Only One Chance (Only One 2)

I sit in the seat. “If this got you hot”—I wink at him—“wait until you see what I have on under this.” He hisses. Shutting the door, we get to the house, and he looks at me. “You didn’t pack a bag.”

“No.” I shake my head. “I plan on being naked all weekend long. What do I need clothes for?”

I get out of the car and walk into the house, and I’m surprised that he hasn’t already attacked me. “What is going on?” I ask when we step into the living room.

He looks at me. “What do you mean?” My heart speeds up when I see a look I haven’t seen before on his face.

“I mean, you didn’t attack me when we walked in,” I say. “You didn’t even try to feel me up in the car.” He looks at me. “Oh my God, you don’t find me attractive,” I finally say, my stomach falling. “Is that why you haven’t had sex with me? Oh my God,” I say, wanting to escape or have the floor open and swallow me.

“Are you insane?” he tells me. “I’ve been walking around with my cock hard for the past eight days.”

“So then why?” I ask him. “Why haven’t we had sex?”

“Because,” he shouts, “I don’t want it to just be sex! I want this to be more. I want to cook for you and for it to be romantic,” he says, and I look at him. “I’ve never been down this road before.” I don’t have a chance to say anything. “I don’t want us to just have sex, and then that’s it..”

“Is that why you haven’t had sex with me?” I ask, my heart pounding in my chest.

“Us having sex will be the final step, and,” he says, putting his hands in his pockets, “I don’t want this to be over.”

“What do you want?” I ask, holding my hands together so he doesn’t see them shaking.

“I want a relationship with you,” he says. “I want to have sex with you but not be scared that you’re going to walk out of that door tomorrow, and it’ll be over.” He sits down on his couch. “We’ve both had no-strings sex.” His voice goes low. “I don’t want that to be with us.”

“You want a relationship with me?” I know he said more after that, but that’s the only thing I actually heard. “I mean.”

“I don’t want you to date anyone else,” he finally says. “I don’t want to date anyone else.”

“I’m not dating anyone else,” I say. “I also don’t want you dating anyone else.”

“So you like me?” he asks, smirking at me.

“Of course, I like you,” I say, trying to be smooth about this by ignoring the way my heart is pounding in my chest. “Do you think I would still be here after eight days if I didn’t like you?”

“I don’t know,” he answers honestly. “I haven’t really done this thing before.” I swallow when he says that. “I’ve never been with someone who I want to see all the time. I haven’t been with someone who drives me crazy and then makes me laugh all in the same breath.” I laugh and go sit next to him. “I want you to know that this isn’t just to get you into my bed,” he says, and I smile now, looking down and feeling my wide smile hurting my cheeks. “Layla, I’ve chased you for four years, not even thinking about the day after. But now that I’ve been with you, I don’t just want to be that one night.”

I lean over and whisper, “I don’t want it to be just one night, either.” I don’t tell him that I like him so much it scares me. I don’t tell him that I’ve been trying not to overthink things or read too much into things. I don’t tell him that if he didn’t call me tomorrow, I would be heartbroken. I don’t tell him that for the past eight days, I’ve woken up thinking about him. I think about him all day, and when I go to bed at night, I want to be with him.

I watch him get up, and then he holds out his hand for me, and I put my hand in his. “I have a surprise for you,” he says softly, and I laugh.

“I’ve already seen your surprise,” I say, and he laughs, now his eyes light are brown.

“Not that,” he says. He pulls me to his bedroom, and I stay stopped at the doorway when I see what he meant by a surprise. The whole bedroom has candles lit. I look around, and I swear I’ve never seen so many candles in my life. “I was going to do the whole roses things, but I thought it might have been overkill.”