“And we don’t even like each other.”
“Not one bit.” I’m close enough to see the pulse jumping in her throat and smell her shampoo. That fruity scent that lingers even when she’s not in the room and has been driving me crazy. “Except…maybe we can be friends.”
She swallows hard. “Not the kind with benefits.”
“I don’t want benefits,” I agree, and we both know it’s a lie. Maybe it started that way, but somewhere between the shoe throwing and the breakfast routines and watching her with Ellie, things shifted. My heart shifted.
“Same,” she whispers, but her hand comes up to rest on my chest, right over my heart, which is doing its best to break free from my rib cage.
I cover her hand with mine, holding it there. Can she feel how hard my heart is pounding? Is hers doing the same thing?
“This is such a bad idea,” she breathes.
“The absolute worst.” I slide my hand up her arm until my fingers tangle in her hair at the nape of her neck. She shivers. “We should definitely notdo this.”
“Definitely not.”
But the way she’s tilting up her head feels like an invitation. Her eyes darken, and those lips I can’t stop thinking about part slightly.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, my better judgment is screaming at me to stop. Reminding me of all the reasons this is complicated. But Piper Hart is looking at me like I’m something worth having. Like maybe she sees me as more than a flashy meat stick of a man who catches balls for a living. And I want to believe we both see that there’s more here, and it’s worth exploring.
Besides, I’ve never been good at following rules.
I lower my head slowly, giving her every chance to pull away. She doesn’t. Instead, she grips my shirt and pulls me closer, eliminating the last few inches between us.
When our lips finally meet, it’s nothing like Denver. That night was desperate and frantic, fueled by tequila and straight-up physical need. This is different. It’s deliberate, with both of us making a choice we know we probably shouldn’t.
The kiss starts out tentative, as if we’re testing the waters. But then she makes a small sound in the back of her throat, and the control I’m gripping with white knuckles snaps. My arm hooks around her waist, pulling her tight against me as I deepen the kiss. She responds in kind, her fingers sliding up into my hair and tugging just hard enough to make me groan.
She tastes like the juice she was drinking earlier, sweet and tangy, and I want more. I want to memorize the way she feels pressed against me, the soft sounds she makes, the way her body fits perfectly with mine—like maybe we were designed for each other.
The thought should terrify me, but it doesn’t.
She breaks the kiss first, gasping for air, her forehead resting against my chest. “We can’t?—”
“I know.”
“This is?—”
“I know.”
“But—” She pulls back enough to look at me, her pupils blown wide and her cheeks flushed with desire. “Maybe just one time?”
“Just this once,” I agree, and it’s the biggest lie I’ve ever told.
Because even as I kiss her again, backing her against the kitchen island, I know one time won’t be enough. It can’t be. Not when she feels this right in my arms. When her laugh makes my heart skip a beat and her smile makes me want to be better than I am.
“Fee!” Ellie’s cry rings out from the monitor on the counter, tinny but insistent.
We spring apart like guilty teenagers, both breathing hard and trying to look anywhere except at each other.
“I should—” Piper gestures toward the stairs.
“Yeah.”
She starts to leave, then pauses in the doorway. “Felix?”
“Yeah?”
