Light My Fire
: Chapter 33

My goal for our date Friday afternoon is to focus on Brooke.

Not think about Luke and Jackson and what they did with her on their dates.

Sure, I want to know where they took her and if they stuck to the no sex rule and what they talked about and if they are falling in love with her. I’d been fixated on all that stuff all week.

But now that I’m standing outside Brooke’s apartment door, I want none of those thoughts crowding my head. I’m sure she had fun with Luke and Jackson. She deserves to have fun, to laugh and be doted on and treated like the incredible and special woman that she is.

Now it’s my turn to do the same and focus just on her. Not them. Brooke.

I told myself on the way over here that I’m going to just enjoy the opportunity to spend time with Brooke without competing for her attention.

I’ve never compared myself to other men when it comes to women and I don’t like that I’ve been doing that with Brooke and my friends. It’s pointless and is only going to result in me pushing Brooke away, the very last thing in the fucking world that I want to happen.

The bottom line is she likes all of us for different reasons, like Luke pointed out, and I need to be okay with that or she’s not going to be okay with me.

That’s the pep talk I’ve been giving myself all week—don’t ruin my date with Brooke.

But when she opens her door and gives me a bright smile, I don’t need to repeat my mantra or gut check myself.

Everything that’s been rattling around in my brain all week disappears.

She’s the only thought in my head.

“You look so beautiful,” I tell her as a greeting. “Absolutely gorgeous.”

She’s dressed casually in wide leg jeans and sneakers, with a thick red sweater and an ivory knit hat. She’s covered from head to toe and yet, I know what’s under all those clothes and just being here, in her presence again, has my heart thumping and my dick hardening. I can never decide what it is exactly about Brooke’s facial features that make her so incredibly beautiful, whether it’s her long eyelashes or her perfectly adorable nose or her high cheekbones or her wonderfully expressive blue eyes.

It’s all of them. But mostly it’s the way her smile reaches her eyes and how, when she speaks to someone, she gives them her whole attention. It’s how she speaks intelligently, thoughtfully.

It’s just her.

She is just a beautiful human, inside and out.

Brooke tilts her head and smiles, her expression a little curious. I must be staring at her like the lovesick fool that I am.

“Thank you, Wyatt. It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you, too. I missed you,” I tell her because it’s the truth. I’m not going to shy away from my feelings about her.

I lean forward and take her chin with my fingers and sweep my gaze over her lips and up to her eyes. “I know we said no sex but I didn’t hear any rules in there about no kissing.”

The tip of her tongue sweeps over her bottom lip. “No, there weren’t. I’d love a kiss from you.”

For a brief second, I wonder if the other guys kissed her, but then I decide, and actually mean it, that I don’t care. Brooke wants me to kiss her, and that’s all that matters.

I don’t have any clear intent to deepen the kiss, but the minute our lips touch, we both get drawn into a passionate embrace. Her arms go over my shoulders and I slide my fingers into her hair, swirling my tongue around hers. It’s like we haven’t seen each other in months, which is how it feels to me, and now we’re hot and heavy and can’t get enough of each other.

Finally, Brooke pulls back and grins. “Wow. Hi.”

“Hi.” I nuzzle along her temple, dropping gentle kisses everywhere I can. “Told you I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” She glances back at her open doorway. “Want to come in?”

I know a trap when I see one.

“For coffee or more kissing?” I ask her.

“For anything you want.” She drags her thumb across her bottom lip.

I almost groan.

Brooke has definitely found her sensuality and she knows how to use it. I can resist a lot of things but our sweet virgin turned temptress isn’t one of them.

Part of me thinks the hell with Luke and Jackson.

But I’m also a man of my word.

Unless those assholes broke it.

In that case, I’m sweeping Brooke up in my arms and carrying her into the apartment and laying her down on the nearest surface.

“I want everything,” I tell her. “But I need to know—did Luke or Jackson break the rules and have sex with you?”

She shakes her head. “No. Just kissing. And maybe a little touching.”

I take a deep breath. “Then come here.” I take her hand and tug her forward. “We’re not going inside, because if we do I’ll break my promise to the guys and I’ll strip you naked and kiss every single inch of your sexy body.”

