Game (Gentry Boys, #3)(33)

I took the keys to the Chevy from Creed’s dresser and headed out. I was almost at Steph’s place when I thought of something and made a U-turn. There were a couple of things I needed to pick up first.

Dusk was beginning to descend when I finally got to Stephanie’s door. I saw her Buick in the parking lot and figured it was unlikely she would have gone far without it. Of course, that didn’t mean she would answer when I knocked.

After a few short raps on the door I saw a shadow darken the peephole. I waved. The longest five seconds in the world passed. Then the door opened with a click.

“Hi,” Stephanie said, almost sheepishly. She leaned against the door frame and crossed one leg over the other. Her hair appeared damp and she was only wearing a long cotton shirt.

“Peace offering?” I held out the flowers I’d bought a few minutes earlier. She stared at them.

“Are we at war, Chase?”

“I don’t know,” I told her, hoping she would just take the damn flowers. “Sometimes it feels that way Stephanie.”

She took the flowers and our hands touched briefly, sending a current of electricity through my core. She had that effect on me. Only her. Standing there in an old shirt without a speck of makeup on she was still so f*cking sexy I was sporting stiff wood in an instant.

“Thanks,” she muttered, her eyes down like she didn’t know what to do with this kind of attention.

I held out the other item I’d purchased. “A second overture.” I gestured to her wrist. “How’s it feeling?”

She glanced at the swelling. “I think I’ll live. I think so.”

“Does it hurt?”

“No.” Then she winced. “A little bit.”

I stepped over the threshold. “It’ll help if you immobilize it.” I started unrolling the bandage and she stepped back a little to let me all the way in before closing the door behind me.

Stephanie seemed clueless about what to do with the small bouquet of roses. She fussed and sniffed at the petals. I wondered if it was the first time a guy had ever brought her flowers. If so, then we were even because I’d never done such a thing for anyone else.

“Here,” I said, taking them. “I’ll put ‘em in water.”

In the kitchen I found a tall plastic cup and filled it from the tap, dumping the flowers inside and placing the whole thing in the middle of the small kitchen table.

When I returned to the living room Steph was sitting awkwardly on the edge of the couch. She already had me going, especially with her shirt riding up to her thighs, but I was determined not to do anything about it right now.

I sat down beside her and gently took her hand, looking closely at her swollen wrist before I began wrapping it in the long elastic bandage I’d brought. I had to let her know something before we could talk about anything else. I cleared my throat and chose my words carefully.

“About that girl you saw me with today? It was nothing. I wasn’t touching her and I’m not into her. I should have told her that straight up.”

I thought Stephanie would mutter something sarcastic but she sighed instead and spoke in a quiet, regretful voice. “I overreacted. In class too. I’m not proud of it. But I figured you were teasing me.”

I stopped what I was doing and looked at her face. I was arrogant about girls and I knew it. I always figured I knew what they were thinking, what they wanted. But this one had the power to surprise me. Add our physical chemistry to that and I was starting to realize how much trouble I was getting into. I finished wrapping her wrist up before I spoke again. I leaned back into the couch, trying to figure out how to say something important.

“Stephanie, I’m full of shit more than half the time. I think you know that. But today, when I told you that I want you, that I need you, I wasn’t teasing.” I cleared my throat. “I wasn’t teasing and I wasn’t just trying to get you on your back. I was being honest.”

She was listening. “Why?” she whispered.

“Why?” I repeated and thought about it. Stephanie was beautiful. But there were beautiful girls everywhere. There were smart girls and nice girls and girls who would bend over backwards to please me. “Because there’s no one else like you,” I finally said.

Stephanie looked down at her bandaged wrist. “You did a good job. It feels better.”

I grinned. “Watched an internet video on my phone before I knocked on your door.”

She nodded. “I learned how to replace my brakes from an internet video.”

“You could probably learn neurosurgery from an internet video.”

She laughed. “Probably.”

I reached over and pushed her hair behind her ears. “Come out with me.”

Stephanie looked down at herself doubtfully. I wanted to kiss her, to seize her, to get inside her again. But more than that I wanted her to trust me.

“Give me five minutes,” she said, rising from the couch.

I laughed. “No girl can get ready in five minutes.”

Stephanie looked down at me and lightly kicked my leg. “I’m not just any girl, Gentry.” Then she turned and hurried down the hall to her room.

“Don’t I know it,” I muttered and ran baseball statistics through my head in an effort to ease the uncomfortable stiffness in my dick.