The Guy on the Right (The Underdogs 1)

“Good God, man, did you buy the whole flower shop?!”

“I asked for one of each.”

“So I could finally decide on one?”

“No,” he leans in pressing a gentle kiss to my lips, “so you could have them all.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him then, but I hold back and kiss the hell out of him instead.

“Ahem,” my mother says, breaking us up. “Theo, those are so beautiful.”

“Hey Deidra.” Theo bends down, disappearing behind the door and picks up a smaller bouquet of wildflowers. “These are for you.”

“Thank you. It’s been a long time since I got flowers,” she murmurs appreciatively before grabbing our bouquets and heading to the kitchen.

Theo looks me over as we linger at the door. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you. Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.” He looks pleased with himself. He’s wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt and dark jeans. I push up on my toes and lean in. “Heads up, Houseman, I’m in a kind of mood and when I say mood, I mean I want to suck the life out of you.”

I pull back to weigh his expression, and my mom chooses that moment to kiss us both on the cheek before darting out the door.

“I’m running late. Where are you two off to?”

“It’s a surprise,” Theo says, his hot gaze never leaving mine.

“Well, have fun.” She calls before jetting down the steps and getting in her suburban.

When her taillights grow dim, Theo ushers me inside the door and pins me to it.

“I thought we were leaving.”

“We are,” he says before taking all the gloss off my lips. When he pulls away, I’m a puddle of want, and his lips are shining. Standing limply at the door, I shake my head.

“I missed you today.”

“Theo—”

He cups my face rubbing his thumbs along my cheeks. “I think about you all the time. If I’m reading, I think about what you might think of the book. If I’m driving, I wonder what you’ll think of the song playing. I want in that head of yours so bad, all the time.”

“I’m crazy about you, too.”

“Laney,” he whispers softly, “this is real for me.”

It’s the perfect moment. The words are begging to be spoken, but I can’t get them out. He weighs my expression carefully before lifting my hand to press a kiss to it. “Let’s go.”

Half an hour later, we pull up to Theo’s house where we’re forced to park on the other side of the street due to the number of cars in his drive.

“What’s going on here?”

“Nothing we want to stick around for, I forgot something, should only take a second.” He opens his door, but I put my hand on his to stop him.

“Wait,” I say, and he hesitates.

“Laney, if you—”

“This is real for me too.” My fear is realized as he refuses to meet my eyes. He thinks I said it out of guilt. He leans in and kisses me. “I’ll be right back.”