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Thump-thump. Thump-thump. The thundering of my heart drowns out the sound of the rom-com. She looks nervous, like she’s worried she said the wrong thing. Her cheeks, even seen through this dim lighting, are crimson.

The immediate urge to bring her confident side back out has my hand snaking down so I can wrap my fingers around her bare shoulder. It shouldn’t be legal for someone to have skin this soft.

She smiles and I give a little tug and say, “I think you’ll be more comfortable over here. I know I will be.”

That seems to help her relax. Having instructions might be a love language in itself for her.

I can do that, I think, tucking her against me.

“Sam,” I say.

“Yes?” she asks, still nervous.

“Relax,” I whisper.

“Sorry.”

I take my free hand and put two fingers under her chin so she’s looking at me. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

Sam swallows hard and her eyes drift to my lips and snap back up to my gaze.

“Okay, I can relax.”

“You sure? Do you need anything else?”

“You’re the guest here, I should be asking you that,” she says, swatting my abs.

My fingers drop her chin and capture her hand, causing her to let out a little gasp. Oh God, now I want to know how else to get her to make that sound.

Our eyes lock and she shifts a little. Just enough to make it easier for her to face me. My body sings at every individual point of contact as I lace our fingers together. I tip my head down an inch, ignoring how painful everything is in my pants at this point. She tilts her head back a little more, her breath brushing across my lips in tantalizing waves.

Bam!

Sam squeals and her whole body starts, squeezing my hand instead of pulling hers away.

I groan, forgetting that this movie starts with a door slamming right when we meet one of the main characters. Maybe my blood will start flowing to my brain for a few minutes and give my dick a break.

“Time to watch?” I ask her.

“Probably,” she says with a soft laugh. “Will I jump out of my skin again?”

“I don’t think so. But I assume this means we’re lucky it wasn’t a slasher film?”

“Oh that would not have been good. I would have kept my eyes closed for most of it and would probably hum so I wouldn’t hear much.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind for future movie nights.”

I tuck her back into me and this time she relaxes and rests her head on my chest, our hands still woven together. I memorize everything about this moment. My head relaxes against the back of the couch and I feel my smile grow as I breathe in her perfume that has a subtle floral scent that I can’t quite pinpoint.

I’m definitely not washing this shirt for a while.

Chapter 11: Sam

How can I be so comfortable and so stressed out at the same time?

Tommy feels like heaven and smells even better. He probably shouldn’t smell good after wolfing down twelve hot wings in a bar that, unsurprisingly, smells like fried food. There’s a little bit of that lingering on him, but the cedar and mint combination is coming through tenfold with my cheek resting against his chest.

Well, it’s on his right pec, to be specific.