Curvy Girls Can't Date Bad Boys - Kelsie Stelting Page 0,29
we would have this night. When the sky faded from dark blue to black, he stood.
The message was clear. We needed to go home. To reality.
He put the blanket away and helped me onto his motorcycle, and then we made the drive back home.
As we pulled into Seaton Bakery, it struck me that we had yet to kiss. He'd only touched me a handful of times, but each contact felt more intense, more passionate than anything I'd had with another guy. No amount of goodnight kisses after dates set up by my father compared to one simple stroke of Ronan’s finger over my cheek.
He stepped off his bike with me and twisted his fingers through mine as we walked toward my car. I desperately wanted him to kiss me, to feel his lips, the charge of his skin on mine, but he simply looked at me. His eyes searched me, and I wondered if he was finding what he was looking for. I was beginning to think I had.
“Thanks for tonight,” I said.
His thumb traced a slow circle over the back of my hand, sending shivers down my spine. I kept my gaze on his, looking up into his dark black eyes.
“I want to see you again.” He said it like it was an admission, not a wish.
“I want to see you again too,” I breathed.
“When?” he asked, throwing the ball back into my court.
“Do you work tomorrow night?”
“Yes. But the day after I'm free.”
My mind did the math. I had three days before Dad would be back—in control again. I beat back the fear and focused on the man in front of me. “I'll see you then. Emerson Trails?”
He nodded. “Meet me at the north trailhead.”
“I will.”
Before I knew what was happening, he bent and kissed my cheek, and then he walked away.
My skin sizzled, imprinted from his touch. As I got into my car, I held my hand to my cheek, wanting to savor the feeling forever. Knowing what his lips felt like on my skin made me want his kiss that much more, but I knew I had to wait. I would be waiting and wishing until the time we spoke again.
I woke exhausted from my late night with Ronan and the hours I lay in bed afterward examining it.
In the last two days, I’d heard nothing from Ryde—no texts, no dates, no gifts in my locker like my friends often got from their boyfriends. And my father expected me to spend a lifetime with him? Could I be brave enough to live a life on my own like Ronan, one of poverty perhaps, if it meant the freedom to choose? I didn't know.
When I got to school, there was hardly enough time to say hi to my friends, but I promised to tell them more about the date over lunch. We sat together in the cafeteria now because the AV room was too small for our growing group. When we first started spending time together at the beginning of the school year, it was the five of us girls and sometimes Carson. Now, everyone had a plus one. Everyone except me.
We sat around the round table, pushing too many chairs together so we all fit. Ray and Ginger sat down, immediately swapping out items from their meals. Since she was on the health-food meal plan, he always got extra of the good stuff and gave it to her. Rory and Beckett sat side by side, and the way their arms pressed together, I could tell they were holding hands under the table. What would it feel like to be that in love? Where you could see each other every day and still wanted to hold their hand when you got the chance?
I glanced away from them and caught sight of Jordan and Kai approaching the table. At least they weren’t holding hands. But they probably would soon enough.
“Hey, girl,” Jordan said, taking the seat next to mine. “I can’t wait to hear about this date.”
“We have to wait on Callie,” I said, craning my neck to find her.
She and Carson walked side by side. Carson had his straw in one hand and shot the wrapper at her. It bounced off her head, and she elbowed him, laughing the whole time.
I groaned and turned back toward the table. “Can’t they just admit they love each other already?”
Callie set her tray on the table next to Kai. “What?”