Tempt Our Fate (Sutten Mountain, #2)(76)

She licks eagerly at the ice cream cone in her hand, trying to keep up with the drips of melted ice cream running down her fingers. It’s the most adorable thing seeing her do it, but it also makes me incredibly horny. Her tongue peeks out to get a drip that runs down her hand. She can’t eat the ice cream cone fast enough, even after she’d sworn that she wanted two scoops on top of the cone instead of one. Rainbow sprinkles keep falling off the top, unable to stick to the melting cookies-and-cream ice cream.

I can’t help but laugh when a glob drips off the top, landing on top of her thumb.

She gives me an evil glare, licking it. “This isn’t funny.”

I grab her wrist, pulling her closer. I maintain eye contact as I lean down and lick from her forearm all the way up her hand.

Her eyes go wide, darting around to look at the people around us as I do it again on the opposite side of her arm, getting her nice and clean.

“Camden,” she scolds, trying to pull from my grasp.

My fingers tighten. I make sure to wait until she looks back at me, her cheeks pink with embarrassment, as I stick my tongue out and lick the top of the ice cream before it melts over again. Her gaze heats when I repeat it, knowing exactly where her head is at. It’s the same place mine is—thinking of the dirty, delicious things I could do to her instead of this ice cream cone.

“People are staring,” she whisper-shouts. Her eyes dart around our surroundings again. I smirk because there are tons of people around us. Apparently, tonight is the night to grab ice cream at the small little shop in town. We waited twenty minutes in line just to get our ice cream. And now, we mill around the town square with what seems like the rest of the town.

“Let them stare,” I answer lowly, licking a small drip running down the back of her hand.

“They’re going to know we—” I cut off her words by catching her lips with mine. She tastes sweet, like ice cream and cookies. When her tongue eagerly meets mine—despite her argument of people watching us—it’s cold and sweet.

We get lost in the moment, making out like a couple of teenagers, not caring who is around us.

Pippa lets out a squeak, pulling away and looking down at her arm. Ice cream drips all the way down it. I wish I could bottle up her giggle and keep it forever. “Oh my god,” she mutters, attempting to use the one napkin they gave her to wipe up the mess.

She walks a few steps, throwing the ice cream cone into the trash. She continues to try and use the napkin to clean herself up before I reach into my pocket and hand her a pile I took from the counter. “I grabbed some extras. I figured that extra scoop you told the man you had to have could make things messy.”

Her smile is bright and radiant as she snatches them from my hand, wiping her arm and cleaning up the mess. “What would I do without you?” she teases.

I hope you never find out.

I keep my lips pressed together so I don’t say the words out loud. I’ve admitted enough tonight. More than I ever imagined I would. Before I say anything else, I need to figure out what’s going on in my head when it comes to her—and maybe even my stupid heart, something I didn’t even know I had.

We pass by groups of people, all of them stopping Pippa to try and talk to her. She politely answers their questions, but she’s good at ending the conversation early and moving forward. It’s not lost on me that I don’t love how she introduces me as her friend. I’ve never been her friend, and she’s acting like everyone here doesn’t have eyes and just didn’t see us with our tongues down the other’s throat.

I keep my mouth shut because there’s not much I could really say. We’re not boyfriend and girlfriend. We’d need to be more serious for that, and I don’t know if that’s what she wants. I know I don’t plan on even breathing in the same direction as another woman—it’d be no use. They’d never compare to the grip Pippa has on me. But does she feel the same way? Is there some man in this town who’s pining over her, just waiting for her to look their way? Is there someone here who’s broken her heart before? That she’s desperately waiting for him to look at her?

These are the thoughts that plague me as we walk along the dimly lit sidewalk. The gallery and cafe aren’t too far from us, but they’re in the opposite direction. I don’t know where she’s taking me, but I just follow her lead, too caught up in wondering if it’s too soon to ask her to be my girlfriend.

She must feel me go silent because she weaves her arm through mine and places her head against my shoulder. “Aren’t you going to ask where we’re going?”

I stare ahead, not really caring where we go. I’m too lost in thinking about what happens next for us. What do I want? What’s realistic? Most importantly…what does she want?

Pippa stops, turning to face me with her eyebrows raised. “You’re quiet. And not in the normal I’m Camden Hunter, and I’m broody kind of way,” she mocks, her voice going deep in a terrible impression of me. “But more like you’re in your head kind of way.”

I need to touch her and feel her skin against mine. Without any excuse, I reach out and brush my thumb along her cheek. She leans into it almost immediately. “I just got lost for a minute.” I look around us. “Where are you taking me, shortcake?”

She gives me a questioning glare for a few seconds before her face lights up with a smile. God, my heartbeat picks up at the sight of her smile. It’s radiant. I want to pull out my phone and capture it forever, wanting to always remember her looking at me this way.