She doesn’t even blink. “Is that supposed to mean something?”
Laughter breaks out behind me—my brothers and their crew. Great timing, as always. I can feel my cheeks burning, heat rising up my neck.
“Oh, believe me,” I say, gritting my teeth, “from this moment on, itwillmean something to you. Your worst nightmare.”
She actually laughs.Laughs.
“I’m sure that line sounded way better in your head than in real life, didn’t it?”
Laughter echoes around us now, my brothers clearly enjoying the show. Frustrated, I turn to shove them, trying to make them stop. When I spin back around, ready to give that blonde a piece of my mind, she’s already gone.
Just like that. Disappeared.
Myworst nightmareindeed.
“So you hated me because I made you feel embarrassed?” Lauren asks, her voice calm but direct.
I chuckle, aware that what I’m about to say is a little childish, even for me. “You say that like it doesn’t justify the hatred. I hated not dazzling you the way you dazzled me. That was the problem.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Lauren …” Her name feels heavy on my tongue, almost forbidden. It reminds me of all those times I tried to strip her of her identity back in school, like she wasn’t worth it. And even now, it still feels unnatural to say her name out loud. “You stirred something in me that day, something I couldn’t even figure out at the time. But now? Now I know exactly what it was. I think you do too. You seemed like you were from another galaxy, walking around with this invisible shield against me, completely unaffected by my presence. And every time I saw you after that, it drove me insane. I started obsessing over you, feeling possessive, which only made me feel pathetic. I was a god in school, but to you I was just another guy.”
She watches me for a moment before replying, “You didn’t want someone who treated you as an equal, Silas. You wanted someonewho saw you as a god. And that was never going to be me. That’s why you chased girls who worshipped you.”
Her words hit like a slap. I go quiet, trying to process what she just said. “That’s why no one ever satisfied me …” I mutter, more to myself than to her. It sinks in like a gut punch. No kiss, no girl ever left me shaking the way Lauren’s kisses did. And if that’s true, what will sex be like?
Lauren looks at me knowingly. “Probably.”
I lift my eyes and watch as Lauren rises from the couch and walks toward the bed. For a split second, I think she’s responding to my thoughts, but she’s answering my earlier question. She stops right in front of me, so close that my legs instinctively part to welcome her. My arms find their place on her waist like they’ve known all along that she belongs here, with me.
She touches my face gently, stroking it with a compassion that nearly breaks me. “You need someone to ground you.”
“Like Persephone did with Hades?” I whisper, eyes locked on her lips. The hunger I feel for her is unbearable. If I don’t kiss her now, I’ll lose my mind.
“It was Persephone who ground him,” she replies, her voice soft, but the look in her eyes is serious, intense. She’s feeling it too—this pull between us. She wants me just as much.
“I don’t need someone to ground me, Lauren. I need someone who brings me to my knees, and only you can do that. The problem is I don’t think I affect you the way you affect me.”
“What makes you think that?” she asks, her voice just as vulnerable as mine.
We’re both raw now, stripped bare. Her hands touch me like she’s offering a piece of herself, and I cling to her as if I’ve been starved of affection. I need to hear it—I need her to say it.
“I always saw hatred in your eyes,” I confess, my voice barely above a whisper.
“You always saw a girl trying to escape her tormentor. But you never saw the girl who, in private, wished for a different reality—onewhere you hadn’t been so cruel to me. One where I was exactly what you needed.”
“Youwerewhat I needed, Lauren. You still are, then and now,” I say, my voice hoarse with emotion, as I pull her onto my lap. Our bodies press together, and I can’t lie—every part of me craves her. My mind, my body, all of me is desperate to have her, even if just for this one night. I grip the back of her head and pull her into a fierce, all-consuming kiss. Lauren melts into me as my hands roam her body, gripping her ass so tightly I know I’m leaving marks. I roll her onto the bed, and she wraps her legs around me, pulling me closer, silently begging for more.
Damn, this is everything I’ve ever wanted—my fantasy finally coming to life.
I pull the pajamas over her head and am met with her exposed breasts.
Shit.
“Have you been braless all this time?” I grab her breasts with both hands and massage them while licking her hard nipples.
“I don’t wear underwear when I sleep,” she says with a smile, causing my erection to become even more painfully hard.
