“Hailey,” I mutter, hands gripping her hips.
“Hmm?”
“You have no idea what you’re doing to me.”
“Oh, I think I do.” She rocks against me, breath catching. “I can feel it.” She groans, grinding down against me. “But do you have any idea what you’re doing to me, Cole? You’re rugged and manly and sexy and driven and?—”
“Christ,” I groan, cutting her off with a kiss. “Keep talking like that and I’m gonna forget we’re in a damn truck.”
She laughs, breathless. “All the guys I’ve been with before… honestly, I wouldn’t even call them men. More like boys. You make them all seem incredibly boring and forgettable.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Her voice softens, her nose brushing mine, and my ego is in overdrive. “You make me want to be reckless.”
That pulls a low sound from me. “How so?”
“You make me want to toss away every inhibition I’ve ever had. To stop overthinking and just… want. Be wild and open.”
My jaw tightens, something uneasy flaring in my chest before I shove it down. She’s not mine. She doesn’t owe me anything. If this is her way of telling me that’s what this is, just a fun time to explore and fuck around, I need to respect that.
I swallow. “What’s on your mind right now, Hailey? What is it you want?” Her cheeks flush deeper. “Hey, look at me. You can tell me what you want.”
She hesitates, eyes flicking to my mouth. “When you… when you choked me last night, I—” She bites her lip, whispering, “It made me curious.”
A sharp breath leaves me. “Oh yeah?”
She nods slowly.
I slide one hand up, curling my fingers around her throat, applying just enough pressure to make her gasp. “Like that?” I murmur, lips brushing her ear.
Her breath stutters. “Yes,” she whispers.
I kiss her again, deeper this time, my other hand slipping under her sweater. Her skin’s warm, smooth, soft. She arches into me, a quiet whimper caught in her throat.
“You’re gonna kill me, you know that?” I growl against her mouth.
And then my phone rings, the loud, piercing sound shattering the moment. We both freeze.
I glance at the glowing screen on the dash. Maddie’s name is in big bold letters. Hailey stiffens, the color draining from her face.
“Shit,” I mutter, silencing it. I toss the phone aside and kiss her again, desperate to drown out the reality creeping in. She responds instantly, lips hungry, hands clutching my shirt.
But then it rings again, flashing Maddie’s name again.
She pulls back, chest heaving. “You should answer.”
I stare at her, torn, before sighing and snatching the phone. “Yeah?”
“Hey!” Maddie’s voice is cheerful but a little worried. “Did Hailey make it home okay? She hasn’t answered my texts and she was supposed to call me.”
Hailey’s eyes widen. She fumbles for her phone, sees the screen, and panics. She turns it around so I can see there’s three missed texts, two missed calls.
I force my voice steady. “Uh… yeah, I’m sure she’s good. Probably just roped into volunteering at the Christmas Market downtown. I saw her there the other night; her company has a booth too.”
“Oh!” Maddie laughs. “Okay, that makes sense. I’ll call her tomorrow. Tell her I said hi if you see her and to stop ignoring me.”
“Will do.”
