“Then talk instead of giving me shit.”
He glared at me and then jerked his head toward Amelia’s group. “Not here.”
I jumped when Blaze grabbed my arm and dragged me with him. Where’d this initiative come from?
“I see you know the place well,” I taunted.
But I stopped chuckling as soon as I saw him turn the handle on a door with a sign that saidrestricted. A strong smell of damp filled my nostrils as we entered. I saw unused towels, extra liquor, and unlimited quantities of canned dried fruit.
“I worked here last year, remember, Jax?”
“No.” It was a dry denial, but apparently I wasn’t so convincing because Blaze held back a smile. He was often hurt when I treated him like that, but right now he seemed rather sure of himself.
“You sure about that, Jackson?”
How could I forget it. You were rock-hard when I put my hand down your boxers.
“It doesn’t seem like you put up a fight that time.” I groaned unwillingly.
“Yeah, but you took the initiative.”
“I was drunk, Blaze.”
“Sure, like all the other times you kissed me?”
He always got on my nerves. He insisted on kissing, caressing, and other bullshit like a little girl with her first crush. I couldn’t stand him. Because then he looked at me and managed to make me feel . . . weird.
“James was just thrown into juvie, and I felt alone, what the fuck do you want me to say? That what we did mattered to me at all?”
Blaze didn’t bat an eye. Instead of leaving or giving me his usual puppy eyes, this time he was more steadfast. I glanced at the door. He’d left it ajar. Did he really want to just talk?
Blaze leaned toward me, so I stepped back, bumping into a rickety table. There were trays of glasses piled one on top of the other, which teetered dangerously.
The sound of the glass smashing on the floor startled me, but he didn’t seem to pay attention to the mess we’d just made. Blaze kept staring at me quizzically; maybe my hesitation confused him.
He knew I wasn’t the type to back away. Usually he was the one with his back against the wall, but this time the door stayed open, and I didn’t want anyone to see us.
“So you think we’d be friends?” he prodded, making me lose my patience again.
“Hey, weren’t you gonna tell me something? Get to the point, Blaze.”
Even if he didn’t say it, I already knew what the issue was.
He moved his lips to talk but then held back.
I should have held back too. I couldn’t kiss him. Why did I want to so badly? Damn Blaze.
He grazed his hand on my chest so forcefully that I swallowed.
“Look how reckless we are today.” I tried to diffuse the tension.
“You’re afraid of your friends finding out, aren’t you?”
That was the reason for his newfound swagger. He felt like he had the upper hand. I held off for as long as I could then grabbed him by the shoulders, and his lips smashed into mine. It was just a kiss, but every time our tongues intertwined, something exploded. And I felt his clear, strong desire to deepen it.
“Jackson . . .”
I felt his veins vibrate against my tongue as I licked his neck.
