If it weren’t for the way this felt way more sexual than it should, I might’ve been surprised, but bronc riding was a dangerous sport. Broken bones and brutal injuries came with the territory. My only complaint was that this wasn’t working out how I’d wanted it to—by distracting him.
His other hand worked its way down my hip to my thigh, looping around the back. I leaned into his touch, my ass pressing into the edge of the desk. He released my hand, and before I knew it, he slid me onto the desk.
His callused palms caught on the fabric of my jeans as he stroked me, fingers hungry as they squeezed my flesh. His nose brushed my cheek, his breath fanning across my lips. Fuck, I missed the taste of him. “I’m losing my mind, Parker.”
So am I.“We can’t,” I whispered reluctantly.
“Can’t we?” he breathed, a plea in his words.
My palms flattened on his hard chest, not to push him away, but because I needed him to hold me steadyright now. Around Beckham, I was a sailboat on rocky waters, getting whiplash from the way my emotions threw me around. With Beckham, I led with my heart. Though recently, my mind was agreeing—I wanted to give in, and maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if?—
“The rules, Beckham,” I reminded him, albeit begrudgingly.
My hands slid up his chest, fingers catching in his gold chain. I leaned back to look him in the eye, which was my first mistake. Sheer desperation shone in his eyes, and fuck if it didn’t make me want to sayfuck the rules, too.
With a finger looped in his chain, I pressed my other palm flat to the desk and leaned back slightly. I tugged on the jewelry slightly, urging him nearer but hoping he wouldn’t oblige. His lips, puffy and so damn kissable, parted as he inched closer. His eyes were trained on my mouth, and I tilted my chin back, losing all sense of how to breathe.
He gripped my hip bones, holding on like he was trying to keep himself back and utterly failing.
Would I be mad if he closed the distance?
Or more upset if he backed away?
His nose lightly bumped mine, our lips less than an inch apart now. The line we were walking suddenly turned dangerous, something in the way he’d gotten so jealous triggering this response in both of us.
But I was kidding myself. We’d felt this way all along. This incident only brought it to light.
His upper lip brushed my lower with the faintest of touches, and my breath hitched?—
My phone buzzing on the desk had me dropping his chain and bracing both hands on the oak.
I’d become breathless without even realizing it, my chest rising and falling with the temptation of him.
“I should get that,” I barely managed to get out.
His eyes moved between mine before he slid me off the desk. He hadn’t moved back, though, which had our bodies way too close and touching in too many places. My stomach made it hard for our chests to be flush, but fuck—if that wasn’t there, there wouldn’t be an inch of my body not connected to his right now.
His tongue ran across his lips like he was lapping up any part of me he could get. “You should.”
He finally stepped back, allowing me space to move around the desk to grab my phone.
Lettie: We’re going to the Watering Hole tonight if you and Beckham want to come!
“Who is it?” Beckham asked, stuffing his hands in his jeans pockets as he came around the edge of the desk.
“Lettie. She said they’re going to Outlaw’s Watering Hole tonight.” I looked up at him where he stopped beside me. “Wanna go?”
“Who’s ‘they’?”
I shrugged. “Probably your brothers.” But then it hit me. “If you don’t want to go because?—”
“I’m alright.” He sent me a reassuring look. “I might’ve quit drinking alcohol, but I can still look at it.”
“I didn’t know.” My gaze moved back to the text thread, my shoulders slumping slightly. “I just thought—” I shook my head. “I guess everyone handles it differently.”
Gentle fingers gripped my chin, pulling my focus back to him. “It’s okay. I’ll be okay.”
I searched his face for reassurance that he was telling the truth. I didn’t know how bad it got with Beckham and his relationship with alcohol, but I didn’t want to push him too hard and have him falling back to that again.
