“Five minutes, Gram,” he replies as he pulls me up from my chair like I weigh nothing.
Betty smiles with a dip of her head. “I’ll dish you out two plates. Iris, do you want me to wrap up your eggplant to go?”
“I’d love that,” I tell her, hoping I’ll still be breathing when tomorrow comes so I can enjoy the leftovers.
“You got it, sweetheart,” Betty says with a wink.
Brax pulls me gently toward the stairs that go down into the bar. His grandparents live above the space and have since they opened the bar decades ago. I have no idea what it’s like being in the same spot for so long. I moved around enough in my life that I’m not sure where home is sometimes.
As soon as the cold air of the alley hits my skin, I’m able to take my first deep breath in hours.
“Hey,” Brax says, pulling me toward him until my body is flush with his.
I tip my head back, staring up into his dark eyes in the dim lighting outside the bar. “Hey,” I whisper as my gaze dips to his mouth.
“You good?”
“I’m better,” I breathe, pressing my chest into his.
He places his palm against my cheek, brushing histhumb underneath the curve of my bottom lip. “Is this okay?”
“Yes,” I whisper as my entire body tingles from the contact with his body.
He bends his neck, bringing his lips close to mine as his eyes are glued to me. “Still okay?”
“Yes,” I say, my voice cracking as my body buzzes with anticipation.
Yeah, Betty definitely put something in that eggplant. If everybody in their apartment feels like I do, there’re going to be a few babies arriving before this time next year.
The cool air crackles around us like it’s charged with some invisible sexual force.
“I’ve been dying to do this all day,” he says softly.
I’ve been dying for him to do it too. I wondered if he’d changed his mind about getting involved with me because of all the crap with Lucas and Malakai. Ever since we got out of bed, things seemed to shift, but I guess I’m wrong. This moment proves that nothing has changed. Brax wants me as much as I want him.
“Do it,” I tell him, curling my fingers into the soft material at the back of his hoodie.
His mouth touches mine as I squeeze my eyes shut, watching the fireworks behind my eyelids. The kiss isn’t soft. Brax takes what he wants, and I give it to him willingly, losing myself in him.
I kiss him back like it’s the last time, and it might be. If things go bad with Malakai tonight… I push that thought from my head, refusing to think about anything except this moment and this kiss.
Brax digs his fingers into the skin at the back of my neck, sending tingles scattering everywhere in my body. I wanted him before, but now the yearning is so overwhelming, I’m not sure I could stay upright without an arm around my back.
If I could drop to my knees right now and worship him, I would. But I remind myself we’re in public. Anyone could see. Tonight isn’t about that either. Not even this moment is about that. This is about the connection we feel and the need to connect in a way we couldn’t in front of his family.
Our tongues tangle as our breathing grows more rushed. “I want you,” I moan into his mouth, done hiding exactly how I feel.
I’ve wasted enough of my life the last few years, thinking there had to be something wrong with me for Lucas to ditch me at the last moment. I picked poorly, and I’m not going to do that again. If Brax is anything like the men in that apartment upstairs, he’ll worship me the same way those men worship their wives. I want that. I need that. I could have that with Brax. My heart knows that. My body knows that. And now my mind does too.
The sound of wood scraping in the distance hits my ears but does nothing to make me stop as I move my fingers under his hoodie, finding the hot skin of his lower back.
“Coffee’s ready.” His grandmother’s voice fills the alley.
Brax breaks the kiss and hisses. “Sorry,” he says as he rests his forehead against mine, trying to drag in a deep breath.
I feel dizzy and drunk, but not because of the small amount of wine I had with dinner. This is the effect Brax has on me. My entire world spins out of control when our bodies connect. It’s as if all the stars in the darkened sky above us aligned and a cosmic event happened when we joined together to form one entity.
“It’s okay,” I tell him, seeing Betty watching us from the window above the bar.
