“Ditto,” I breathed, unable to utter any other words. He’d kissed me stupid. He smirked at me, but then pulled away fully, leaving me wobbly and unsteady. He moved back into his seat and I into mine, both of us resuming our normal basketball-watching positions, but there could have been any number of things going on down on the court and I wouldn’t have been able to process any of it.
“Hey,” Hadley whispered, nudging me with her elbow. I turned to look at her. “Did that kiss feel as sexy as it looked?”
I blinked at her. She cracked up laughing. I turned back to the court and in my periphery I saw Camden’s hand slyly come up to swipe across his lips, and every man within arm’s reach gave him a pat on the back. Meanwhile, multiple women surrounding us squirmed in their seats. It was, quite honestly, ridiculous.
Finally, after a few dazed moments, my faculties returned, along with a normal heart rhythm. I leaned just to my right a little, keeping my face forward, and whispered to him, “Where did you learn to kiss like that?”
I felt his shoulders shake with a chuckle, and then he leaned into me, whispering his response. “I don’t think I’ve ever kissed anyone that way. I must have been inspired.”
“Basketball really does it for you, huh?”
He let out a real laugh that time. “I told you, it’s like foreplay.”
“Right.” My eyes rolled but my lips smiled. The lights in the arena started flashing and the Renegades returned to the court. The most epic halftime of my life had come to an end and, truthfully, I was a little glad. I didn’t know what to do with the man I’d had mouth sex with, who was still sitting next to me. How do you just go on after something so damn arousing? So, when the game started back up, and I had something to pretend to be interested in, I was happy for the distraction. That did not, however, mean I wasn’t acutely aware of him. Conscious all the time of how far away he was, or how close, where his hands were, whether he was looking at me. I caught him a few times, eyes not on the game but on me instead. I only caught him because I was stealing glances at him too. But as the game continued, the tension eased. I was able to enjoy the last quarter of the game, finding that he and I had very similar complaints and suggestions for the team, agreeing when fouls were ridiculous, when players were being dumbasses, and that was something else my brain grabbed hold of and tucked away, surely to be brought out again late at night when I couldn’t sleep.
After much yelling, the players finally saw it our way and decided to win their game, making my night even more exciting. It would have sucked to spend all that money on celebratory tickets only to watch the Renegades lose—kiss or no.
But the kiss was a perk, right? And that’s all it was. A silly halftime game that got way out of control and way too hot for anyone’s good.
The buzzer sounded, the crowd erupted in yells and applause, and the great migration out of the arena began. Hadley and I stood up and turned to shuffle down the narrow aisle that led to the stairs. I tried not to notice if Camden was behind me or not, but somehow my body knew he was following. We moved onto the stairs but then were stalled as all the people above us slowly filed out.
“So,” I heard Camden’s voice say, but also felt against my ear, his breath feathering over the shell of it. “If I asked for your phone number, would you give it to me?”
“What would you need my phone number for?”
“First you didn’t understand kissing, and now you’re confused as to why I’d want your number?”
My cheeks pinked at his words. “I know why you’d want it, I guess I’m just confused by this whole situation.”
“It’s not rocket science, Riley. That was an amazing kiss. I’d like to do it again sometime. Possibly after a meal. Or a drink.”
“You want to go out on a date?”
“Even I can tell he wants to take you out,” groaned Hadley from in front of me, giving me an epic eye roll.
“Thanks, Had,” Camden said, as if he knew her well enough to use her nickname.
“No problem, Cam,” she replied sweetly.
“What the hell is going on?” I was terribly confused. “Do you guys know each other? Is this some sort of poor man’s punk’d?” They both started laughing, but I was still looking between the two of them.
“Is she always this hard to date?”
Hadley shrugged before climbing the few empty steps ahead of her. “She doesn’t date much.”
“Okay, don’t talk about me like I’m not standing right between you.” I turned to Camden, a fierce look in my eyes to tell him I meant business. I was thwarted, however, by the way his eyes were moving up and down my body—appreciatively. I swallowed hard and wished I still had some beer left; my throat was like the Sahara.
“Then give me your number,” he said, his voice lower and deeper somehow. “You already kissed me,” he argued.
I followed Hadley up the stairs, trying to get as far away from Camden Rogers as possible. He made me nervous, and he made me feel like it was okay to just date guys I kissed at basketball games. He wasn’t having any of it, though. He was hot on my heels when we exited into the giant hallway that was the perimeter of the arena, and then he fell into step right next to me.
Hadley, who was on the other side of me, leaned closer and whispered, “He’s persistent.”
“Yeah, no shit.”
“You ladies are forgetting that I’m a lawyer. I can argue my point until we all die or you give up.” He said the words with a smile, and something gnawed at my insides, telling me he was being truthful—he was going to pester me to death. That was as good a reason as any to keep denying him.
“Listen, it’s nothing personal, I’m just not looking to date anyone.”
I felt a warm hand on my elbow and then I was being turned to face him. People kept walking right past us, a few grumbling about us blocking the walkway.
