Dirty Thoughts - Megan Erickson Page 0,76
work hard, Dylan,” Jenna’s father said sternly.
But Dylan was on a roll. “So now you’re back to play the hero and to finish this white-trash fairy tale you got going on.” He waved in Cal’s direction.
Jenna sucked in a sharp breath, and Cal curled his hands into fists under the table. He told himself Dylan was drunk. He told himself to ignore the words, that he didn’t care what Dylan thought of him. Because he didn’t. But this was Jenna’s night, and he didn’t want Dylan embarrassing her.
“Dylan,” Jenna said in a firm voice, “enough. Why don’t you switch to drinking water?”
Her brother stood and sloppily smoothed his tie. “I think I’ll get another drink. We have to get our money’s worth out of this open bar we’re paying for, right?”
Cal stared at the man’s back, wanting to go after him and get in his face. Instead, he reached over and slipped his fingers into Jenna’s. She shot him a wobbly smile.
The night went pretty fast after that. Cal stopped drinking because the last thing he wanted to do was embarrass Jenna.
They listened to the raffle and clapped when Delilah squealed about winning an all-expenses-paid ski trip.
Then Jenna dragged Cal on the dance floor to slow dance, because Cal didn’t do any other kind of dancing.
The strains of “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton came through the speakers set up by the DJ booth. Jenna’s arms were on his shoulders, her fingers twirling in the hair at the base of his neck. He curled his hands around her waist, so his fingers rested on her lower back and the top of her ass. Most other couples kept it a little more PG, but Cal was tired and wanted Jenna as close as possible.
Her hazel eyes peered up at him in the dim light. “You were amazing tonight.”
“Me? I didn’t do anything. This was all you.”
“Yeah, but—”
“You planned this event. I heard people talking about how nice it was and how much they loved it and how proud they were to work for MacMillan.”
She blushed slightly.
He squeezed her waist. “That was all you.”
“Thank you. I’m just saying that I know this isn’t your thing, but you’ve been amazingly supportive all night.”
“Wouldn’t have thought to be anything else.”
He’d spent a long time with his head down, working hard within a small circle of family. He’d found a place to rent to open up his own cycle repair shop, so once he told his father about it, he’d have his dream job. And in one summer, he now had a half-brother and a woman at his side who made his heart pound. He’d spent so long trying to separate himself from the kid he’d been that he hadn’t realized that kid might have actually known a thing or two.
Eric Clapton’s lyrics filtered into his brain, and with Jenna’s upturned face full of devotion, all he wanted to do was say what was in his heart. This would change it all, he knew, this final acknowledgement of what had been steadily growing between them since she got back to town.
He had to take the plunge, because he trusted Jenna to be there at the bottom. He trusted himself to make it there. He raised his hand and brushed her hair off her temple. “Love you, Sunshine. Not sure I ever stopped. But what I felt for you at eighteen is nothing compared to how I feel for you now.”
Jenna’s mouth dropped open, and her hazel eyes were wide. She didn’t blink. She didn’t speak. Her fingers still clung to him, and so he focused on that, on her body against him, and waited for her to process his words.
She licked her lips, and her eyelashes fluttered.
And then she smiled.
But not just any smile—no, this was the smile, the one that lit up her entire face, made her glow, made her shine. Cal didn’t want to move from this spot, not for a long while, as he basked in the warmth and absolute beauty of his Sunshine.
She opened her mouth, but whatever she was going to say was stopped by his cell phone ringing in his pocket. He normally would have ignored it, but he wanted to check to make sure it wasn’t Asher. When he pulled it out of his pocket, Gabe’s number was on his screen. It was the only thing that could tear him away from this moment.
“Jenna, it’s Gabe, so I gotta—”
She waved him off, her hand trembling. He hated to leave