I thought I looked good. Would Cal think the same?
My heart felt like it was going to fly out of my chest by the time I pulled up to his house. I’d been here a few times before, but not nearly so often as he’d been over to my house. I wanted to know every inch of this place, just like I wanted to know every inch of him.
Cal opened the front door and froze—not for long, just momentarily, but it was enough. I saw his gaze trailing over my body and flushed hot. It was the encouragement that I needed. Cal was seeing me as an adult, not as a child, and I couldn’t stop the excitement from thrumming in my veins like a fresh shot of alcohol.
Cal’s jaw worked for a second, like he was caught off-guard and not sure what to say. “C’mon in,” he said, pulling the door open further. “You certainly clean up nice. Got somewhere to be?”
“No,” I replied simply. I could’ve added a line about how I got dressed up for him, but I decided to just leave it at that and let him do the math.
Cal led me through the house to a spare room that just held artwork. “I don’t actually do the art in here, but I store it here,” he said. “Good temperature control and all that. Over here are my smaller pieces… something that would fit in a college dorm, right? Something that’ll fit right in with the band posters?”
I laughed, and Cal grinned like he felt triumphant. He walked over, gesturing at the neatly lined-up rows of paintings and sketches. Cal worked in different types of media, but I’d always liked his paintings best. They were these explosions and explorations of color that I could stare at for hours. I wasn’t an art history person, not like my roommate Natalie. I couldn’t explain the brushwork or the meaning of the piece. All I knew was how Cal and his artwork made me feel.
“Which one do you like?” Cal asked.
This was it. This was the moment. I’d never get a better chance at this.
“I like you best,” I told him.
Cal stared at me for a second, and I could see the moment that everything clicked into place in his head. “Maggie,” he said, and his voice was rough in a way that I’d never heard it before.
I shivered. “Can I choose you?” I asked, my voice coming out as a whisper. I reached up, toying with the buttons on my blouse, as if I’d start undoing them. Cal’s gaze tracked my movement, his eyes getting darker and darker until the green of them was almost completely swallowed up by the deep black of his pupils.
Cal swept his tongue over his bottom lip—it was a nervous habit, I’d noticed, but it was also damn sexy. “I appreciate the compliment,” he said, his voice a little hoarse, “but that would be… entirely inappropriate.”
“Well good.” I undid the top button of my blouse, trailing my fingers over my body, and then took a step towards him. “Because nothing appropriate happens in my fantasies about you.”
I had never been so daring before, but then, I’d never wanted anyone so badly before. This moment had been years in the making. It was go big or go home, and no way was I going home.
I walked up to Cal, who was standing still and stiff as a board. When I got closer I could feel him vibrating slightly, like it was taking everything in him to keep from reaching out and touching me. I undid another button on my blouse, and a noise escaped him.
“Maggie.” I’d never heard my voice on his lips like that, hoarse and rough and barely tethered. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”
“I’m showing you that I’m not a child anymore.” I slid my hands up his chest to his shoulders, then back down again, until I was teasing the waist of his pants.
“Trust me, I noticed already,” Cal replied.
“Oh, you noticed?”
Cal looked away, and I could see him swallow. He looked like he was praying for patience. “You really look… you look… amazing, but you didn’t have to get all dressed up like this for me to notice that you’d grown up.”
Well, that was unexpected. But in the best kind of way.
“Then show me,” I whispered. I could barely recognize myself as I said these things, but the way that Cal groaned as I pressed myself up against him was all the courage that I needed.
I kissed his jaw, once, twice, three times, working my way up… pressed my body further against his, rubbing my thumbs underneath the waist of his pants…
“Please,” I whispered, right up against his skin. “Cal… you have no idea how long I’ve been dreaming about you… getting wet for you…”