I like it too much.
By the time dinner’s finished, I’m a mess of nerves and arousal. I can’t stop glancing at Alex, and every time I do, he’s already looking at me.
My parents have a suite with bunk beds in one room and are gluttons for punishment because all the younger kids are having a big sleepover there. The older boys are in the next room over, but are allowed to hit the pool for a while before curfew. They’ll probably stay up half the night watching movies and eating junk food. I don’t know what Grant, Haven, or Dax are doing, but they’re all old enough that it’s not my business.
As the dining room clears out, I see Alex staring at me again. Tiffany leans in close, pressing her tits against his arm, and whispers in his ear. He turns toward her and I take the chance to escape.
“I’m heading to my room unless you need me for anything,” I tell Bean.
“Are you okay? You don’t look okay, Minnie.” Her voice is low and filled with concern.
“Just… It’s been a long day, after a long night out with very little sleep.”
She wraps me up in a hug. “Okay, I’ll see you in the morning. Love you, Min.”
“Love you, too, Bean.”
I make my way to the elevator and press the button for my floor once I’m inside. Right before the doors close, Alex steps in. “Amelia,” he growls.
Then his mouth is on mine, and he’s kissing the ever-lovingfuck out of me, and I’m kissing him back just as hard. His hands go to my hips, pressing me back against the elevator wall. I run my palms up his chest, gripping his shirt in my fists, pulling him even closer as I moan. His tongue dips into my mouth, his hard cock presses against my stomach, and my panties are soaked.
The elevator dings, the sound dredging up the memories of that night, reminding me of how much I was hurting when I ran after he said we were a mistake. How much I’m still hurting.
I pull away as the doors open, gasping for air. Shaking my head, I drag in a couple of breaths and push on his chest before ducking around him.
“I can’t do this. I can’t fucking do this again. It hurts too goddamned much.” I should have taken off my damn heels because I can’t run in them. I move as fast as my feet will let me, but he’s right behind me.
“Amelia. Please, at least let me talk. Nothing else, just talk. I’m fucking begging you,” he pleads, his voice a tortured whisper.
I spin around. “So talk, Alex,” I bite out bitterly. “Talk so we can get this over with, and we can move the fuck on with our lives.”
“Here? In the hotel hallway?”
I look around, realizing we’re not far from my room, and therefore, basically my entire family, Bean’s entire family, Haven’s family… Even here, we’re surrounded by people.
“Fine. We’ll talk in your room.” I storm back to the elevator, the irony not lost on me. But unlike at the office, this time he’s with me when I step in. He scans his keycard, allowing us to go to the top floor. I cross my arms over my chest and refuse to look at him. It’s childish, but if I look at him, I’m afraid I’ll kiss him again. No, IknowI’ll kiss him again.
I can’t kiss him again.
God, I want to kiss him again.
We’re silent as the elevator moves up, as we walk down the hall, and as he opens the door to his room.
After the door is closed, we stare at each other for a minute.
He finally breaks the silence, pulling at his tie. “Do you want a drink?”
“No, I don’t want a drink. Say what you need to say, Alex. Remind me how we can’t be together because of our ages. Since you’re not my boss anymore, you can’t use that as an excuse, but you might as well just replace that with how you’re my best friend’s dad. Go ahead and tell me again how I was a mistake. Maybe it won’t hurt as bad this time around.”
“I didn’t mean it, Amelia. You could never be a mistake. Being with you could never be a mistake.” He drags his fingers through his hair, messing it up more than it already was. “I got scared. Because you’re my everything. For a whole year, you’ve been my everything. For a year, I hated weekends and holidays because they were days I didn’t get to see you.”
This… This isn’t what I expected. I’m stunned into silence, my heart thudding wildly in my chest.
Alex starts pacing the front room, rubbing his tie between his fingers and his thumb. “I lived for our morning coffees and pastries, our banter, our lunches on the patio, our late nights eating pizza and Chinese food when we did more laughing than working. I lived for the moments you’d fix my tie, for when you got close enough to me that I could smell your lotion.”
He takes a ragged breath and buries a hand in his hair. “When you made me grin like a fool, and when I made you smile. My sunshine moments. Because you, you’re my sunshine. For a year, I loved you but didn’t let myself believewe could be more than what we were. I let fear rule me, let it keep me from kissing you, touching you, telling you how I felt. I was terrified that you didn’t feel the same and that admitting I was in love with you would ruin what we already had.”
I suck in a breath and try to process his words.
