Page 9 of Back to You

“Dane…”

“C’mon, Hols. Take a bite. For me?” The hope that glistened in his eyes made my chest constrict, and butterflies sprung to life inside my gut. Why did he have to be so damn gorgeous? Dane’s lower lip pooched out in a pout. “You know you wanna.”

“Pain in my ass.” I laughed and smacked him, then took a big bite, if only to indulge him. But damn, it was the best cake I’d ever tasted. It was perfectly moist and and sweet, and the icing practically melted in my mouth.

“Well?” Dane leaned in expectantly.

I took another bite, scooping up a bit of vanilla ice cream. “This is really good.” Weirdly enough, it was almost as if someone had flipped a switch in my stomach. Suddenly, I was starving and I couldn’t scarf the cake down fast enough.

He must’ve heard my belly growl because he grinned. “Knew you had to be hungry. You want anything else from downstairs? There’s a lot of food. We’re gonna have leftovers for days. I can go grab you a plate, no biggie?”

“Okay, that sounds good,” I agreed and a few minutes later, Dane returned with two plates piled high with meat, cheese and crackers and a bunch of veggies with ranch dip. There was even a bowl of what looked like barbecue pulled pork with a handful of potato chips balanced on top. It all smelled amazing. I couldn’t wait to dig in.

He sat cross-legged on the bed beside me and we munched away in shared silence. “Thanks,” I said when I’d polished off the rest of the cucumber slices. I licked my fingers clean. Dane bumped his shoulder into mine with a soft laugh.

“No prob, Hols. It’s what I’m here for. Now what do you say to a couple rounds of Smash?”

“What about your party?” I asked.

“I’m over it. It’s not as fun when you aren’t there. I’d rather be up here, hanging out with you. Is that cool, or do you want me to leave? I can leave if you need some space.” He shrugged it off like it was no big deal, but I could tell he wanted to stay.

And honestly? I wanted him to.

“No. Stay. I was feeling kind of lonely anyway.”

“I’ve got a cure for that.” He hopped off the bed, grabbed a couple of controllers, and joined me once more with a cheeky grin. My heart thumped loud as hell in my chest. He had no idea what he did to me. No idea at all.

“Let’s do it.”