"Fuck off, Nick." The words come out harder than I intend, raw with frustration and something darker.
His laughter echoes off the walls as the door creaks shut. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
The silence that follows—like drowning.
Holly won't look at me, her hands flat against my chest—no longer pulling me closer but pushing me away. The inches between us might as well be miles.
"Holly—"
"Don't." Her voice cracks on that single word. "Just... don't."
She shoves harder and I let her go, watching helplessly as she scrambles out from under me.
Hay clings to her sweater, her hair a mess from my hands. She looks thoroughly kissed and completely devastated.
"It's not—" I start, but she's already running.
The barn door slams behind her with a finality that echoes in my chest. I drop my head back against the wagon's side, the wood rough against my scalp.
The taste of her lingers on my tongue, a reminder of everything I want and can't have.
Not fully.
Not yet.
I don’t know how long I sit there, minutes, hours… it’s hard to tell, but eventually my phone buzzes in my pocket, pulling me out of the haze.
NICK
You and Sierra get reacquainted?
The text burns in my gut, because he has no fucking clue how wrong he is.
How the recollection of Sierra—of that summer we spent messing around, a couple of dumb kids trying to find ourselves—completely fades when held against just five minutes with Holly.
I won’t be going back and rereading old chapters.
I’m interested in the new one.
Her.
I don't answer. Can't. Because every word out of my mouth lately is a lie.
The ghost of Holly's soft sighs haunts me. The way she arched into my touch. How perfectly she fit against me. The little sounds she made that I'll be hearing in my dreams.
My cock's still hard, my body humming with need, but there's no relief coming tonight.
This is my punishment—wanting her, needing her, and having to pretend I don't.
Having to watch her pull away because she thinks she doesn't matter.
This isn't just addiction anymore. This is something deeper.
Christ. How do I keep acting like I hate her by day when she's branded herself into my blood with tonight’s kiss?
How do I go back when I know how she tastes?
How her skin feels under my hands?
