Lover (Court University 4)

Many questions about him, but not one of them surrounded how good this pizza probably was.

Borderline orgasmic, I waited anxiously while Ramses picked up the serrated spatula and served it. Thick and cheesy goodness pulled away from the pan when he served me, then himself. He sat back. “Ladies first. I want to see your reaction, Jersey girl.”

Jersey girl, huh? I’d let him have that one, picking my fork up in front of this Midwestern boy.

Smirking, I tabled my excitement as I forked the pie hard just to get off a little piece. I had Ramses waiting with anticipation as I blew on the bite before sliding it into my mouth. It was still hot, but once in there, there was no hiding my moan.

“Jesus,” I groaned, before taking another bite. There was no playing off how good this thing was and forget being ladylike. My eyes closed at another taste. “You weren’t joking. My God.”

This obviously pleased him, my delight. He got another wink in before he tasted his himself, and when the fuck left his lips, we both laughed.

He raised his hand. “Sorry. I’ve missed this, and it’s been a while.”

He had nothing to apologize for, wanting to curse myself. Before I knew it, half my piece was gone and Ramses was already starting in on his second slice. Of course, he asked if I wanted dibs first before going back in, but since I was still tackling my initial slice, I let him have at it. It’d been really nice he’d asked, though, considerate. It seemed I was finding a common trend here about him, my Midwestern knight in shining armor. How ready he’d been to come up on that high dive and talk to me. It’d really annoyed me. I’d wanted to be alone.

And yet here we were.

Him and I, almost hard to fight my smile as I watched him eat and enjoy himself. He ate at his pizza like I indulged in chocolate on a particularly angry month of PMS. I dabbed my lips with a napkin. My lipstick should hold up pretty good since I used a strong matte. “You said it’s been a while since you had this?”

If I lived here, I’d eat this all the time, my hips be damned. It’d be well worth an extended run in the morning. I tried to get a few miles in a day.

“Uh, yeah.” He’d devoured his third at this point and maybe enough as he sat back. The space between his buttons exposed that glorious chest of his, and I couldn’t help but envision what his shirt might look like off. He clearly worked out, that dress shirt leaving nothing to the imagination of his solid arms and thick shoulders.

Easing back, he adjusted in a booth meant for normal-sized humans, not someone such as himself with a wingspan that no doubt put Michael Phelps to shame. He smiled. “And I hope I didn’t disgust you. I basically just violated that thing in front of you.”

I snorted, like actually snorted in front of him, which I passed off when I took a drink of water. To save myself further, I covered my lips with a napkin, but the fact Ramses noticed wasn’t lost on me.

“Cute,” he said simply, like it was simple. Simple for him to say.

My face most assuredly hiked up in the same coloring as my chest earlier.

Completely crazy, I passed that off too, shy in front of this guy like I was a young girl in front of a boy. My mouth moved a little. “So, you were at the wedding, too. Bride or groom’s side?”

Evasion the easiest thing instead of paying attention to my heated cheeks, or other things that tingled and woke up just at a mere flash of that dashing grin or a wink of his brown eyes. This guy was as readily charming as he was handsome, dangerous. I didn’t trust myself with handsome. I didn’t trust myself with charming. Both made a girl stupid and turn a blind eye to things she probably shouldn’t.

At least, when it came to me.

“I was in the bridal party actually,” Ramses stated, which explained his suit. It’d been similar to the groom’s when I’d seen his. Soft laughter hit his chest as he laced his fingers across it. “I was the man of honor.” He opened his hands. “So, I guess I was there for the bride.”

Shock silenced me, surprise more than anything else. I suppose that was becoming more and more common, though. A woman choosing a man as her lead attendant. I grinned. “You two must be close. You and the bride?”

His fingers formed around his glass. “I suppose you could say that.”

She’d been lovely, the bride. Well, what I’d seen of her. I’d been sitting in the back of a room filled with at least five hundred people, the reception completely luxurious.

It’d even snowed.

Like inside, snow. It hadn’t been real, of course, more a lighting affect than actual flakes. Those had been there too. I recalled brushing them off in the bathroom. “How long have you two known each other?”

“Since high school.” I noticed it took him a moment, his index finger weaving along the condensation of his glass. Eventually, his eyes lifted in my direction. “She was, uh, the first girl I ever really loved if you can believe that.”

Choke, like a legitimate choke since I’d taken a drink. Had I heard him, correctly? I patted my chest. “You’re serious?”

Yeah, nothing funny about what he’d said there, his finger scratching the side of his neck. “As a heart attack.”

Wow.

Super intrigued now, I leaned forward. “Alright.”