“Running away when people are talking to you is a real problem,” he had the nerve to say as I opened the cabinet door. His warmth beckoned me from behind. He couldn’t have been more than a few feet away. One glance over my shoulder would tell me that, I just knew it.
I grabbed the headache reliever, popped the cap, and swallowed down one more pill.
When I didn’t respond, Weston’s shoes squeaked against the tile right behind me. “Christ, you’re real mature.”
“I’m not having a conversation with you. I’m done with the bickering. I’mdonewith all the shit that comes out of your mouth thatcuts. Please, do us both a favor and pretend like I’m not even here.”
“I’m not doing that,” he said.
“Then prepare to be ignored,” I said simply, losing the fight in me to battle on.
“I’m not doing that, either.”
I rolled my eyes and turned to head back to my seat by the table. I didn’t get very far before fingers curled around my elbow and spun me back around. I ground my teeth into my cheek and came face-to-face with the man that made my blood boil. That made me feel things that I couldn’t understand.
“Look at me,” Weston clipped out, a growly sound coming from the back of his throat.
“No thank you.”
I tried to get him to drop his hand on me—for a second time—but his grasp grew into a gentle tightness. And then, he crowded my space and angled me until my back was firmly pressed into the edge of the counter.
My body froze. I couldn’t move. I was afraid if I did, that I’d have to deal with the actuality of what was happening. I wasn’t sure I had the mental capacity to do that. That I was capable of dealing with the truth, which was that Weston’s body was pressed firmly against mine.
The first thing I heard was his sharp intake of breath. It ignited a fiery sensation in my stomach that dove south like a hawk in flight snatching up its prey.
I was the hawkandthe prey.
“Wes—”
“Don’t speak,” he hissed in a whisper of a voice, the damn tone sending chills down my back. I broke out in asweat, and when both of his hands settled on either side of my waist, I forgot how to breathe. My body only recognized one thing, and that was the very large man in front of me.
He moved in closer, even though he was alreadyright there. My heated skin grew that much hotter. That much more desperate to be touched because it had been at least two weeks since Lennon and I were intimate. I wasn’t too shy to admit that I had needs. That I had a very healthy appetite for affection and intimacy.
A growly sigh left him before one of his hands lifted from my waist and climbed my arm to my shoulder, his thumb resting next to the thick piece of fabric that covered me there. When he dragged his finger underneath it, pushing it down my arm a little, my nipple peaked, rubbing against the soft fabric of the built-in bra.
I swallowed hard.
I didn’t know what was happening.
And yet, my head tilted back the slightest bit, almost like it was asking for more.
I hated that it was so dark. That I couldn’t see the look on his face entirely. I mean, the flashlight was back on and helped, but it wasn’t enough. I wasmissingthis moment and that expression that I had no doubt would shatter me to pieces. Because the way he held onto me… It was like he owned me.
And hell, maybe he did.
I didn’t dare speak, too afraid of ruining the moment. But also because I lacked the strength. I also didn’t know what I could possibly say to change the course we already started down.
My hands fell to my sides. I was too nervous to give back what he was giving me—touch. But those fingers on hisopposite hand tickled up my other arm until it found the sleeve resting on my shoulder.
“You want to know why I’ve acted the way I have?” Weston whispered in a rough voice. I swallowed again—I was doing a lot of that—but couldn’t force the word out of me.Yes.He leaned in until his feverish breath fanned against my cheek. “If you want to know the answer, then you’re going to have to give me that voice, Olivia. So, I’m going to say it one more time—do you want to know why I’ve acted like the biggest asshole on the goddamn planet when it comes to you?”
My stomach fluttered. “Y-Yes,” I said before murmuring, “I want to know.”
It was what I was trying to figure out all night.
His breath grew closer, skimming down my cheek and sinking into the skin where his thumb brushed. “I saw you first,” he whispered. “I saw youfirst, but he was the one who was lucky enough to get a chance with you. The one who’s kissed your skin.” His mouth dropped to the underside of my jaw and pressed a kiss to me, and then I really did tip my head back.
Because,God,I wanted more.
