Dammit. I need to chill out. My adrenaline is pumping, and I just want five seconds alone with Lacey to figure out what the hell I’m going to say.
I grab Lacey’s hand and pull her with me back through the hall. My heart is racing, but we only make it about halfway before there’s nowhere to go.
I just barely resist screaming, “Move the fuck out of the way!” Instead, I spot an empty room off to the right. I push through people, careful to keep Lacey close to me as I go, and duck into the dark room. The curtains are pulled back and enough light from outside filters in that I can still see her.
I drop her hand and turn to face her. My heart is still sprinting in my chest.
“What are we doing?” she asks, looking around. Thank fuck it isn’t Bobby’s bedroom. It looks like an office. There’s a big wooden desk with a laptop and a leather chair tucked in behind it.
“I just want two seconds with you where people aren’t bumping into me.”
Her lips curve, and I can tell she’s fighting off a laugh. I’m sure I sound like the grumpy asshole she used to think I was. Or maybe still thinks I am.
“It is a party.”
One of the many reasons I’m not big on them.
“Well, you have me all alone now.” She reaches up and adjusts the headband, making the silver balls bobble around on top of her head. “What’s up?”
I can’t seem to answer. To speak. To think.
Lacey’s expression morphs from humored to confused as I stand three feet away, mute and gawking at her.
“Vaughn?” My name comes out like a question, but Istill love the way it sounds from her lips.
With two steps, I’ve closed the distance between us. I’m either about to make an epically disastrous move or the smartest one of my life. As soon as my lips press to hers, I vote for the latter.
Lacey squeaks a surprise as she realizes I’m kissing her. Her hands come up to my chest like she’s considering pushing me away. I pull back enough to look in her eyes, maybe give her a chance to decide for me that this can’t happen. My breathing is already labored from the adrenaline coursing through me.
The seconds we stare at each other, lips inches apart, seem to stretch on forever. Then Lacey’s fingers tighten around the material of my shirt, and we lunge at the same time.
My mouth slants over hers, and my hands tangle in the back of her long, thick hair. I tip her head back to give me better access, and she pulls at my shirt to get me closer.
However I might have imagined this moment, it doesn’t compare to the reality. My entire body vibrates with desire. Lacey gives her all to everything she does, and I’m happy to find out that includes kissing. There is no gentle or going slow for us. I don’t know if it’s the weeks of tension finally snapping or if it’s a reflection of how badly we both want this, but we tumble over the line of friends to more, consequences be damned.
Chapter Twenty-one
Lacey
Vaughn is kissing me.
I’mkissing Vaughn.
My stomach bottoms out as his hands move down my back. His rough palms and warm fingers press into me with the same sort of frantic urgency I feel.
And then the most amazing and embarrassing thing happens. My legs turn weak and my knees buckle. I start to go down, but Vaughn’s faster. He catches me, scooping me up in his arms. Did I just swoon?
The whole thing catches me so off guard, I stop kissing him.
“I got you,” he says, then leans in and presses his lips to mine much sweeter than before. My mind is reeling. So are my hormones.
Vaughn walks over to the desk in the room and sets me down, then steps between my spread legs, all while continuing to kiss me like no one has before.
I should have known he’d be a good kisser.
My knees trap him in on either side, and my fingersslide over his stomach. His chest and abs are hard, the ridges of muscles defined. When I reach the hem of his shirt, I slide one hand underneath. He lets out a low groan at the skin-to-skin contact. His skin is warm, and a light trail of hair runs down the center of his chest to the top of his belly button.
He nips at my bottom lip and then works his mouth down my neck and over my collarbone to my shoulder. My skin tingles, and my lips feel bruised from his kisses.
