It Started with a Crush by Piper James

Chapter Seven

Sage

“Well, hello there, beautiful. I’m Noah. What’s your name?”

I watched Noah with interest as he scooted his chair closer to the one Dakota was sliding into. His whole aura practically oozed sexuality, and while Dakota pretended to ignore him, I caught the slight jerk of her shoulders as her breath hitched in her chest. Oh, she was affected.

And why wouldn’t she be? Noah was just as gorgeous—if not more so—than the other three Perry brothers. With shaggy hair, a scruffy beard, and a broad, muscled chest, he exuded masculinity. And his confidence level was obviously off-the-charts, if the way he leaned toward Dakota and whispered something to her was any indication.

I looked away from them, my eyes scanning everyone else at the table before landing on the Perry brother directly to my left.

“I can see why Daniel went to Noah,” I said, chuckling.

“What?” Chase asked, his head snapping toward me.

“Where were you just now?” I asked, tilting my head to study him.

“Sorry. I was just worried about Daniel. He went to a friend’s house for his first sleepover tonight.”

“Ah, yes,” I said, smiling. “Daniel and Tyrell were jitterbugs all day, they were so excited.”

“That’s good,” he said, exhaling harshly. “It’s just nerve-wracking to think of him sleeping at a stranger’s house.”

Without thinking, I rested a palm on his forearm. Ignoring the little spark of electricity that zipped through me, I said, “I can vouch for the family. Tyrell’s parents are good people, and he’s a happy, healthy kid with a sunny personality. Daniel is going to have a blast tonight.”

I moved to pull my hand away, but Chase trapped it there with his own hand before I could. We stared at each other for several tense moments before he released me, saying, “Thank you, Sage.”

“For what?” I asked, sucking a mouthful of my cocktail through my straw to dull the pulse pounding in every one of my nerve endings.

“For talking me off the ledge. I was about to jet out of here and go spy on him through the Howards’ windows.”

I threw my head back and laughed, and when I met his eyes again, there was something shining in their golden depths. Something that made my laughter die and my mouth water.

Fuck, I needed another drink, and we’d only been at The Watering Hole for fifteen minutes.

We’d pushed two tables together to form one rectangle big enough to seat eight. Chase and I sat on one side with Ryder and Belle on the opposite. Ethan and Noah sat at the ends, with Dakota sliding in between Belle and Noah and Ember sitting between Ethan and Chase. Ember was regaling Ryder and Belle with crazy stories from her boutique, Glowing Embers, while Noah was trying to engage Dakota in some sort of getting-to-know-you game.

Ethan was staring at his phone, looking bored, so I leaned forward to look past Chase and called his name—partially to try to make him feel more like part of the group, and partially to get my mind off Chase’s nearness and how it was affecting me.

“Belle tells me you’re the brains of the company,” I said, earning three shouted “heys” from the other Perry brothers.

“What?” Belle asked when Noah shot her a glare. “He is, and you know it.”

“He really is,” Chase said softly, his breath brushing across my neck.

I jerked back into my seat. I hadn’t realized I’d been leaning so close to him in my attempt to make eye contact with Ethan. White noise echoed in my ears as Ethan responded, and I honestly had no fucking idea what he said. I nodded anyway, pretending I heard every word.

“I need another drink,” I said, pushing my chair back and practically leaping from it.

“I’ll go with you,” Dakota said, though she’d just sat down with her own fresh drink a few minutes before.

“Ooh, get some shots,” Ember called out, wiggling in her chair.

I nodded at her request, then spun around to escape the table. Dakota’s arm linked through mine, pulling me tightly against her as we walked.

“You okay?” she asked. “You’re looking a little freaked out for some reason.”

“I’m fine,” I said, then promptly changed the subject. “What about you? Noah seems to be coming on a little strong.”

“Yeah,” she said, barking out a harsh laugh. “I dealt with guys like him for years when I was a bartender. I’ll have him backing down and begging for mercy within the hour.”

“If you say so,” I murmured, thinking about her expression when Noah was turning on the charm back at the table.

Dakota could handle him, I was sure, but I didn’t think she was as immune to him as she claimed.

Just like I wasn’t as immune to Chase as I knew I should’ve been. His proximity was making me feel things I hadn’t felt in a long time, and I needed to get that shit under control. And even though I was usually an intelligent person with a decent amount of common sense, in that moment, I decided more alcohol was the key to numbing the attraction.

So, I ordered myself a second Long Island Iced Tea and a round of Kamikaze shots for the table. The bartender handed the tray of shots to Dakota while I slurped down a quarter of my drink in one long pull. Taking a deep breath, I turned and headed back toward our table. Toward Chase.

“Shots!” Ember called out, cheering as Dakota passed the glasses out.

“No, thanks,” Ethan said when Dakota offered him a Kamikaze.

Seeing Ember gearing up to argue, I raised my hand, saying, “I’ll take the extra one.”

Ember shrugged, lifted her shot glass, and spouted some ridiculous limerick of a toast. Everyone cheered and upended their shots. I drank mine, then Ethan’s in quick succession. The alcohol warmed my insides, and I barely flinched when Chase’s arm draped over the back of my chair as he leaned in close.

