As we approach the hotel, my fingers retreat from her hand to grab some bills from my pocket to pay the driver. I’m out of the car first, and Harlow follows behind me. I hold the door for her, and as she stands, our eyes hook in a serious way. It’s both sensual and a warning.
Closing the door, we stand on the sidewalk and can’t seem to part.
“I’ll walk you to your room.” It’s not even an offer, it’s going to happen. Not even in a hopeful way. I simply want to walk her to her door.
She understands my undertone of being a gentleman and nods in agreement.
But that heightened tension between us only follows us. The lobby is a struggle, the elevator nearly unbearable. Even when she asked me about the latest Spinners game that I watched, I had a short response, not wanting to discuss.
And now as we walk to her door, luckily not far from my own room, I notice she walks purposely slow, as do I. We’re trying to prolong the moment.
Arriving at her door is our end point.
“Well… this is me.”
“So it is,” I say as I rock on my heels, with my hands in my pockets.
“Thank you for the ride and walking me to my door.” The corner of her mouth lifts then falls.
I step to my side, prepared to make my dreaded return to my own room. This isn’t how we were meant to be. Never was.
Pivoting back to her, I shake the last few hours off. “Fuck it, Harlow. I’m not going to pretend that your needing space makes sense. A few days, fine, but a few weeks? If that’s the case, then we were nothing at all. But you and I both know that’s not true.” I’m about to unleash, and she doesn’t even seem taken aback.
“We weren’t, or are, nothing at all.” She blinks a few times.
I step closer to her. “Do you know what I think?”
She holds my stare. “You’re going to tell me anyway.”
I smirk and step closer, causing her to move back, only for the door to support her. “You’re scared as hell. You don’t want it to end but you think it will. Even more, you're scared that we could be something permanent.”
“Stone,” she pleads. “What do you want me to say?”
I lean against the door with my forearm framing her head. “The truth. You miss me and hate this space.”
Her eyes glaze over, but I can’t help but notice how her body is subconsciously curving into mine. “Yes,” she breathes.
My other hand slides up her arm to find home on her jaw, not too rough. It only intensifies the lust floating between us. “Just speak your mind, Harlow. I need to know so I don’t feel like a hole has been dug somewhere inside of me.”
A sound cracks from her lips, and a flicker passes between us because now she is the one aggravated. “Okay, Stone, yes, yes, yes, okay? I have strong feelings for you, you don’t leave my mind, and I’m miserable when you’re not around. I suddenly hate maps, even though when I was younger, I believed that an atlas gives us roads to possibilities. But you and I?” She breaks away from under my pinned arms and takes a few steps away from me, causing me to turn to face her. “Our road seems to go back and forth.”
“It’s better that way. Nowhere else to go, I guess.”
“I’m scared… I’ve never felt this way.”
“Ditto.”
Harlow scoffs. “Yet you seem calm and not a mess like me.”
“I don’t mind you being a mess.”
Harlow claws her hair and blows out a long breath. “I’m always spinning in a circle around you. I don’t want to be. I just want to close my eyes and…”
I don’t let her finish. I interrupt her sentence to kiss her, placing my hand on the back of her neck. My kiss must have caught her by surprise because she murmurs a sweet sound into my mouth, but she gives in and reciprocates back. Not only that, but her arms circle around my middle, pulling me tighter.
Breaking our kiss, both of us with heavy breathing, I warn her. “Harlow, I’m not leaving you alone right now. I have a point to prove. Do you understand me?” My eyes widen, ensuring that she grasps that I won’t be sweet.
She mouths yes.