“I’d like that.” Her expression is eager, open.

Now I do groan. “You’re killing me. Be a good girl.”

She pouts. “Okay, I’ll be good, I promise.”

Even that pout and those words are ridiculously hot. But I lead her toward the stairs by sheer willpower.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s nice outside today. The sun is shining and it’s in the fifties. I think spring has almost arrived so I thought maybe we could go to the Lincoln Park Zoo. I’m sure you’ve been there a million times but it’s nice to just stroll through.”

“I’ve never actually been there. I haven’t spent much time in Chicago, really. I’d love to go to the zoo.”

That surprises me, though I’m not sure why. “I didn’t realize you haven’t been here much. What made you decide to do your clinicals here then?”

I open the front door of her building for her, and we step out onto the sidewalk. The air smells crisp and clear, yet there’s no real wind. It’s a perfect day for this time of year.

“My grandmother lives here and of course, my brother and my sister-in-law. My aunt and uncle are here, too. I wanted to experience a different city but without being totally on my own. I can’t imagine moving somewhere I don’t know a single person. I don’t always do well in large crowds or new environments. I kind of shut down.”

“I understand that. I’ve always only lived here, and I have no desire to leave Chicago. This is home. All my people are here.” I give her a smile. “Including you. I’m so damn happy you moved here.”

“Me too.” She’s fallen in step beside me, but she glances up. “Are we walking there? I don’t have a good sense of the geography here yet.”

“No, it’s too far, given that we’ll be walking around the zoo.” I pull my phone out. “We can take a car service.” Normally I’d take the bus or the train but then we wouldn’t be able to talk as readily.

In the car, we chat casually about movies and favorite foods and how we both come from large extended families but with only one sibling each. I have a little sister who is a pediatric nurse.

“My grandmother told me you’re mechanically inclined,” she says at one point. “I’ve been trying to figure out what that means exactly.”

That makes me laugh. “Why would your grandmother tell you that?”

“She said we have a lot in common. I think she was trying to matchmake us when you came to the cabin.”

“Then I guess I owe your grandmother a thank you. Hell, a giant fruit basket. I’m good at fixing things, especially if they have gears or hydraulics. I’m the guy they send out on elevator rescues. But I’m not sure what that has in common with healing animals.”

“Well, we both like to problem solve.”

“That is true. I also think we have similar temperaments.” More so than her and Luke or Jackson.

She nods. “I agree.”

I’ve been holding her hand in the car, and she squeezes it now.

“Being with you is really easy, Wyatt.” She gives me a bright smile. “You feel like home to me.”

I couldn’t ask for a bigger compliment than that. It drills me straight to the core.

I’m in love with Brooke.

Absolutely, fully, one hundred percent in love with this amazing, caring, intelligent woman.

I almost tell her.

I want to tell her.

But the moment doesn’t feel quite right, so instead I kiss her again, passionately.

She sighs into me, into the kiss and I want to capture it, and remember every single second of being with her. If I feel like home to her, she feels like the entire universe to me.

We kiss in front of the zoo when we arrive and take a selfie together.

I want pictures of us together so I can look at them when I’m not with her. Lots and lots of pictures, documenting a life together, time passing, concrete evidence of a past between us as we flow forward into a future.

“We look so cute together,” Brooke says when I show her the picture on my phone. “Text that to me, please.”

“Of course.” I send her the picture immediately and take her hand as we walk to the gate. “Are you cold?”

“No, I’m good. It’s really nice out today. I am from Minnesota, remember?”

“As if I could forget.” I grin at her. “I have a whole new appreciation for snowstorms now.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you… couldn’t you have fixed that generator earlier? Why did you wait?”

There is no point in denying it. “I wanted to cuddle on the couch with you under a blanket. I admit it. Also, I didn’t know how long it would take and I didn’t want to be away from you, even for a few minutes. I still don’t.”

I mean just generally. It’s honestly not even in my head to equate that with Luke and Jackson until she brings it up.

“I know this isn’t your first choice, but thank you for understanding that I want to spend time with the other guys.”

