“Okay.” He surprises me with his easy response.
“That’s it?”
“Yes. You say you can get this to me on time, and I believe you. You’re a hard worker and smart, and your inventions have saved us many times in the past. I know you can do this, or else I wouldn’t have put this much trust in you.” I raise my brows, about to fight him on this, before I realize I’d just be fighting him on the fact that I’m good enough. Surely, I am good enough… And I’ll prove it, spend these next two weeks making the best devices that will be tested four times in the test room before we take them out again. Nothing will stop us from making it to the finish line first.
“Thank you.” I reach for his hand across the table and give it an affectionate squeeze.
“Goodnight, Tito.” He smiles softly as Nari calls for him down the hall. “Duty calls.” He laughs and quickly stands, jogging out of the room. I sigh for a moment, worried about what I might find when I run diagnostics. What could have happened that made everything fall apart so horribly?
I stand quickly, when the upstairs echoes are too silent. Scout must be settled in her room by now; I should go check on her. I jog across the house and back to the staircase, heading up it quickly to see Pops standing in her doorway. I run over and interrupt their conversation, steering him away from her room. But not before getting his look-of-approval about Scout. He gives us a knowing look while strolling away from the room and to the steps.
My hand is wrapped around Scout’s shoulder because I somehow moved through the doorway and managed to touch her without my body consciously realizing it. After Pops is gone, I look over at her.
“Sorry about that,” I whisper, just in case Pops can still hear me.
“It’s okay; he’s great. Your whole family is,” She whispers back, doe eyes lifted to mine. Only for a moment do I admire them before I turn her to face me because I need her to know she’s getting whatever the fuck she wants while she’s here. And by that, I mean if she wants my body, she can have it. I meant what I promised her; I would make her first time special.
If she let me, I’d make every time special.
“If you need anything, anything at all while staying here, please let me know, and it’s yours.” She raises her sharp brows at me, like she doesn’t believe my words, but I mean them wholeheartedly. “Okay?” I add in the midst of her silence.
“Okay,” She whispers, and I can’t help but grin at the way her button nose moves with her plump lips when she says this.
“Okay,” I repeat, feeling drawn to her more than I ever have. I know I want her; feel the air between us thicken like a cloud of spiced perfume. There’s a warmth from within that feels like a thousand candles burning in my veins as my heart pounds to what I think is the same rhythm as hers.
I want to be closer to her, but I sense resistance, and I don’t know where it’s coming from, me, her, or something beyond us.
“Goodnight,” I whisper like an incomplete sentence.
“Goodnight,” she whispers back the same, and I think we’re an inch closer to one another before I pull away and force my feet out the door.
I only get a few feet out, and then a thought hits me like a slap in the face. What the hell am I doing?
I turn back around and leap back into her room. She whips around, shocked by my presence, curious as to what I’ve forgotten. But it’s her, it’s her I’ve forgotten. I need to kiss her before I can think about anything else because if we don’t touch in this way, ever again, at least I can remember us like this.
I don’t say a word as I step right up to her, gently tuck a curl behind her ear as her breath caresses my lips. Her searching eyes look up at mine for a moment, giving me the green light I was waiting for, and I cup her face in my hands, pulling her soft lips to mine.
11
SCOUT
Tito’s hands tangle in the back of my hair, pressing me closer to him as I grab on tightly to his shirt. Everything in me that once had a sane thought, has vanished to reveal I’m just as human as I suspected. Too human. I wish I could be all methodical, every action, and logic-based, but right now, I’m weak to my desires.
It’s crazy how just a few moments after him stepping out of my room, I felt cold. Alone. But in his arms, I feel the fire burning again, like I’m lit from within, and he’s the one stoking the flames rising higher and higher. I want this, his hands sending my body into an excitement so strong I can feel a longing pulse throughout me. He kisses down my neck, and I’m lost in his touch.
Why is he so damn good at knowing how to make me want him, knowing how to make me forget myself for him? I tug at his shirt, and he grabs my hand to guide it to his chest. A strange way of letting me know we won’t go there tonight. But I want to. I want to go there.
He raises his eyes back to mine, those kind green eyes that make me believe there’s more good in the world than bad. I cup his sharp jawline with my hand, run my thumb down his stubbly chin, and then our lips collide again. This time, I pull him with me, still tugging on his shirt as I lead him to my temporary bed.
“I think we should slow down,” he whispers in between kisses. I barely take a breath to answer.
“On the contrary,” I quickly blurt with a grin, and he shakes his head into another smile as I tug at the bottom of his shirt. He bites his lip as he tilts his head back and pulls the shirt off. Not just in a normal people way, in a hot guy way where his abs show first and his arms raise to finish the job before he tosses it aside.
I run my fingertips along them, and he watches, catching his breath before taking my chin between his thumb and index and softly kissing me. I reach for his hair with one hand and grab his belting with the other. His hands find their place, too, one on my waist and one on my collarbone.
I love this touch, the soft, intentional one. His lips caress me just as sweetly as he holds me. I feel safe, but most of all, I feel longing like an unstoppable freight train. And the only way off now is to ride it to the next stop. If my first time were to happen now, I wouldn’t mind. Nothing logical ever led me to giving up my virginity anyway. Why start now with planning it like it's some big event? I just want Tito, and I don’t care what that actually means because I’m bursting at the seams for him, only him. And I want nothing more than for us to connect in this way.
I am about to lead us up the few steps leading to the bed, but he picks me up before I can lift my feet, and I let out a squeal from the feeling it makes in my stomach. He chuckles into another kiss, but just as we reach the top step, he trips, and we fall right onto the bed with a thud. It's a wonder I didn’t smack my head into him, nor him into mine.