The gray hues swirl in his eyes like cool steel, his gaze burning into mine, captivating me. The room around us dissipates. The voices and the people—they all cease to exist. “Yeah, Sunny.” The corners of his mouth lift. He takes a step closer. “I think you might be.”
“Yo, Matty,” Shaw calls out, shattering the moment between us, thrusting us back into reality. Into the basement where all his friends and sisters are. “Can we eat since your girl is here?”
His girl.
Matteo doesn’t correct him.
“Yeah,” he answers, letting out a deep breath as he rakes a hand through his hair. He lets out a soft laugh, tearing his gaze from mine. “Yeah, let’s go.”
As if one unit, everyone heads toward the stairs and up to the kitchen where the food is, and we fall in step behind them.
Matteo stops at the bottom of the stairs and lifts a questioning brow as he motions for me to go first. “I’m sure you haven’t eaten yet?”
“You know me so well.” A crooked smile haunts my lips as I pass him..
And if I weren’t as tuned into him as I am, I would have missed the three words he murmurs under his breath as I head up the steps.
“Not well enough.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
MATTEO
“How could I be focused on competing against her when she looked at me like that? Like she wanted my hands in her hair and my lips on her neck.” - Julian Hart, Painted Inferno
Jade stands in the kitchen, her back turned to me as she slides the empty dip container into the bag she brought. It’s already inching closer to midnight and everyone else cleared out a few minutes ago.
“I should probably go,” she says quietly, turning around to face me with her bag in hand. “Thanks for having me over. It was really nice getting to meet everyone who’s close to you.”
I push away from the counter, stalking across the kitchen to her. I don’t want her to leave—not yet at least.
Stepping into her space, I reach for her bag, wrapping my fingers around the handle. “Stay,” I rasp, searching her eyes. “I’m not ready for you to leave yet.”
“It’s late.” Her words are a half-hearted attempt to convince herself as well as me that she should leave, but the way her body is leaning into me suggests that’s not what she wants.
“I know,” I murmur as she releases her grip on the handle, letting me take it from her and tossing it onto the counter behind her.
I sweep my hand along the side of her jaw and slide my hand beneath her chin, tipping her head back. “Don’t go.”
Her nostrils flare, her eyebrows twitching. “Don’t let me,” she whispers.
Without another word, without another chance to breathe, I drop my face down to hers and steal her breath with my lips. Our lips crash into each other like waves against a shore. There isn’t a single beat of hesitancy in her lips as Jade kisses me back with the same intensity.
I trail my fingers along her jaw and down the side of her neck, memorizing every single inch of her skin I stroke.
Every look, every sound. Every touch and response—it’s all catalogued inside my mind, stored for safe keeping. Somewhere I can keep her forever.
Her lips are soft, and taste like strawberries and champagne. It was the only drink she had tonight. I know she’s sober and I like that more than anything. She’s here because she wants to be, not because she’s drunk. Every decision is made from a clear, sound mind.
She parts her lips as I trace the seam of them, my tongue slipping into her mouth, tangling with hers. I’m lost in her, caught in the undertow as she pulls me into the depths.
I breathe her in, devouring her with a reverent need. My heart hammers away inside my chest, the blood pumping at rapid speed through my veins. She’s in them, spreading throughout my body, seeping into my bones. She’s everywhere.She’s everything.
My hands trail across her collarbones, down the sides of her torso, stopping at her waist. She lets out a soft breath as I lift her into the air, setting her down on the counter.
“You’ve got me all fucked up, Sunny.” I murmur against her lips. She wraps her legs around me, pulling me flush against her. “I don’t know what you’re doing to me, but I don’t want you to stop.”
Jade’s fingers dance across my skin, pushing the bottom hem of my shirt up my torso. Goose bumps raise up as her hands trail over every inch of my abdomen, across the dips and curves, branding my skin with her fingertips.
