It lasts only a few seconds, but it’s enough to leave my heart thudding against my ribs like it’s trying to learn how to beat for something good.
When he pulls back, his eyes search mine. “Goodnight, Isobel.”
“Goodnight,” I murmur, a little breathless.
River smiles and kisses my cheek then gestures towards his own dorm, he turns to look at me one last time with his hands in his coat pockets and a cute smile.
23 A KISS TO REMEMBER
Ibarely get two steps past the door when something hard slams into me. The breath whooshes out of my lungs as my back hits the wall, a sharp thud echoing off the marble floor.
Tex.
His arm is braced against the wall beside my head, eyes burning into mine. His jaw is clenched so tight I can see the muscle twitch in his cheek. He smells like smoke and leather and something darker. Wilder.
“What the hell?—”
“Did you enjoy that?” His voice is low. “Did you like his lips on yours?”
My heart kicks up, but not from fear. It’s the kind that comes when a storm rolls in and you know something is going to happen.
I swallow hard, trying to push past the heat of his body, the intensity of him so close I can feel it in my bones. “Move.”
He doesn’t.
Instead, he steps even closer, and it’s too much. Too close. His chest brushes mine. His breath hits my lips.
“Did he make you feel anything?” he asks, quieter now — but somehow even more dangerous like that.
My spine stiffens. “Why do you care?”
“I don’t,” he says.
But it’s a lie. He knows it. I know it.
He leans in, his eyes flicking to my mouth and back up again. “He doesn’t evenknowyou.”
“And you do?”
Tex exhales through his nose like he’s trying to hold something back. His fist curls beside my head.
“I know you don’t like people getting close.”
I clench my jaw. “Maybe I wanted to try.”
His dark eyes stare into mine. I feel like he can see every part of me.
“You think a pretty face and soft hands is gonna fix it?” he spits. “You think he can make you forget?”
“No,” I snap. “But at least he doesn’t try to tear me down every time I take a damn breath.”
That shuts him up.
For a second, we just stand there — two live wires sparking in the dark.
The next second, he kisses me.
It’s brutal and hot and starved — as if he’s been holding himself back for far too long and finally snapped. His mouth crashes into mine, and I gasp, the sound lost as he presses in closer, deeper, harder. His hands bury into my hair, pulling me against him like he can’t stand even an inch between us. It’s greedy and raw and full of everything he won’t say out loud.
