Page 21 of Frost Bitten
“Yeah, but we can afford five bucks or whatever,” I reply, slightly flirting with her. In the customer/businesswoman aspect, of course.
“Boy, you better watch yourself. Save that for Cait,” she says with a giggle.
“Oh,we will,”I say with a smirk. When her eyes bulge at that comment, I burst out in laughter, swipe my card, and then move to a table to wait. We don’t wait long, though, because just as I’m walking up to grab the drink carrier, Cait walks out of the back area, sans apron.
“Hey, guys, what’s up?” she says nervously. I bet she’s surprised to see me so soon, so I smile to put her at ease.
“I just wanted to see you again. Can we walk you to your car?”
Her brows furrow in suspicion, but I just smile innocently. When she nods, I hand over her drink and offer her my arm. We walk out into the cold, but when the alley approaches for us to turn to the back parking lot, I lead her forward. She looks over at me, obviously confused, but I have to keep pace and keep smiling until we get somewhere more private. I finally lead her across the street where it splits, and take her into the small gazebo near the little space that usually contains a grassy field between the two sides of the street. Bast holds back at the steps, allowing me time to talk to her and tell her what we are thinking.
“Cait, I wanted to ask you something…”
“Ok?” Her hesitancy is written all over her face, but I continue. I need to say this.
“So, this isn’t easy to say, but I’m going to say it.” I take her hand in mine, to reassure her that this isn’t a bad thing. “I love spending time with you, but I want you to know I’ve seen the way you look at Sebastien. And I’m ok with it.”
“Um, excuse me?” she exclaims with eyes now wide as saucers. I see the blush creeping up her neck too, underneath her coat.
“Yeah, um, so he kind of asked if I minded if he asked you out, and I said no. That I don’t mind if you date him, or any of the guys, for that matter. We came up here to talk to you, and then we thought of how cold you might be, so we got you some things. Hey, man, bring the bag up,” I call out to Bast. “I don’t want to ambush you with this, and I definitely don’t want to overwhelm you, so I’m going to let Bast give you the things we picked out. Just know that I’ll be here, supporting you.” As Bast joins us, I suddenly begin to feel awkward so I give Cait’s hand a squeeze before placing a light, caring kiss on those sweet lips.
I back away to wait by the stairs to the gazebo, just like he waited for me, and it's the perfect spot. I can hear everything and keep watch for privacy.
“Cait,” Bast begins before pausing, “here. We got these for you.”What? Ok… warm her up with presents. Literally.
“Oh. Um, thank you…” she says, trailing off. She pulls out the hat and squeals, immediately putting it on. The smile the Bast wears is blinding, wearing his pride at her loving his gift blatantly. She next pulls out the socks, and exclaims, “Oh my gosh, I can’t wait to put these on!” She hands the socks to Bast, in order to manage pulling the blanket out. “Oh, wow, this is gorgeous. You guys didn’t have to!”
“We know, but we also knew how thin the clothes you were wearing are, and we wanted to warm you up.”Smooth bastard,I think to myself with a smirk. I turn back, only to watch him drop the socks back in the bag, grab the blanket, and wrap it around Cait. He pulls the blanket and her closer to him, and his lips move without sound reaching me, indicating he’s whispering.
Fuck, you’ve got this, dude. Tell her.
I give them a few minutes, and I see her nod a few times, and then she whispers back. When she glances up at me, I smile and nod my head, letting her know I’m okay with this. I know he was going to tell her what he wanted, that he couldn’t stop thinking of her, and he hoped she would let him take her out. That he finds her absolutely irresistible, and he wants to get to know her more.
When she ducks her head and nods, her blush covers her cheeks, and I gaze over at Bast. A smile bursts across his face as he glances up at me, and I crack a huge grin. I nod my head at him, telling him to go for it, and he leans down, placing a tentative kiss on her lips. Just watching Cait respond, opening up, embracing him, and melting into the kiss has me screaming on the inside.YES!
When they separate a moment later, they both are panting as he whispers into her ear. She nods in return before stepping back and grinning up at him.
“Thank you for the gifts. Both of you,” she speaks up, turning to me. Bast bends to pick up the bag, and then grabs her hand, leading her down to me. She still clutches the blanket wrapped around her, so I throw my arm over her shoulder, walking down the street back toward the parking lot.
Once we reach her Jeep, she unlocks and opens the driver’s door and starts the engine. She turns back to us and tucks her hands into the blanket.
“So… what now?” she asks. “How does this work? I have never dated more than one guy at the same time, let alone friends. I’m just afraid I’m going to screw this up somehow.”
“Nonsense, Sunshine,” I declare, stepping forward and wrapping her in my arms. “Now, you let Bast take you out on a date. And we spend time together. You and me, you and him, and all three of us. We are here for you, Sunshine.” I reach up with a hand, palming her neck, and rubbing her cheek with my thumb. I look into her snow-colored eyes, bright with wonder and excitement, and lean in to take her lips in mine. At first, I gently kiss her. Reverently and sensually, I peck her luscious lips, before massaging the seam to beg entry. When she opens for me, I groan, knowing we have someone watching.Fucking hell,I can’t do this; I’ll be rock hard only to have to go home to a situation. I still may have to. I reluctantly break the kiss before turning and pushing Bast toward her. He immediately steps into her and picks up where I left off.Ok, Romeo,I snicker to myself.
When he finally releases her, she’s grinning from ear to ear. “I’ll see you tomorrow night?” he asks, and she responds with a nod before climbing into her now warm car. She closes the door, before blowing us a kiss. We watch with goofy grins on our faces as she pulls away, both of us high on everythingCait.
“So,” he starts as we walk back to my truck, “I think that went well.” I can’t help but burst out in laughter and get a smirk in return.
TWELVE
CAIT
Man, this last weekend has been a whirlwind. After I left the guys Sunday, I immediately went home and called Ella. I had to vent about everything that had happened with the guys. From Bast serenading me while I napped to him walking in on me half naked and my embarrassment, to me taking charge and exploring my sexuality after… eww. But then, I finished off with the kissing.All the kissing.
I ended up spending all night texting with Bast. He’s not a talkative guy, so I took the opportunity to get to know him. I find his family and heritage interesting. Knowing he can speak French with his parents is amazing. Not that I ever expect to know what it means if he speaks French in front of me, but just the idea of being bilingual in such a romantic language intrigues me. He tells me about meeting the guys and about his sister. While he loves her, she’s grown up separately from him, even in the same household. From what he’s told me, she’s not a bitch; she’s just a totally different person than him, so they don’t hang out much. We ended up planning our date, and what time he was going to pick me up. He decided he wanted to surprise me; he only told me to be comfortable for dinner. I have so much to look forward to tomorrow.
When I wake up the next morning to my alarm clock on my phone, I grumble and roll over in the covers. Who sets alarms anymore?! Then I realize what day it is and jump right up and get ready for school. I chuckle to myself, only a boy can make me get out of bed that fast. Once I’m ready, I wake Lily and get her going. Luckily, most of the snow from Saturday night melted, so I have a few more days before I have to take her to get winter boots.
