I pressed my lips harder against his, letting myself feel like a teenage girl for the first time in a while. I wrapped my arms around his neck, not complaining one bit.

Drew tensed in shock but kept kissing me. He pressed his lips harder against my lips, and I answered that kiss, pushing up against him harder, too.

After a while, Drew was the first one to pull away, and both of us were gasping for breath after our makeout session. "Damn," he breathed out, and he placed his forehead against mine.

I sucked in a deep breath and tried to say something to him, but I couldn't find the words to express how I felt. So, all I did was nod and not try to say a word.

Drew hesitated but pressed a small kiss to my lips, this one more gentle than the other, and I responded with a soft kiss, too. "Hmph," he said while he pulled away from me.

A smirk appeared on his face, and all I did was scowl, debating on the best way to knock it off. However, I didn't do what I would normally do, which would be to shove him away from me.

Instead, I rolled my eyes and let my scowl deepen, and his smirk grew larger. "Don't," I warned, and the smirk became a small smile. "I will have you ending up on your butt if you keep that up, Cupcake," I warned.

He chuckled and placed a soft kiss on my forehead, and I let myself close my eyes and enjoy his warmth. "I know," he admitted when he pulled away. He cleared his throat and licked his lips, and I had to keep my eyes on him and not on his mouth. "I'm surprised that I am not there already."

"I've been debating it," I muttered and pursed my lips in annoyance. I played with a bit of his hair and studied him.

I kept my face blank while I studied him, not wanting him to see the questions that swarmed around my brain.

I had no idea why he was into a girl like me, someone that would be able to kick his ass if he did something that I wouldn't like. Hell, I had no idea why he'd want to like someone who did the one thing that he swore he wouldn't do.

Drew studied me and cocked his head. "What are you thinking?" he asked finally. "You are being difficult right now."

I rolled my eyes and snorted. "I'm always difficult," I replied. "What are you talking about?"

Drew shrugged and chuckled. "I know," he said, honestly. He cleared his throat and released me, and I let him go. He shifted on his feet and cleared his throat again, and I raised an eyebrow in question. "I didn't know that you had feelings for me," he said, honestly, and I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"I don't let anyone know what I am feeling, not really, Cupcake," I said coldly. "You should know that by now since you graciously appeared in my life without an invitation."

Drew sighed and nodded, and an amused smile appeared on his lips. "I know," he said. He cleared his throat and shifted on his feet while he studied me. "When?" He looked nervous and kept glancing around before he looked at me.

I raised an eyebrow, and my heart skipped a beat. I made sure to keep my face blank and prayed that I wouldn't blush because that was the last thing I wanted to do. "When what?" I asked, even though I knew what he wanted to know.

When did I start to like him?

Drew scowled and narrowed his eyes at me, and I raised the eyebrow higher and cocked my head. "You know what I am wanting to ask," he said. "When did you start to like me?"

I hopped onto the railing and shrugged. "I could be asking you the same thing," I replied. "When did you start to like me?"

Drew leaned against the railing and shrugged. He looked out on the lawn before he looked at me. "Well, I asked you first, so you are going to have to answer first before I tell you when I started to like you."

"Well, I am a female, so me answering your question first is invalid," I replied. "So, you are going to have to answer me first." I looked at him and smirked, waiting for him to say anything different.

Drew sighed and shook his head. A small smile appeared on his lips, and I had a feeling that he knew I wouldn't tell him when I started liking him until after he told me that when he started to like me.

He sighed and rubbed his mouth before he turned his focus to the world away from me. "I want to say it was when I saw you in that dress about to beat some heads in," he admitted. "I was attracted to you, then, but that was only for your looks."

I snorted and rolled my eyes, and scowled. I didn't say a word because he sent me a pointed look that told me to stay silent until he was finished with what he wanted to say. I pressed my lips into a thin line but did what he told me to do and stayed silent.

He sighed and looked away again. "I started to like you in other ways when we had that conversation on that night," he said. "I saw you more than just a pair of panties."

I nodded and pressed my lips into a further line. "I had a feeling that you wanted to have sex with me," I said and looked at him. I looked away from him when I saw that he was staring at me and cleared my throat. "I am surprised you haven't tried harder at flirting with me or getting into my panties."

Drew snorted. "What would you have done if I flirted with you a lot, Sweet Cheeks?" he asked, and I rolled my eyes and scowled. He gave me a pointed look and smirked. "I'd rather keep that part to myself."

I barked out a short laugh. "Oh, come on," I said, and he gave me a deadpanned look. "You do not keep that part to yourself, and you know it."

He sighed and moved a hand through his hair before he shook his head. "I wanted to keep it on me, thank you very much," he said, and I snorted and rolled my eyes. "If I stepped way out of line, then I knew that my buddy would be going."

"Or just bruised so that he wouldn't work properly for some time," I replied and shrugged. I tapped my finger against the railing and sighed. "And, to be honest, I don't know when I started to like you," I said, finally.

Drew didn't say a word and nodded. He knew better than to say a word because he knew that I would close up like a clam if he did. He waited patiently, or at least as patiently as he could because he wanted to know. He wanted to know when I started to like him.

"I don't know when I started to like you, but I realized that I did like you during dinner tonight," I said. I sighed and rubbed my arm, looking down and not at him. "I became jealous of the girl that you were talking about," I admitted bitterly, earning a laugh from Drew.

"What?" he asked with another laugh.

I scowled and shoved him away, and he laughed again. "Shut up," I said. "I was jealous of the female that you became so smitten with and wanted you for myself."

He snorted. "Why didn't you think that I was talking about you?" he asked, growing serious.

I shrugged and didn't look at him. "Because I am the product of my environment," I replied. "I'm a cold hearted bitch that is stuck up and stand-offish. I'm hard for people to understand and am cold and bitter."

Drew sighed and placed his hand in mine. He squeezed my hand when I didn't move my hand from his and cleared his throat. "That is just a shell," he said, "and your defenses." He rubbed the back of my hand, and I stared at it. "Underneath, you are a strong and vibrant female. You care about your people and all of those around you."

He squeezed my hand again and didn't care when I didn't squeeze his hand back. "And that is the reason why I had become attracted to you," he said. "You have a heart of stone, but it is warm underneath that cold surface."