liked, I pulled into the parking garage under Devin’s apartment building. I parked, but didn’t shut off the engine.
Devin took off his seat belt. “So, um. Thanks for the ride. And for inviting me to hang with the team tonight. I mean it—I had a great time.”
“So did I. It was great having you along.”
As the engine idled, our eyes met in the pale light of the overhead fluorescents and my headlights reflecting off the concrete wall. Neither of us spoke. Devin didn’t reach for the door, but his eyes flicked toward my lips and back, sending a surge of adrenaline right through me. We were just sitting here in my car, and my heart was doing things it usually only did when I was out on the ice, and holy fuck, his eyes were gorgeous.
“So, um.” I moistened my lips, and wondered what it meant when he jumped. “The team’s going back out on the road, but…” I swallowed hard. “When we’re back in town… If you want to…”
“Do this again?” he whispered.
Pulse pounding, I nodded. “Yeah.” Then, feeling just a little braver, I added, “Maybe not with the whole team.”
Devin’s eyebrows jumped, and I had a split second to freak out that I’d overstepped before he smiled. “Really? I mean… Um. I mean, you’d want to? With just…” He gestured at both of us.
I nodded again.
“Okay. Yeah.” Oh my God, that smile. “We can figure out logistics later, but yes. Yeah. Definitely.”
“Great.” I didn’t even try to hide the relief. “Logistics… Yeah, those can wait. We’ll just, uh, keep texting, I guess?”
His smile brightened even more. “Definitely.”
“Awesome. I’ll check the game schedule, but I think we’re back in like two weeks.”
Devin nodded. “All right. I should, uh…” He gestured at the stairwell a few feet from the car. “Seven comes early, so I should…” Our eyes met, and he trailed off. He still didn’t reach for the door.
“I should go too. Still need to pack.” But did I really want this to be over a second sooner than it had to be? “I can do that in the morning, though.”
“Still. I shouldn’t keep you.” He still held my gaze. Still didn’t reach for the door. “And thanks for the ride home, by the way. Best Uber ever.”
I laughed. “This one’s on the house and everything.”
“Yeah? I don’t even have to tip?”
“Not unless you want to.”
His eyebrow flicked up. Our eyes were still locked, but there was a hint of a challenge in his eyes now. Something playful. Something hot.
Did he…?
Were we…?
What if I…?
Cautiously, hoping I wasn’t reading him all wrong, I leaned slightly closer to him. I gained maybe a quarter inch of ground, and that was as far as I could go without some kind of sign from him.
He pressed his elbow onto the console and leaned closer as well. His eyes flicked from mine to my lips and back, and when our gazes met again—God, I must’ve moved in further without even realizing it because he was right there.
Holy shit, we were almost touching now, and there was no misinterpreting what kind of touch was coming. Not when we were hovering this close, one head tilt away from brushing noses or one drop of courage away from meeting his lips with mine. The man I’d been staring at all night was almost close enough to taste. Almost… Just a little…
Devin’s soft, shuddering breath rushed past my lips, and the reality of what was happening slammed into me and scattered whatever courage I’d had.
I jerked back and exhaled. “I… God, I’m sorry. I, um…”
“What’s wrong?”
Shaking my head, I closed my eyes. “I don’t even know. Nerves. I’ve, um…” I swallowed hard, and despite the sudden queasiness in the pit of my stomach, looked at him again. “I’ve never done this.” Embarrassment joined the fear, and I pressed my elbow into the window as I rubbed my forehead. “I’m sorry. I mean, I’ve done this, but… Not, um…”
“Not with a man?”
Was I that obvious? Fuck.
“Not with a man,” I admitted, gut roiling with all kinds of unwelcome feelings.
“Jase,” Devin whispered. “Look at me.”
I swallowed hard, then did as he asked. He was still leaning on the console, and his eyes were gentle, and nothing in his expression said I was an idiot for being spooked by an almost-kiss, or that I was ridiculous for making it this far in life without ever touching a man. Except I felt like an idiot, and I felt ridiculous. If touching a