd only ever see me as a little kid."
"I did up until a year ago, at your graduation party," I admit. Hadleigh invited me, and I realized then that Ivy wasn’t a nerdy preteen anymore. She was a beautiful woman. It was hard to tear my eyes away from her, but I did so Hadleigh wouldn't catch me gawking. I had never seen Ivy as anything more than her little sister, so this revelation shocked me. At the hospital, I wondered if she felt the same undeniable connection I had.