“Riley, you can’t tell me you aren’t even a little interested, given how much you participated in that kiss.” He raised an eyebrow, and fuck me if it wasn’t sexy.
“So, because I kissed you, now I have to date you?”
“I like your mouth, Riley. I like the way you use it and the words that come out of it. I’ve only spent one half of a basketball game talking to you, and I know with near perfect certainty that I would never tire of hearing you speak.”
I couldn’t help but smile at his response. “Not like Sophia the princess?” I batted my eyelashes at him.
“Come on,” he urged quietly. “Give me your number.”
Something about Camden Rogers felt dangerous. Not serial-killer dangerous, but the kind of dangerous that made me want to keep my heart safe right inside my chest and not offer it to fantastic kissers who could argue their way out of anything.
“I’m really just not looking to date anyone. Sorry.” I gave a sincere smile and shrugged. Then I turned back to Hadley. I could tell by her expression she was annoyed with me.
He followed us out of the arena, down the steps at the street entrance, and all the way across the street to the MAX station. We were surrounded by hundreds of people who’d also taken the light rail train to the arena, and I wasn’t looking forward to cramming myself inside the small train car with all of them, but I couldn’t help but pray the train came quickly.
“Just one date,” he said from behind me.
“He’s literally begging,” Hadley said to me, clearly taking his side.
I heard the train coming from the west and watched it cross the bridge and come to a slow stop at our station.
“Come on,” he pleaded. “At least give me your last name.”
I managed a laugh and tried to ignore the part of me that wanted to see where a date with him would lead, but the circumstances were just too strange.
“Have a good rest of your night,” I called through the doors as I grabbed the pole above my head to keep myself steady. He was smiling at me, but it was more of a challenging smile, as if he couldn’t believe I would leave him hanging. The doors
started to close and I held my breath.
“SMITH!” Hadley yelled just before the doors closed. I turned to her, mouth gaping open, shocked she’d give some stranger my name. “Her last name is Smith!”
The doors closed and the train started slowly making its way up the hill to the Park and Ride lot.
“You sneaky bitch,” I said, shooting Hadley with the imaginary laser beams that came from my eyes.
She smiled and then blew me a kiss. I rolled my eyes and made a mental note to post embarrassing pictures of her on Instagram.
Chapter Two
Camden
There were approximately one fucking million Riley Smiths on Facebook.
The morning after our impromptu kiss at halftime, I sat in my office staring at my computer, trying to locate her online. Facebook was my first stop, but it was looking like a bad option. I didn’t have time to sift through all the women on my screen.
Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. I had the time and I was normally a patient guy. I could spend my evenings looking for her if that’s what it took—I wasn’t above Facebook stalking. But for some reason, I wasn’t feeling very patient with Riley. I didn’t know anything about her except her name and how fantastic her lips felt pressed against mine, and I wanted to know more. Much more.
So my next stop was good old Google. I typed in “Riley Smith Event Planner” and a few results came back. I clicked on the top return, but didn’t find any pertinent information. I clicked on the second and third links, and neither one of those led me anywhere either. But the fourth link for a company called Rose City Event Coordinators brought me the information I was looking for. At the bottom of the page there were headshots of all the coordinators and I was immediately drawn to the photo of Riley. She looked a little different in her photo—dressed professionally, her smile more forced than natural, but beautiful nonetheless. Her hair still sported the new trend of darker on top, fading into a honey blonde toward the ends. The night before she’d been wearing Chucks and a pleather jacket, but in her photo she was wearing a blouse that looked like appropriate work attire.
It didn’t matter what she wore, I still found myself picturing what she had on underneath it all.
Right under her picture was a link to send her an e-mail. Perfect.
Just as I clicked on the link a knock came on my door. It opened and Justin’s face appeared.
“I’m headed to get some coffee from Case Study. Want me to bring you something?”
I leaned back in my chair and my hand absently ran through my hair. “Mind if I come along? I could use some air to clear my head.”
He gave me a puzzled look, but then said, “Sure.”
Justin had been a good friend of mine since we both started at the firm around the same time. He was just a year older than me and we had similar backgrounds. When I wasn’t taking insane women to basketball games, it was to him I usually gave my extra ticket. We’d just made it out of the door of our building when he asked about my date.
“How’d it go with Sophia last night?” His question was probably supposed to sound innocently curious, but I could hear the contempt in his voice. He had met Sophia briefly when she’d stopped by the office unannounced, and when I told him I was taking her to the game last night, instead of him, I’d seen him try very hard not to roll his eyes.
I groaned before I could stop myself.
“That well, huh?”
“We’re finished. I’m not sure why I let it get all the way to a third date. She got bent out of shape because I wouldn’t skip my grandma’s birthday party for her. I let her walk.”
Justin clapped his hand on my back, saying, “Good man.” We walked in silence for about half a block before he spoke again. “She’s not why you’re upset, is she? I mean, I’m sorry you’re taking the breakup badly, but man, come on. She wasn’t right for you.”
“No, it’s nothing like that. I couldn’t care less about her. In fact, after she left the game last night, I met someone.”
