throaty chuckle caused his Adam’s apple to bounce again. I found myself gazing at his neck and admiring the vein that traveled down to his clavicle. I could almost imagine myself licking and biting it.
Biting? What the hell, Rocky? Are you a vampire now?
I shook my head, snapping myself out of momentary delirium. In an attempt to save face, as well as appease my guilt over the whole Ethan debacle, I said, “I happen to think consistency is a good thing. I hate the unknown. Give me black and white, X-Y-Z, and vanilla any day.”
Jesse lifted an eyebrow, but didn’t respond. After a few moments, his silence began to bother me.
“Silent treatment again, I see,” I muttered, eyeing him carefully. His jaw tensed as if he were biting back words. I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Just spill it.”
“Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you were caught up with all the hoopla that night. I mean, I am a great dancer. Wouldn’t surprise me if I somehow hypnotized you enough to get your panties all wet.”
I’d be lying if I said they were dry at that moment. Hearing Jesse say those words had about the same effect on me as a heat lamp shining against my skin. I felt my body flush and my stomach flurry, but tried to keep a straight face.
“That’s what I told you to begin with!” I yelped, trying to calm myself down.
Jesse raised his eyebrows. “Huh?”
“Um, I mean about being in the moment, not about you dancing…or getting me wet…I mean my panties…Uhhh…I mean…” I shifted uncomfortably, praying that somehow I’d be enlightened with the wisdom of how to get out of the hole I just dug myself in.
Jesse’s face also reddened quite a bit. He quickly looked away and clucked, “Guess you were right. I always did drag you down with me. You never did have a wild streak, did you?”
I shook my head. “Not as much as you think I did.”
He nodded slowly. “Why did you go along with everything back then? Shits and giggles or…”
“Protection,” I reminded him.
He snorted. “Protection. Well, I guess I owe you that now.”
I arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not comfortable enough to tell you that.”
Instead of growing irritated again, my mind raced. Maybe Jesse would finally stop playing with my mind! It’d be great timing, considering my parents gave me no choice but to handle the whole store by myself. I couldn’t afford any distractions to screw me up.
Clearing my throat, I peered at him closely. “Due to this epiphany , are you giving up on me again? I thought you had some grand scheme to open up my inner self or whatever.”
“Seems pointless now,” he muttered. “Besides, I was just having fun with you. Like old times. I imagined us causing a ruckus again.”
“Ruckus? Damn, what happened to you?” I teased.
“Point is,” he said, interjecting, “I thought it would be cool to mess with you, but seeing as you’re so set in your ways—well, I don’t want to do permanent damage.”
“Permanent damage? Were you going to perform a lobotomy or something?”
“I thought you were just in denial. At the very least, I thought you were just putting up an act since you were so embarrassed about what happened that night.” He nodded his head in thought. “Honestly, it would have been a bad idea to take you down that rabbit hole. Things have changed and there’s no denying it.”
“Things have changed all right, but not in the way you think,” I said firmly. At that moment I made up my mind that I was no longer the nervous girl who was too scared of showing her feelings. Hell, I’ve already crossed one hurdle during NYE, why not go all the way?
He lifted an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“You keep saying that I’m some hidden vixen, but what about you?”
“What about me?”
“All the polite ‘yes sirs’ and ‘no sirs’—it’s obvious there’s not a bad bone in your body anymore. Why try so hard to make me bad when it’s obvious that you aren’t,
Biting? What the hell, Rocky? Are you a vampire now?
I shook my head, snapping myself out of momentary delirium. In an attempt to save face, as well as appease my guilt over the whole Ethan debacle, I said, “I happen to think consistency is a good thing. I hate the unknown. Give me black and white, X-Y-Z, and vanilla any day.”
Jesse lifted an eyebrow, but didn’t respond. After a few moments, his silence began to bother me.
“Silent treatment again, I see,” I muttered, eyeing him carefully. His jaw tensed as if he were biting back words. I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Just spill it.”
“Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you were caught up with all the hoopla that night. I mean, I am a great dancer. Wouldn’t surprise me if I somehow hypnotized you enough to get your panties all wet.”
I’d be lying if I said they were dry at that moment. Hearing Jesse say those words had about the same effect on me as a heat lamp shining against my skin. I felt my body flush and my stomach flurry, but tried to keep a straight face.
“That’s what I told you to begin with!” I yelped, trying to calm myself down.
Jesse raised his eyebrows. “Huh?”
“Um, I mean about being in the moment, not about you dancing…or getting me wet…I mean my panties…Uhhh…I mean…” I shifted uncomfortably, praying that somehow I’d be enlightened with the wisdom of how to get out of the hole I just dug myself in.
Jesse’s face also reddened quite a bit. He quickly looked away and clucked, “Guess you were right. I always did drag you down with me. You never did have a wild streak, did you?”
I shook my head. “Not as much as you think I did.”
He nodded slowly. “Why did you go along with everything back then? Shits and giggles or…”
“Protection,” I reminded him.
He snorted. “Protection. Well, I guess I owe you that now.”
I arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not comfortable enough to tell you that.”
Instead of growing irritated again, my mind raced. Maybe Jesse would finally stop playing with my mind! It’d be great timing, considering my parents gave me no choice but to handle the whole store by myself. I couldn’t afford any distractions to screw me up.
Clearing my throat, I peered at him closely. “Due to this epiphany , are you giving up on me again? I thought you had some grand scheme to open up my inner self or whatever.”
“Seems pointless now,” he muttered. “Besides, I was just having fun with you. Like old times. I imagined us causing a ruckus again.”
“Ruckus? Damn, what happened to you?” I teased.
“Point is,” he said, interjecting, “I thought it would be cool to mess with you, but seeing as you’re so set in your ways—well, I don’t want to do permanent damage.”
“Permanent damage? Were you going to perform a lobotomy or something?”
“I thought you were just in denial. At the very least, I thought you were just putting up an act since you were so embarrassed about what happened that night.” He nodded his head in thought. “Honestly, it would have been a bad idea to take you down that rabbit hole. Things have changed and there’s no denying it.”
“Things have changed all right, but not in the way you think,” I said firmly. At that moment I made up my mind that I was no longer the nervous girl who was too scared of showing her feelings. Hell, I’ve already crossed one hurdle during NYE, why not go all the way?
He lifted an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“You keep saying that I’m some hidden vixen, but what about you?”
“What about me?”
“All the polite ‘yes sirs’ and ‘no sirs’—it’s obvious there’s not a bad bone in your body anymore. Why try so hard to make me bad when it’s obvious that you aren’t,
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