My cock strained against my jeans as Hallie sucked in a slow, shaky breath. Neither of us broke eye contact, exchanging a silent understanding between us. There was the tiniest spark of something dangerous, and the longer we stared, the more it threatened to burn.
“You’re not serious,” she dared.
My jaw tightened.
We had too much history, didn’t we? She saw me as an older brother type. Just a nice guy. She didn’t know this part of me, the part that wanted to grip her hips until she bruised, pin her down, and take what I wanted from her.
But I could show her.
Give her just a little taste.
I lowered one hand to my pocket, watching her eyes follow the movement with curiosity. I pulled my keys out, glancing down briefly to find the old brass one. Hallie’s brows pinched together in confusion, and a second later, I reached around her body toward the doorknob. My shoulder brushed against hers as I quickly stuck the key into the lock, skillfully turning the knob with the same hand the second it clicked.
She choked out a shocked gasp as she stumbled backwards into the dark stairwell, wedged between my body and the metal door as it slammed into the wall just inside. I pressed against her, invading her space in a way that felt both reckless and intoxicating.
I was so fucking hard I could barely think.
Hallie looked like she was putting it together–the realization that I’d stayed here, too, many years ago. Could she remember that? Was she wondering why I never gave the key back to her parents? Was she thinking about how I’d had it all along?
I could’ve helped myself to Hallie Rutherford any time I wanted this summer.
The fear in her eyes told me she was only thinking about the way my body pinned hers in place, preventing her escape. I pushed more, grinding my hips into hers to make sure she could feel my arousal. Her ragged breathing only made my cock throb even harder.
“Knox,” she whispered, my name on her tongue sounding more like a plea than a warning. I could smell the coconut rum on her breath.
And that stopped me in my tracks.
Hallie was drunk, and that made this “consensual” non-consent an unfortunate impossibility. This couldn’t happen. Not now, at least.
With a jerk, I tugged my body away from hers, stepping back into the darkness at the bottom of the stairs that led to the apartment. I waited a few seconds for us to both catch our breaths, watching her sink a few inches down the wall in the absence of my body holding hers up.
Outside, the moonlight bounced off the pool and spilled through the doorway, illuminating every rise and fall of Hallie’s chest. I forced myself to look away from her soft lips, parted just enough that I could see the little gap in her perfect teeth.
I braced myself for her to call me a bastard and tell me to get the hell out, but she didn’t say a word.
“Hallie,” I said, my voice sounding rougher than I meant it to be. “If you want to continue this conversation when you’re sober, you know where to find me.”
And with that, I left, pulling the door shut behind me before traipsing across the Rutherfords’ quiet backyard like I hadn’t practically assaulted one of them.
But fuck, she damn near asked for it.
***
I woke up the next morning already hard.
It was pathetic, really, how fast my mind snapped right back to her. Hallie against that wall, all breathless and looking at me like I’d unlocked something in her. I tried to shake the memory and think about something else, but my hand was already around my dick before I even formed a conscious thought.
And it was her in my head—her voice cracking as she said my name, her body tensing beneath mine in the stairwell. As I pumped with my fist, I imagined her trying to scramble away across her sheets, her fingers digging into the mattress as I caught her by the ankles and had my way with her. The thought alone pushed me over the edge so fast and hard my vision blurred.
The shame followed just as quickly.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I’d kept the sickness in me hidden away for a long time, but Hallie managed to coax it right out of me with just a few words. When she stood there shaking with that same, twisted hunger I’d tried to push down and hide away all this time, I couldn’t hold myself back.
Because suddenly… it wasn’t about me anymore.
Not really.
