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He chuckled at that. While he wasn't drinking, he thought it was time to drop a little truth of his own. "Well, I think you are pretty sexy all of the time."
He loved the sly smile that Clarissa flashed. She wasn't demure and didn’t shun the compliment. Instead, it was as if she knew his thoughts. She took another sip of her margarita before saying, "Fitzy would love hearing that." He lifted an eyebrow, confused about why their nosy landlady would even think that. "She thinks that we like to annoy each other so much ‘cause we’re hot for each other."
His eyes bugged out. That was the last thing he’d thought. What grown adults would actually use that as a dating method? Sure, he was hot for her. But he typically felt bad about annoying her and figured that he stood no shot in hell of anything happening. That was, until the little guy in his lap brought them together.
"That's quite a theory. Although, I always figured that I never stood a chance with you." He wouldn't fess up to the fact, but there had been a couple of times in the past when he’d played the drums to piss her off at weird hours, just so he could see her pretty face. Just like he loved when she met up with some of her friends in the complex while drinking poolside.
"Until 24 hours ago, I didn't think I liked you much. Now, I realize there is a lot more to you than I thought."
He loved hearing that from her. While he loved how much the tequila was making her talk, he hated what that meant for them tonight. It would be another night of waiting since he couldn't live with himself if he took advantage of her. "Glad you came to see the light."
He wasn't sure how she would react to that. There was a decent chance at pissing her off, but she smiled as she rolled her eyes. "Why do you do that?"
"Do what?" he asked.
"Be so damn cocky all the time."
He shrugged. He didn't think he was being overly cocky. Sure, he was competitive, but so was every guy that he knew. Couldn't make it to the best leagues in the world without being somewhat cocky and competitive. If anything, he was trying to do something else entirely. "It's not cocky, sweetheart. It's just being playful."
That's when Nathan decided to squirm away from his grip. He was able to grab a hold of the leash right as Nathan hopped into Clarissa's lap. So PK didn't have to pull on the leash to stop him. As she started to fondle the puppy, he said, "You two sure do look awfully cute together."
Clarissa
As she held on to the puppy for the rest of dinner, she realized that she was falling for the hockey player sitting across from her. She loved how the big guy would morph into such a softie when he held Nathan. Okay, softie wasn't the right way to describe him, because even when he held the puppy, he still had his wicked wit and didn't mind throwing a few barbs. But she liked how their verbal sparring lately had been so illuminating.
The dinner was great, and she hated the idea of him going on the road. Normally, she cheered when that happened, especially lately, since she could escape the noise and relax a little bit.
It was a quiet ride home. Even Nathan seemed to pick up on the change in mood between the two of them. He kept going from her lap to PK's and back. She was impressed with how easy PK made it look when he took a hand off the wheel to pet the little guy without taking his eyes off the road or swerving the car.
He backed into his parking spot, and the two of them headed into the complex. Nathan trotted between them, although this time she held on to his leash. There was a warm hand on the small of her back. That was a move she usually hated, since it was possessive in her book. But with PK, she realized it didn’t feel that possessive. He wanted to be protective, since that margarita had hit her harder than she expected.
From that simple action, she realized how much her heart had thawed in the past few days. She glanced over her shoulder and flashed PK a smile. She could have sworn it was that classic new love moment where two crushes realized what they had going on.
Much like the previous night, they didn't part for their own places.
He smirked and said, "Don't even think about shutting that door in my face, Clarissa."
Unlike the previous night, she wasn't even tempted to do such a thing. "Now, why would I do that?"
"’Cause you wanted to do it last night."
She bit her bottom lip, knowing full well he called her out. Instead, she tried to play it off as she opened the door. "Just get your ass in here before I regret it."
"Wouldn't want you to do that, sweetheart."
She hated how much she loved how he would banter back and wasn't afraid to challenge her. She raised an eyebrow. "So it's sweetheart now? Shouldn't you save that title for your girlfriend?"
She didn't know why she went with that response. It was so much more barbed than she meant it to be. Much to his credit, he didn't even flinch. If anything, he liked it, given the protrusion coming from his pants. She held a hand to her face to hide the snicker as he tried to tuck it away while he walked through the door.
"Do you want me to get you some help with the pup while I'm away?" He immediately helped himself to the kitchen. She watched him like a hawk, but it was clear he was getting Nathan's medicine ready. He scooped peanut butter from the jar he’d brought over, slathered it into a bone, and stuck the pill in the middle of the brown goo.
"No. I got it. But thanks for the offer." She grabbed the bone from his hand and knelt down to give it to Nathan. Thankfully, the pup went to town on it. As she stood up, she blew a few strands of her hair away from her face. "It's not necessary, especially when Nate takes it so well."
She cursed herself for calling the puppy Nate after giving PK so much shit for shortening up his name. Although, he didn't give it right back to her. Instead, he pulled her close to him. "Come on, sweetheart, relax a little. You can use nicknames too."
She didn't know what came over her. Well, scratch that, she did. She was feeling randy. She knew he was turned on, and she let the liquid courage take over by kissing him hard. It just seemed like the right moment to give herself some grace and let the passion take over.
Thankfully, he completely reciprocated her action. Not only that. He took the lead the moment his hands started to traverse up her back and under her shirt. From there, he pushed the two of them up onto the kitchen counter.
