The way he was looking at me, I thought for sure it was going to be something wicked and downright scandalous. “Just a kiss…for now.” His hands gripped either side of my waist, cutting off any plans of escape, not that the thought had entered my mind.
Staring at his lips, I pondered the idea. Did I or didn’t I? The longer I thought on it, the wider his smile grew. “Just one,” I murmured, as I was closing the distance between our lips.
“One is never enough with me,” he said right before his mouth touched mine.
Holy sweet pitchforks.
I swear you had to be part of hell to kiss that mind-blowingly hot. Nothing this tempting, this soul-shattering could be a hundred percent good. It wasn’t even a long kiss, but it didn’t matter. I felt it all the way to the very tips of my toes.
Afterwards, I bit my lip. It was all I could do to keep from going in for seconds. He had warned me. Once was never enough. God I hated when he was right. It was such a deplorable quality.
***
Monday was blah…
But tomorrow was Tuesday. The day I had been anticipating for months – the release of Black Ops II. As any true gamer would know, there was a midnight release. Guess who was going to be first in line? Well probably not, since I had to drag Chase with me. He was picking up Travis’s copy for him. What a guy. I am sure there were ulterior motives, for example, keeping an eye on me.
Whatever.
Nothing was going to spoil this night. Not even douchebag’s negative attitude toward video games.
My mom was at work, as I anxiously awaited Chase. I pulled a Love Pink hoodie over my tee and stuffed my earbuds in the pocket. It was going to be a long, chilly night, and I was going to need something to keep my mind off Chase.
I was pacing the family room in circular patterns, when I heard the crunching of tires on my driveway.
Finally.
Chapter 5
“I can’t believe we are really doing this,” Chase complained as he drove us into the city.
His luxury car hugged the road effortlessly. It was like we were gliding over the pavement, but even with the smooth ride, I was antsy. I just couldn’t seem to sit still and get comfortable. “I can’t believe you are here instead of Travis,” I countered.
The plan had been that Travis and I would go together. I was still a little miffed that he had bailed on me and sent this lug in his place, but I wasn’t going to let it overshadow my exhilaration. I wasn’t sure anything could – not even hell and all its croonies.
Chase stole a glance at me as I uncrossed my legs. Again. “God, you are a bouncing ball of energy tonight. How much coffee did you drink?”
I tucked my dark hair behind my ear and out of the way. “Umm, I don’t know, like six cups with extra shots of espresso. Is there a Starbucks around here?”
The headlights from a passing car glinted off Chase’s eyes. “Are you trying to overdose on caffeine? It would really piss me off if you died after I just saved your butt.” His hand tightened on the wheel, as if the thought angered him.
“Funny. I’m pulling an all-nighter,” I said, to explain the caffeine overkill.
“Why?” he asked, genuinely mystified. “We have school tomorrow,” he added.
“Do you really need to ask? Two words, Chase. Black. Ops.” I always got a weird tingle when I said his name. “Besides, I’m ditching school tomorrow. It’s like a holiday.”
“Let me guess, that was Travis’s idea?”
“No. Maybe. Does it matter? It’s a brilliant idea.”
His brows drew together. Clearly he didn’t think so. We arrived to the game store shortly after, which gave him a whole new onset of things to complain about. This was totally out of Chase’s element, and he hated it. I tried not to let the fact that he came anyway with me, seep into my heart. He made it a little easier by being a complainer.
“Is this really worth waiting in line at midnight for?” Chase asked, falling in line behind me, staring at the long line of about a trillion people in front of us. I might have been exaggerating considering this was the boondocks, but apparently even in the backwoods people play video games.
I didn’t even bat an eye. That question wasn’t even worth answering. “Um yes.”
“There is something wrong with the two of you. With all of these people.” He indicted to the line of fellow gamers (mostly guys I might add) standing in front and behind us.
My geekdom skyrocketed in his eyes. He just didn’t understand. This was like the holy grail of games. This was Black Ops II. Enough said.
I don’t know how long we were standing there before I got a creepy prickle on my neck. The kind that makes all the little hairs stand straight up. It could have been five minutes or an hour. With Chase next to me, I lost all track of time. He was razzing me once again about being here when I felt the first inklings of trouble.