“I won’t need to because you’re gonna give it to me.”

“Excuse you?” She takes in my smug smile with scornful indignation.

I lean in a little bit closer and her gaze falls to my lips briefly. “I didn’t stutter. You’re going to initiate the next kiss we share. You know why?”

Her only response is a lift of the head and a narrowing of her eyes, so I continue. “Because next time, I won’t be stopping until you’re coming apart beneath me and screaming my name, so I need to be sure it’s what you want.”

“Then I guess you’ll be waiting forever then, huh?”

I rock my hips forward so my knee falls between her thighs. She gasps at the connection. “You should know by now I’d wait an eternity for you, Olivia.” Her lips part slightly and the rise and fall of her chest gets deeper. Her body is trying to tell her mind what it wants, but I know she’s not ready to listen so I lick my lips, tap the tip of her nose with my finger, and push myself away from her. “When you’re ready,” I remind her. I make my way back over to the island where the plates of lasagna sit. “Smells delicious; let’s eat.”

I grab them and balance them on my forearms. I don’t hear her moving, so I turn back to her to find her in the exact same spot, looking dazed. It isn’t until I come back to the kitchen to grab the glasses of water she started to fill that she snaps out of it.

Dinner isn’t awkward. Shane and Olivia banter back and forth like old friends, and I find that it doesn’t bother me, though I’m still going to crush him for his incessant flirting. I actually like that she’s taken to my friend so quickly. It tells me that she’ll love the rest of them just as much.