The right words don’t come to me. I don’t want to say the wrong thing and upset her or sour our date in any way, so I just bend down and kiss her temple. “Of course. What animal do you want to see first? I personally love monkeys, so I’m going to make a request we stop at the primate house at some point.”

“I love primates too. They’re such intelligent animals. Let’s go there first.”

The zoo is filled with families, elderly couples strolling together and twenty-somethings with their phones up, taking pictures of the various animals and the landscape. Spring foliage is just starting to appear with some bulbs blooming.

“Did you always know you wanted to be a vet?” I ask her as we pause to watch the seals zipping around their pool.

One pops his head up and shakes and Brooke laughs. “Yes. I’ve always loved animals. When other girls were playing with Barbies, I was playing with my vet kit, patching up fictitious boo boos on all my stuffed animals.”

“That sounds adorable.”

“I was a cute kid,” she says with a flirty flip of her hair back over her shoulder. “I imagine you were a true rough and tumble boy, weren’t you?”

“Probably. I loved sports, especially baseball. The big treat every summer was when my dad took me to see the Cubs play. I had a little desk calendar in my room and I used to cross out the days until the game we were attending. I would lay out my spirit gear the night before with my mitt, ready to catch a home run. One never came my way though. We should go to a game this summer.”

“Maybe this will be your year and you’ll finally catch one.”

“You can be my lucky charm.”

“I don’t know about that, but I can guarantee you’ll get lucky after the game.”

That makes me grin. “Is it April yet?”

Brooke laughs. “I don’t think you’ll have to wait until April to get lucky.”

“Just not today?” I ask, letting my hand drift lower onto her ass as we pause on a path that has no one else in the immediate area. I kiss her and rock her forward onto my hard cock.

Brooke sighs. “I thought I was a rule follower but I don’t like this one.”

“We’ll have to work something out. What if I just eat your pussy?”

“Yes,” she breathes, her eyes drifting closed as she presses herself tightly against me. “Please.”

I reluctantly release her. “Okay, after we zoo.”

She laughs. “That’s one way to put it.”

We spend two hours making our way through the exhibits nearest the entrance. We don’t get far because Brooke likes to read every placard and I like to watch her. I take more pictures of us and we get coffee for her in one of the restaurants.

When I sense she’s getting tired and cold, I suggest we save the other half for another day. Brooke readily agrees.

“I’d love for us to come back when all the trees and flowers are in full bloom.”

It warms me more than any coffee could to hear her talking as if it’s a foregone conclusion we’ll be planning and doing things together in the months ahead.

When we get back to Brooke’s apartment, she’s barely over the threshold before I have the door closed and her pressed up against it. I go down on my haunches and ease her jeans open and down just enough for me to tug her panties to the side and slide my tongue over her clit.

“Wyatt, oh God!”

“I’ve been thinking about this sweet little cunt all day,” I tell her. “You taste so damn good, gorgeous.”

Her fingers dig into my hair to hold on to me. “That feels incredible. You make me feel so sexy.”

“You are sexy. The sexiest woman I’ve ever met.” Then I tease at her, easing my tongue inside her wet channel over and over, listening to the sound of breathing for clues about what is really getting her turned on.

I replace just the right spot when I suck lightly on her clit and press a finger deep into her heat.

Brooke breaks all over me, her thighs shaking as she shudders and cries her way through an orgasm. It’s a sound I’m never going to grow tired of.

I let her settle back down to earth, her fingers releasing my head, before I sit back. Staring at her pretty little pussy, I reach out with my finger and stroke over her one last time.

She gives an involuntary, “Oh!” before letting out a deep breath.

I suck on my finger, wanting one last taste of her. When I glance up at her, she’s watching me with a hooded gaze, her expression tender, cheeks flushed.

I love you.

I almost tell her again.

But I force myself to stand and give her a quick, hard kiss. “I need to leave or I’m going to fuck you against this door until you can’t see straight.”

She nods.

Which makes me grin.

I can’t tell if she’s agreeing that I should fuck her or that I should leave.

Adjusting my throbbing dick, I kiss her on the forehead. “Talk to you soon.” Then I shift her away from the door and exit before I do something that will piss off Luke and Jackson.