“Thanks for that,” he whispered, his mouth close to my ear. “Ethan is a strictly-beer kind of guy. Noah got him shitfaced on jungle juice when he was twenty, and he hasn’t had a drop of liquor since.”

“No problem,” I breathed, feeling my heartrate pick up speed.

Chase must’ve sensed something, because he straightened and pulled his arm back into his lap. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed, but I could breathe again, so that was good.

Fuck, Sage. He’s a parent from school. You don’t date the parents of your students.

A little devil on my shoulder whispered in my ear that fucking wasn’t the same thing as dating, and I shot up from my chair in a flurry of motion.

“Sorry. Bathroom,” I stuttered before rushing away from the table.

“Jesus Christ, Sage. Get it together,” I murmured to my reflection once I checked the stalls to make sure I was alone.

I washed my hands and patted my cheeks with cool water to ease the burning. I wasn’t sure if the bloom of heat was from embarrassment, or the alcohol, or both, but I needed to get my libido under control before I went back out there and did something stupid like straddle Chase’s lap and rub myself against him.

And…that thought had me squeezing my thighs together.

I shook my head at myself in the mirror. Yesterday, while Chase and I were texting back and forth, I’d had a huge smile on my face. Chatting with him had been so natural, so easy, and I thoroughly enjoyed the banter between us. I stupidly thought he and I could be good friends. Just friends.

But sitting next to him tonight, breathing in his cologne as he leaned close to me, I knew putting Chase Perry in the friend zone was a pipe dream. Unless I locked on a medieval chastity belt, plugged my ears to drown out his voice and my nose to block his scent, I was going to be a bundle of sex-starved nerves anytime I was around him.

And I could tell he was into me, too. His body language, that little edge of grittiness that snuck into his voice when he put his arm over my chair and leaned in—he was feeling the pull between us just as much as I was.

Fuck, why did he have to be Daniel’s dad? And why did I have to be such a stickler for my own, self-imposed rules?

I took a deep breath, dried my hands, and left the bathroom determined to maintain a physical and mental distance from Chase the rest of the night…and ran straight into a hard, masculine chest.

“Whoa, sorry,” a familiar voice said as two hands wrapped around my shoulders to hold me upright.

I looked up into a pair of soft amber eyes, and my resolve to stay strong melted away. Chase must’ve sensed a change, or saw it on my face, because his nostrils flared as his tongue darted out to wet his lips. He stepped further down the hall, his grip on my shoulders pulling me with him. Somehow, I ended up with my back pressed against the wall and Chase all up in my personal space.

“A very wise teacher told me a boy should ask for consent before kissing a girl,” he whispered, his voice thick and husky.

I lost the ability to speak, so I nodded my head, my gaze trained on his mouth as he leaned in a little closer. He stopped a few inches away and froze, not moving or speaking until my eyes shot up to meet his.

“Can I kiss you, Sage Barlow?”

My chest was heaving with each strangled breath I took. My nipples were tingling with need, and every rational thought I possessed flew right out of my head. All I knew was the feel of his hands on my shoulders, the tickle of his breath on my face, and the pulse beating between my legs.

“Yes,” I mouthed, no sound coming out.

“Oh, thank God,” he breathed just before his lips brushed over mine lightly.

Once, twice, three times—soft like the wings of butterflies. Like he was testing the waters, making sure I was really into it.

Oh, I was into it.

My hands fisted in the material of his shirt, jerking him toward me. My nipples practically shouted “Hallelujah” as they rubbed against his chest, the friction sending shocks of pleasure straight to my core. Chase tilted his head, deepening the kiss. I parted my lips, and his tongue slipped through to tangle with mine.

His hands slipped from my shoulders to grip my hips as he leaned into me, and a little moan vibrated in my chest. My arms slid around his waist, pulling him closer until there was no space between us. I could feel his hard cock pressing into my abdomen, and I wanted nothing more than to climb him like a tree to rub that steel shaft against a different, more pertinent spot.

My body froze, the haze of lust clearing as the sound of approaching footsteps rang in my ears. I pushed Chase away from me with a gasp, and he must not have expected it because he stumbled backward with a shocked and confused expression on his face.

Giving him a shaky nod, I spun and started walking toward the hallway’s entrance just as two women rounded the corner. I knew them, of course. Both members of Red River Elementary’s parent-teacher association, one had a daughter in kindergarten and the other had a son…in my class.

I nodded as they called out hellos, silently praying my lips weren’t too red and swollen from Chase’s kiss. As I passed by them, I looked back over my shoulder to find Chase gone. He must’ve slipped into the men’s room after I so very obviously panicked at the idea of us being caught making out.

He was smart. And considerate. Able to read a situation and react quickly.

And he was the best fucking kisser I’d ever had the pleasure of locking lips with.

How was I supposed to stay away from him when all I wanted to do was follow him into that men’s room and…

No. I needed to get myself under control. I was a grown-ass woman, not some teenage girl with raging hormones and nonexistent inhibitions. I could be friends with Chase Perry.

Just. Friends.

And I would, too, even if it killed me.