odd, really odd, but the way he’s making me feel… I don't want to stop him.
Our dance is slow and he never breaks eye contact. It's overwhelming. But in the best way possible. There’s something about the way he’s looking at me that’s making it hard to breathe. I wasn’t expecting this. He was supposed to be normal—I was supposed to be the weirdo with the embarrassing secret. But if the way his hand keeps inching down my back is any indication, he’s hitting on me. Me. I feel weak as I grip his shoulders. His face so close to mine that with just a tiny move our lips could touch.
The entire time I tell myself to breathe, but with his shift in attitude, I'm having a hard time keeping calm.
“There it is,” he says.
"There what is?"
"That look." He grins before dipping his face next to my ear. "The one that makes me want to rip your clothes off and bend you over."
My throat goes dry and my pulse races. I don't know how to respond to that. I can't find the words. It doesn't matter though, because before I can figure out what to say, my body reacts. I shiver and grip him tightly as a thrill shoots up my spine. Based on the smirk growing on his face, he notices.
"You see there?" he says, moving a hand up my side. "That's what I'm talking about, Zee. It's the way you looked at him in the picture versus the way you look at me every day. I'm talking about how sometimes you hold your breath when I touch you, and your eyes always linger on mine just a second too long." I stop moving and my eyes widen.
"I know all this," he continues. "Because it's the exact same for me. It clicked when I saw that picture. I've been so worried about changing things between us because I'd risk losing my best friend, but Xia, you've never been my friend. It just took me a while to see it."
"To see what?"
"That you're just as in love with me as I am with you." Everything around us seems to stop moving. I’m trying to respond but nothing comes out as the words dissolve on my tongue.
He steps closer, wrapping his arms around my waist as he looks into my eyes. A shiver shoots down my spine.
"You've been mine, all along." His hands begin to move over my back and I feel him slide something into the pockets of my jeans.
"What are you…" I reach for my pockets but he stops my hand, pressing it flat against my butt.
"Leave them there until we get upstairs and I'll explain."
A few minutes later we walk into the hotel, passing a receptionist who seems overwhelmed with a line of impatient customers. Chatter fills the space as three couples and a small family stand and wait. Jordan doesn't say anything as we take the short ride up to the fourth floor and walk down the hall. I'm dying to know what he put in my pocket.
Butterflies take flight in my stomach as he comes to a slow between two doors.
"Pull out the cards." He turns to face me. I'm confused but I reach into my back pockets and there they are. Two room cards. I notice each has a small sticker in the left corner. One with a red set of lips and the other with a high heel shoe.
"Xia. You have always been the most important person in my life. As afraid as I have been to ruin that, I was stopping the growth of something that's been there all along." Gently, he grabs both of my wrists and looks down at the cards. "This is your choice. This card…" He nods to the one with the shoe. "Is for the room on the left. Choose it, and we go back to being just friends. We'll pretend this week never happened and I'll be the guy you've always known. " He exhales. "Choose the other one, the door on the right, and we go for it. We finally stop holding back."
My eyes move back and forth between the cards before I meet his gaze. There’s no question which I'll choose but I hesitate and my heart fills with so many emotions. Fear, lust, excitement—I'm reeling. I can't believe he's felt this way about me the entire time. Everything takes on an entirely different meaning. Each tug, each touch, each time he’s gone above and