Unbreakable (City Lights, #2)(89)

Cory realized what he’d done and let go of my hand with a sheepish laugh. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking…I just…” He ran a hand through is hair. “I’m a sap, remember?”

“No, it’s fine,” I said. “It’s…nice.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

I reached out and took Cory’s hand. He looked down at our entwined fingers, that crooked smile gracing his lips, and then let them rest on his knee again. My pulse quickened and then settled. I felt good. Content.

Cory held my hand for all of the sixth inning, letting go only to fish his cell phone out of his pocket to answer a Happy Birthday text from Vic. My hand felt empty without his, and then he finished texting and took it again, that small, quiet smile on his lips.

This isn’t a good idea, I thought. Too many little gestures will lead up to one big gesture and I can’t let it go too far. My cheeks burned, remembering the interlude in the bank. You’ve already gone too far.

I glanced at Cory sideways, taking in his handsome profile. Everything I felt tempted to do with him, I’d already done. I’d already laid kisses along his strong jaw, had already tangled my fingers in his soft hair, had already kissed him and clutched him and taken him inside me, and yet now it seemed all brand new. Like a new horizon waiting to be discovered if only I had the courage to take the first step.

Can I? I wondered. Can I tear down six years with Drew for this? This contentment? And if I did, would it last? When the pain and terror of the bank robbery finally faded, would I still feel the same? Would Cory?

Distantly, I heard the crack of a bat and the crowd around me issued a collective cry of excited surprise, rousing me from my thoughts.

“Foul ball!” Cory surged to his feet, taking me with him.

“What…?”

I watched as the ball rolled foul of the first base line, straight toward me. The Reds’ first baseman gave half-hearted chase.

“Get it! Get it! Get it!” Cory cried.

Without thinking, I bent over the rail, reaching for the ball, though I knew it was futile, and I’d never reach it.

Then I felt Cory’s hands on my waist and I half-laughed, half-shrieked as he hauled me over the side until I was hanging nearly vertical. The only thing keeping me from falling face first onto the field was his strong grip on my hips.

He’ll never let me fall.

The ball rolled to the wall and bounced off. My fingers closed around it before it could escape and Cory lifted me up, face to face with the Reds’ first baseman.

“That’s Donald Lutz,” Cory whispered in my ear, like a star struck fan.

“Hello, Donald Lutz,” I held up the ball. “I think I’ll keep this.”

He tipped his cap. “Sure thing, Red,” he said with a wink, and trotted back to base.

I raised the ball in victory and the fans around us cheered. Cory lifted me off my feet in a bear hug, laughing, and before I knew it, his lips were on mine in a celebratory kiss. As if it was the most natural thing in the world.

The cheering grew louder, and I realized we were still standing with half the stadium watching. I broke our kiss, but gently, and quickly took my seat with an exhilarated sigh. When Cory took his, I laid the ball in his hand.

“Happy Birthday, Cory.”

#

The drive home was slow and silent, but not entirely uncomfortable. As we sat in post-game traffic around downtown, I wondered if he was thinking about the kiss as much as I was. He’d done it impulsively, I knew that, but it felt right. Just as holding his hand had felt right. More than right. I was forced to admit that when I was with Cory, the world felt ordered and calm, the chaos of the robbery felt muted and distant. The separation anxiety, I told myself. It’s not that being with him is so…perfect. It’s that not being with him brings on the anxiety.

If that was true, then what was the cure?

I glanced at Cory sideways, trying to study him without letting on that I was. It didn’t help matters that he was so damn handsome. Or that he was kind and thoughtful and stubborn and sexy…God, he’s sexy.

Cory turned on the radio and scanned for a station. “Take Me To Church” by Hozier came on.

“Is this okay? I like this song.”

“So do I.”

The lyrics to the song were beautifully poetic but so sexually charged I had to lean against the glass to cool my skin, which was suddenly flush and hot. If Cory could sing, this is what his voice would sound like. And these are the words I’d want in my ear as we f*cked.

The thought was startling but the rush of sensation between my legs that came with it was far more shocking. I bit my lip and closed my eyes, letting the song’s raw sensuality wash over me until I felt saturated.

And then I couldn’t help myself. I opened my eyes, watched him, just drank him in as all sorts of erotic thoughts danced in my head.

He glanced at me once, then twice—a double take that I found to be extremely adorable. “What’s that look for?”

“Nothing,” I said. “I’ve just had a really nice time tonight.”

“Oh, yeah,” Cory said. “Me too.”

“I’m so glad,” I murmured. But the night’s not over yet.





Chapter Thirty-Two


Cory