But I had to know.
My fingertips slid up either side of his neck, hooking together at his nape. “So you’re happy for me then?” I asked, trying to pull it out of him.
He stiffened, completely silent, not answering my question. Not moving. As far as I could tell, not breathing.
I leaned back, looking him in the eye. Were my friends right? Was all the nit-picking and bickering a cover for something deeper?
His lips pursed into a thin line like he was stubbornly locking them down. He couldn’t tell me he was happy for me.
Or he wouldn’t.
Either way, it was unacceptable.
“Ash? I asked you a qu-question.” It came out breathier than I would’ve liked, but the longer I stood there, smashed against him, the less control I had of…everything.
“Madden’s a great guy,” he said in a dull, lifeless tone. “I’m sure you’ll be very happy together.”
My head tilted and I released a frustrated laugh. “That’s not what I asked you. I asked if you’re happy for me.” My hands trembled around his neck. “C’mon, it’s a simple yes or no question. S-surely, a professor of literature can spit one of those out.”
He stared at me, a storm brewing in his eyes. But he remained on lockdown.
Finally, his hands fell away and he stepped back. “I need to get back inside to mydate.” His tone was curt.
He turned to go, muttering something about an infinite curse, and I knew this was it. If I let him walk away, my chance of finding out how he felt was over. He picked his foot up, prepped to take one very long stride away from me.
“Ashton.” I reached across him, grabbed his far hand, and gave him a hard yank, pulling him back. He stumbled, catching himself with his hands against the brick wall on either side of my head, his lips a hair’s breadth from mine. My hands slid up his chest and into his hair like that’s where they belonged. Like he was magnetic north and I was a compass aligning myself.
His warm breath tickled my lips. Our chests rose and fell in unison. My thumbs stroked the nape of his neck.
And then his mouth was on mine. Or maybe mine was on his. Either way, we were kissing. His lips were soft and warm and he tasted like the Pinot Noir we’d all been drinking. A shocked squeak escaped my throat, I don’t know why. I’d initiated it as much as he had. He tensed like maybe he’d misread me. But this feeling in my chest—my whole body really—the overpowering desire to be near him, for every speck of my skin to touch every speck of his, was addicting, and I needed it like I needed air. I gave his hair a gentle tug forward as I pressed up on my tiptoes, tilting into him, leaving no more room for doubt.
A groan broke free in the center of his chest and he melted against me, slipping his tongue between my teeth in sweet surrender. I welcomed him in with a moan. He cradled the back of my neck, holding me right where he wanted me, and I gladly let him take over. I leaned into the kiss, loving the feel of his touch.
Good gosh, he knew what he was doing, I don’t know how. He’d hardly dated the entire time I’d known him. Thenagain he’d had a high school and college career before I ever met him.
This is a terrible idea. The worst you’ve ever had!one half of my brain shouted.What about Madden?
Quit freaking out,the other half retorted. You always freak out and you never enjoy anything.
You can’t do this.
I can. And I am. For once in my life, I’m doing what I want because I want to.
I switched my mind off—closed for business—and leaned into the kiss.
And what a kiss it was. The confidence, the give and take, the ebb and flow were unlike any I’d ever experienced. Certainly unlike any of Madden’s and my kisses. Ash ripped his mouth from mine and my heart dropped, thinking he was done. But then he pressed kisses up the bridge of my nose, across my forehead, and back down to my lips like a man deliriously in love.
Did Ashton love me?
I could think about it later. Pick it apart as I fell asleep grinning.
Madden!
I shoved his name out of my mind and sunk into the ecstasy that was kissing Ashton Dupree. Currents of delicious heat licked over every erogenous zone on my body, threatening to consume me like a raging wildfire. And, oh, did I want to be consumed. His lips probed mine, as desperate and hungry as I felt, and both sides of my head finally seemed to agree as it screamed,this is what you’ve been missing?
I clawed at him, trying to get closer.
“Tally,” he breathed, my name sounding like a cherished treasure on his lips. “We can’t.” But then his mouth was back on mine, firmerthan before.
