“I don’t know why you do this to yourself,” I said. “I always want to watch the same thing after a rough day. And I’d say this was pretty rough.”
His chest lifted with a deep inhale, and I pressed my lips together to hide my smile. “You’re really going to make me watchGossip Girlat one o’clock in the morning?”
“You can pretend you don’t like it all you want, but don’t think I haven’t noticed how you shush me if I try to talk during it.”
“I shush you when you try to talk during anything. Which is always, by the way.”
“But if I didn’t talk, how would I irritate you?”
“I’m sure you’d find a way.”
I grinned down at my plate and heard the familiar opening chords toGossip Girl.I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve this kind of friendship, but I would forever be grateful. I could spend the rest of my life thanking Beck for being there for me while I stumbled through these past two years on my own, away from all my family and friends, and it still wouldn’t be enough.
I tipped my head back to tell him as much at the same time he turned toward me, but instead of his lips landing on my forehead like he’d no doubt intended, they pressed softly against mine. We both stilled, our mouths connected, eyes wide on each other. His lips were soft, his breath warm, and it all felt so good and safe and comforting that my lids fluttered closed and I melted into him, pressing my lips more firmly against his. I exhaled a sigh and swiped my tongue out to lick a soft path against his lower lip, and that simple, subtle movement was like a gunshot in the room.
With a groan, he cupped my face and held me tight as he kissed me back. His mouth was hot and hungry on mine, as if he couldn’t get enough of my taste, and all I could do was grip the front of his T-shirt and hold on for the ride. He tilted my head how he wanted, swept his tongue into my mouth, and kissed me like I’d never been kissed before. With desperation and want and so much desire it left me breathless.
I couldn’t believe this was Beck—my Beck—kissing the absolute life out of me, and I was loving every second of it. MyGod, how had I not known my best friend was a kissing prodigy?
He pulled away only long enough to scrape his teeth against my lower lip, his tongue laving the sting before he dove right back in all over again, and I was a puddle of pure need in his lap. Without breaking the kiss, I discarded my plate on the table and shifted around so I could straddle him, the blanket falling on the floor as I settled myself over the very thick, very hard bulge in his sweatpants. Our groans mixed together as I rocked against him, desperate to be closer, for the clothes between us to disappear, toreallyfeel him. To find out what else I didn’t know about this man.
I wasn’t sure how long we sat there making out like teenagers, only that I had no intention of stopping. Not when I was finally getting a taste of what every romance I’d ever read had talked about but which I’d never experienced in my life. Eventually, though, Beck pulled away, still cupping my face, and rested his forehead against mine. His eyes were closed as we both tried to catch our breath.
But I didn’t want to catch my breath. I wanted to lose it all over again.
“Why’d you stop?” I whispered, my hands somehow resting on his stomach beneath his shirt—when had that happened?—his skin an inferno beneath my palms.
“We can’t do this now,” he said, his voice like gravel. “Not tonight. Not after—”
He swallowed, his eyes haunted, and I nodded, even though I wasn’t very happy about it. The state of my pussydefinitelywasn’t happy about it. But he had a point. Tonight had been alot. If—when—Beck and I did this again, I didn’t want any lingering doubts or hesitations. Nothing he could angst over as he was known to do.
“Okay.” I twisted back around and settled sideways in his lap, draping my legs over his, still very aware of how hard he was beneath me and trying to ignore the dampness in my borrowed pants. “Not tonight.”
He may have put the brakes on for right now, but now that I knew how he kissed, knew he liked it when I tugged on his lower lip and threaded my fingers through his hair and rocked against him hard enough for us both to gasp, I was definitely exploring that.
He grabbed the blanket from the floor, pressed a kiss to my temple, and restartedGossip Girl.Then he wrapped his arms around me and held me as the show played in the background and I tried to come to terms with the fact that a single kiss had just shaken up everything I’d thought I’d known—both about the supposed intimacy I’d had in my lifeandabout my best friend. And though this day had been the worst day of my life without a doubt, maybe something good could come from it after all.
I fell asleep with Beck’s arms around me, his warmth against my side and his heartbeat beneath my ear.
CHAPTERNINE
BECK
After too few hours,I woke to find Everly still asleep in my lap, her cheek resting on my chest. She was curled up against me, so peaceful and trusting, and knowing that only thrust the knife deeper into my gut. Because all I could think about was her throaty little moans from last night and how pretty she’d look taking my cock.
Christ. What the fuck had I done?
I didn’t make friends easily. Hell, I didn’t make friends at all. I was a private guy who didn’t let anyone inside the inner circle that currently held only Ford—not even the rest of my siblings had made it through that door. But Everly hadn’t let that stop her. She’d barreled her way into my life and hadn’t let up since, a one-woman bulldozer. She was the first person outside of family not to be put off by my demeanor. The best thing that had happened to me in years.
And I’d gone and fucked it up last night. All because she made my dick hard—which wasn’t news to me. The proof of that was wedged against my stomach, thick and throbbing as the weight of her pressed into it.
She deserved better than this. She deserved someone who wouldn’t take advantage of her when she was at her lowest. Who wouldn’t devour her on a goddamn chair two hours after her house had caught on fire.Jesus. I needed to get my shit together and be that man for her—the best friend she’d come to count on—and not just some guy with a hard-on who wanted to fuck her. I was her only support in Starlight Cove, and I’d just jeopardized that for a quick make-out session.
I needed some space to clear my head, but I wasn’t going to leave her. I couldn’t—not just for her peace of mind, but for mine. Which left me only one option—a shower. And from the state of my dick, I could certainly use one.
Thankfully, Everly slept like the dead, so when I stood with her in my arms, she didn’t stir. And she didn’t so much as twitch when I set her back on the chair and draped the blanket over her before silently making my way to the bathroom.
Once inside, I stripped and climbed into the shower, not bothering to wait for the water to heat up. Maybe the jolt in temperature would knock some sense into me. What the hell had I been thinking? She’d just lost everything—everything—she had, and I’d shoved my tongue down her throat. Had settled my hands on her hips and guided her hot little pussy over me until I was nearly ready to explode in my pants like a goddamn teenager.