“You move fast,” he replied with a laugh.
“She was sitting right next to me and sort of heard the whole breakup, then watched Sophia stomp away.” I paused, remembering the way Riley was saying all the things I was thinking in my head, how she seemed to think Sophia was just as ridiculous as I did, how she just seemed to get me. “She was cute and funny, and an incredible kisser.”
“You kissed her? The same night you broke up with someone else?”
“Well, yeah, I guess so. It was that stupid Kiss Cam they do at halftime. The camera was on us, and people were yelling at us from all around, trying to get us to kiss. Finally, I just kind of grabbed her and kissed her. But it was amazing.”
“Dude, seriously? Amazing?” Justin asked, his voice skeptical.
“I don’t know. It was different, I guess.”
We approached the door to Case Study and Justin opened it, letting me go in first. “So, are you going to see her again?”
I let out a big sigh. “That’s up to her. I was just about to send her an e-mail when you knocked on my door.”
“An e-mail? Who are you? Tom Hanks? Is this the year 2000?”
“She didn’t give me her number, and her friend shouted her last name just before they took off on the MAX.”
“And you never considered the fact that if she didn’t give you her number, maybe she just wasn’t into you?” Justin ordered our drinks, paying for mine before I could stop him, and we walked to the end of the counter to wait.
“I don’t know, man. There was just something different about her. She was fun. And witty. She just kept saying the funniest shit. She wasn’t doing that annoying thing where women try to flirt with you but it just comes across as desperate. She just was having a good time at a basketball game, and I had a good time with her. She was refreshing.”
The barista slid our drinks over to us and we took them and started walking back to the office.
“So you’re going to e-mail her?”
“I think so. I’m just not sure what I’m going to say.”
“You’ll figure it out,” he said, slapping his hand down on my shoulder. “And if she’s as cool as you say she is, then she’ll probably say yes regardless.”
I lifted my coffee to my mouth. “Here’s hoping.”
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Not a stalker
Is this, by chance, the Riley Smith I met at the Renegades game last night who liked the disturbingly disgusting combination of cotton candy and Hefeweizen beer? She ran off last night without giving me her phone number (obviously a side effect of the previously mentioned strange combination of foods), so I’m looking for her. I came across this e-mail address and was hoping you were her. If this isn’t the cute and funny woman I met at the game last night, please disregard. But if it’s you, please respond. I’m not done talking to you yet.
Cam
I stared at the e-mail for a good ten minutes before I finally just hit the Send button. I knew there would be no way to get any work done until I sent it, and then I knew there would be no work getting done until she replied.
“Dude, you’ve got to get yourself under control,” I said to myself as I scrubbed my hands down my face. She’s just a girl. Just an awesome girl you met at a basketball game. Who is cute as fuck and knows how to kiss. “Goddamn it.”
Luckily, there was a meeting I had to attend that gave me a reason to stop refreshing my in-box every ten seconds. It was long and painfully boring, just as one would imagine a lawyer meeting to be, and when it finally ended I nearly sprinted back to my office. Electricity shot through me when I saw a response in my in-box.
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Pretty Stalkery
I can’t decide if I’m flattered or totally creeped out that you found me in one day. But, then again, you are a lawyer and seemed pretty determined. And don’t dis the
cotton candy and beer combo; it’s delicious.
Since I assume now that you’ve found me, it would be impossible to shake you, let’s move this conversation to text. I’m sure my boss doesn’t want to read about how you’re obsessed with me. My number is 503-555-8574.
—Riley
Holy shit, she gave me her phone number. Ignoring the fact that it would probably be best to wait a while to text her if I didn’t want to seem too eager, I started tapping out a message. Screw societally expected wait times between messages. I couldn’t care less if I seemed too anxious. I was anxious. And excited. And nervous. Something about Riley had gotten under my skin.
**I hope I don’t get you in trouble with your boss. But I’d like to remind you this could have all been avoided had you just given me your number last night.**
I hit Send and then put my phone in my desk drawer, hoping it would give me enough distance to focus on my work for a while. When it buzzed ten minutes later I couldn’t reach into my drawer fast enough.
**She loves me, it’ll be fine. And if I’d given you my number last night, this wouldn’t be as much fun. I like thinking about you scouring the Internet for any piece of information about me you could get. I hope you didn’t find anything terrible.**
She was flirting with me. This was good.
**Nothing too terrible. I promise to keep all your secrets safe if you agree to see me again.**
**Are you blackmailing me?**
**I like to call it being extremely persuasive.**
After a few minutes of torture, the phone buzzed again.
**I’ll be at The Tank on Hawthorne tonight after work. 6pm. Maybe I’ll see you there.**
Chapter Three
Riley
I had no idea why I told him to meet me here. The Tank was a bar from my younger years. I’d always loved it there, but forgotten until I’d walked in how out of place I would be in my black slacks and button-down blouse. I didn’t let the hipsters faze me though. I walked straight to the bar, glad to see my favorite bartender was still working there.
Kiss Cam (With A Kiss Book 1) Page 2
