Thursday?”
“We have a game Thursday night. You could come,” he added. “I can get you in.”
I shook my head. That seemed like a girlfriend-status sort of thing, and all I was agreeing to was a single date.
“Okay, no game. What does Friday look like for you?”
I racked my brain, trying to come up with an excuse that didn’t sound like I was searching for an excuse, but nothing came to mind. I even had the whole day off. Crap . “Friday’s fine.”
“Could I pick you up early on Friday? Like midafternoon or so?”
It was as if he had read my mind and knew that I didn’t have anything to stop me. “Yeah, I suppose so.”
“Excellent. Now, I need your number.” He’d already pulled his cell out of his pocket, punched a few buttons, and waited with an arched eyebrow, finger poised to press more keys.
I rattled off my digits, and when he was finished saving my number in his phone, he straightened away from the door enough that I could get through. I’d barely gone three steps before he was following me through the hall toward the front office. Cole was in there registering for more classes when I arrived.
Keith came in behind me. “Brie?”
I turned around to ask him what on earth he wanted now, and as soon as I did, he planted a kiss on my lips that threatened to turn all my bones to mush. I had to grab on to his shoulders to keep my balance, and he took that as his cue to wrap both arms around my waist and draw me right up against him. We were both hot and sweaty from the class, but he smelled like spice and bergamot and heat, and I wanted to let myself melt into him. He was more than I knew how to handle.
When he released me, I practically fell into the open chair next to Tanya.
“I’ll call you,” he said casually with a sinfully sexy grin. Then he nodded in Cole’s direction. “Ready to get out of here, Colesy?”
“I…” Cole looked at me with apologetic eyes and mouthed, I’m sorry , one more time, then said, “Yeah. Let’s go. I’ll see you next time, Brie.”
All I could do was wave, and even that almost took more out of me than I had to give after that kiss.
“Told you,” Tanya said when they were gone. “Sex on a stick.”
She had no idea.
W EAR SOMETHING WARM and comfortable.
That’s what Keith had said when he’d called yesterday afternoon before his game. I’d asked him for more clarification as to where he intended to take me on this date and how I should dress, but he hadn’t told me much of anything. Nor had he given me any indication of what sort of warm and comfortable, not that it really mattered. It was still a date, and that meant I needed to wear something nice, plus warm and comfortable. The problem was that I didn’t own anything in my current size that I’d consider nice .
For the last ten minutes, I’d been staring into the tiny, overstuffed vortex of my closet, my mind completely blank about what I could possibly put on that wouldn’t look as frumpy and ill-fitting as everything else I owned. My closet was full to bursting, mind you. I had kept the clothes I’d bought in every size along the way, ever since I’d started gaining weight when my thyroid went haywire about four years ago. I’d been twenty-two and it had seemed as though the world was waiting for me, and then suddenly, it wasn’t. I’d only gotten rid of things when they were too stained or threadbare or otherwise unwearable. I pretty much had a full wardrobe in every size from two up to twenty-two, not that I expected I’d ever be able to wear most of those things again.
These days, I fit into an eighteen. The medications that my doctor had put me on had helped to stabilize my metabolism, at least somewhat, so I’d managed to drop a few pounds. It had taken me two years on those meds, along with watching my diet like a hawk and working out more than I ever had before—even more than when I’d been a full-time professional ballroom dancer—to lose enough
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