I nod.
“Good.” Another deep breath as he studies me, gaze dropping to my mouth. “I’m trying to stay away from you but I can’t.” He searches my eyes, a flicker of vulnerability in them. “What if we see where it goes until the end of playoffs? We can keep it casual and fun and just...” He holds my eyes, exhaling hard, shaking his head a little. “We don’t need to commit to anything or tell anyone. Bea doesn’t need to know. It can just be between us.”
Casual. Fun. No commitment. It’s how I’ve always done relationships, if you could even call them that, but with Tate, it doesn’t feel comforting. It just feels like I’m missing something, like doing a puzzle without a handful of pieces or buying a cake with a slice cut out already.
Like I’m not getting all of the good thing.
He’s right, though. We can’t seem to stop this. And I’m attracted to him. Selfishly, I want him, and I want whatever I can get from him, even if he’s still protecting Bea from me. Even if he’s not interested in something long-term.
“Okay,” I whisper.
“Okay?” His eyebrows go up, hands coming to frame my face. “Yes? We’ll do this?”
“Until the end of playoffs.”
“Until the end of playoffs.” He lets out a long exhale like he’s relieved before he studies me again. “Do you trust me, Jordan?”
Without hesitation, I nod, and with that, he kisses me.
CHAPTER 65
JORDAN
Tate backs me up,pressing soft, light kisses to my mouth, tension on his face in the dim moonlight, like he’s holding himself back.
The noise that comes out of his throat is the same as when he takes a sip of that drink he loves, like he’s losing himself in indulgence. Like he’s in heaven.
“You taste like that drink,” he whispers as he kisses down my neck. “Yousmelllike that drink, Jordan. Every time I taste it, I think about tongue-fucking you until you come.”
Heat rushes through me. Sothat’s what that low groan of approval means when he takes a sip.
He pulls away, staring at my necklace, running his thumb over it. Awareness ripples through me in the form of shivers as he touches me, his other hand grasping my shoulder like he’s worried I’ll float away.
“Lovely,” he rasps before pressing another kiss to the base of my neck, over the necklace. “So fucking lovely.”
Another sear of heat lands between my legs. I’m practically vibrating, I’m so turned on. Is this what foreplay is? I’m a mess. I’ll do anything he says, at this point.
He straightens up, hands threading into my hair. “Tell me something honest, Jordan.”
I can barely concentrate, his hands on my scalp feel so good. “What, does vulnerability make you horny or something?”
He lets out a dry laugh. “With you? Yes.”
“I love this necklace.”
He hums, pleased, and his fingers tighten in my hair. Pinpricks of pleasure spark down my neck, across my skin.
“I love buying you things,” he admits. “And I love seeing you wear them.” His gaze slides down my clothes. “Can I take your dress off?”
There’s something both hot and adorable about the agonized, almost begging way he asks.
“Don’t laugh at me,” he says when I smile, wearing a self-deprecating smile of his own. “I’m struggling here, Jordan.”
He turns me so I’m giving him my back and slowly pulls my zipper down, exposing my bare skin.
“You don’t need to struggle.” I glance over my shoulder. In the dim light from outside, his eyes have gone even darker as he nudges the dress off my shoulders. It pools on the floor and I’m left in my bra and underwear. And the necklace Tate gifted me, the one that’ll remind me of him every time I look at it.
He steps closer so his chest is against my back. I can feel his heat. He shifts and I can feelhim, thick and hard against my lower back. The breath catches in my throat and my breasts feel heavy. His mouth finds my temple and his fingers trail over me. They dip beneath my bra, brush against my nipple, and a pathetic whimper slips out of me.
