“I was?” Confusion crosses his face. “I don’t remember blushing. I was frustrated and trying not to lose my shit.”
Could that have been what made him go so red? The way I swell inside is trying to convince me, but I’m cautious. Worried that I’ll buy every word, and it will all be bullshit. I don’t like hurting. I’ve been able to mostly avoid it for eight years now, and the second Kennedy stumbled into my life, all those feelings flooded back into me.
“Then … how?”
He takes a careful step forward. “How what?”
“How will you make it up to me?” My voice comes out huskier than I planned.
Kennedy’s eyes lock on mine, startling the butterflies in my gut that I do my best to ignore. I fail, of course, because being trapped in Kennedy’s gaze is magical. “Ahh … hadn’t thought that far ahead yet.”
Right. My lips are so fucking dry just looking at him, and I run my tongue barbell over the bottom one to shake the feeling. I’m not going to make the first move. I promised myself. Not even when his gaze dips from my face and starts a slow track down my body.
“Maybe …” He clears his throat. “We could hang out?”
Always. I try not to let my disappointment show while I nod quickly.
He steps closer. Clears his throat again. “Are you okay? Like … really?”
Am I? There are so many ways I’m very not okay, and I could probably write a list for him. But that’s not what he means.
He means areweokay.
I’m not sure of the answer to that either. He’s barely feet from me, and the pull I feel, like a hook ripping through my heart and yanking me toward him, is sickening. I crave Kennedy like I’ve never craved anyone, and I don’t know if it’s because I’ve let myself want him or if there’s something deep and intuitive that’s decided he’s mine, but it’s not exactly a feeling I can callokay.
Nothing about this is okay.
Everything is exciting and terrifying and the reason to keep breathing.
I want Kennedy in so many ways I’ll never have the words to explain.
“Ziggy …” He steps closer, right into my space, and it’s not until he drags his thumb under my eye, catching a tear, that I even realize how blurry my vision has become. I blink quickly, instinctively looking away, but Kennedy’s fingertips on my jaw bring me back again. “I know,” he whispers. “I feel the same.”
It’s the last thing I expect Kennedy to admit.
He shuffles forward again until his feet knock mine, and I’m too scared to breathe and ruin this moment. My tears dry upfrom the shock of it, and I focus on every detail in his face. Including his lips. Especially his lips.
“Tell me not to kiss you,” he rasps.
“Never.”
It must be what Kennedy was waiting for because his mouth slams down on mine. Like the first time, my whole body comes alive. Ripples of excitement race over my skin, and I focus all my energy on fighting the need to shiver. I press closer toward him, parting my lips and hoping Kennedy will take it for the invitation it is.
He knows me too well. He licks into my mouth, hand leaving my jaw to bury in my hair as the other one finds my side. His thumb rubs circles into my hip bone, and I want to soak in every detail of this moment.
Kennedy’s need, his lips, his touch. The way his mustache scrapes roughly over my lips. Or his tongue flicks over my barbell. Or my piercings crush between our chins.
I give in to the urge to tremble.
His hips meet mine, hard cock rocking against my trapped erection. This sizzling, unbridled need has been unleashed, and I can’t get enough.
Kennedy grunts, backing me up so quickly my back slams into the rock wall. It forces the breath from my lungs that Kennedy catches with his mouth as his hand sneaks up under my T-shirt.
“So sexy,” he mutters against my tongue as his thumb circles my nipple. “Prettiest little nipples.”
I exhale sharply and lift my shirt over my head, forcing his mouth to break from mine, and before he can kiss me again, I work on his. The open button-up is stripped from his shoulders and his tank top yanked upward and discarded somewhere along with mine.
His big, warm body boxes me against the rough wall at my back, and skin on skin, I’ve never felt more incredible.
