A thunderbolt vibrates through my body, electricity crackling through my veins when she drags her finger across my bottom lip.
“Your kiss did light something inside me.” She stares me directly in the eye. “I’ve wanted to do it again, just to make sure I really did feel it. That it was real.”
I blow out a heavy breath, emptying my lungs. I swear to God, I’m no longer anchored to this earth. I’m floating away, being hurled into another galaxy.
“Oh, Wallflower. I have, too.” She’s cracked open my chest and wrapped her hands around my heart, claiming it for herself.
I drag my finger down the side of her face, admiring her. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Then she’s sinking against me. I catch her just as her knees buckle. In one swift movement, I pick her up, scooping her up into my arms. She places her head against me, tucking her hand between my beating heart and her cheek. She closes her eyes.
“But she said the same,” she mumbles. “And look how well that turned out.”
I have no clue what she means or who she’s talking about. I stand there holding her, listening to her deepening breaths and the dripping faucet. Watching her sleep against me does something to me. I’ve never seen her this peaceful, this calm and out of her own thoughts.
I take one more glance around her apartment and then I don’t waste any more time. I swipe her key from the bowl, lock the front door, and take her home.
SEVENTEEN
SELENE
When I wake up, it feels as if I’ve slammed my head against a brick wall. Repeatedly.
My mind is alive, but my world is black. It takes me several seconds and all the strength I have to crack my eyes open.
A sharp hiss passes between my teeth when I do. Bright, obnoxious rays of sunshine beam through the large, glass window I’m facing. A shadowy figure sits in front of it. He’s draped in sunshine, surrounded by yellow and white. I lift my hand and block it out on a groan.
“Morning, Wallflower.” Holt’s gravelly voice breaks the silence.
“Where am I?” I ask, rolling onto my back and covering my eyes with my hand.
“My bed.”
“Seriously?” I ask, rolling my head back to face him. That motion alone makes me feel sick again. I hold back a gag.
“Here. Take this.” Holt sits up from the chair he’s sitting in and hands me a glass of ice water and two white pills.
“How did I get here?” I ask after the pills make their waydown my throat. I’m afraid I might throw them back up unless I get some food in my system soon. “What happened?”
“You don’t remember?” The bed sinks as he sits on the edge beside me.
I sit up until my back rests against the headboard. Fragments of last night come crashing into my hungover brain.
Slipping into Julianna’s newly-bought, sparkly dress. Going to the bar. Refusing to think about Holt. Telling the girls I would only have one drink. Seeing the coconut cake on the dessert menu. Ordering six shots of tequila. Downing them back to back. Julianna’s driver taking me home. Stumbling into my apartment, then suddenly feeling alone. Walking back outside to call Holt. Him showing up at my front step.
“I remember parts,” I mutter, my cheeks reddening. I look him in the eye. “I remember you were standing inside my apartment with me.”
My stomach growls loudly. Fuck. Could I be any more embarrassing?
“Not for long,” Holt says, the corner of his mouth lifting. He leans forward and grabs a small plate of toast from the nightstand. He picks up the top triangle and holds it in front of my mouth. “Eat.”
I swallow loudly. Heat burns across my body. It could be from the intense sun. We are closer to it, after all, with how tall Holt’s building is. Or it could be the look in his blue eyes, telling me that if I don’t take a bite of the toast he’s offering, he might finally use that punishment he promised me.
Leaning forward, I take a bite.
He watches me intensely, his mouth parting as my teeth sink into the crusty wheat slice. It feels good to sit back and chew it, letting it soak up whatever alcohol remains in my body.
“You passed out on me,” he says, watching me take anotherbite. “I decided to bring you here so I could watch over you better. I’m glad I did because…”
Then it hits me. The shame. The embarrassment. For some reason, the memories of after I passed out against Holt in my apartment aren’t as clear. My neck prickles with the thought of what could have happened.
