Five minutes later, we take our spots on the dimly lit stage, every muscle in my body tensing painfully.
I’ve been acting for weeks, playing the role of Nash, but I’m no actor. I’m simply cunning enough to make this work.
Hailey on the other hand is fucking magnificent, deep in her character the moment her feet touch the stage. Her gaze cuts to me, sharp like a blade, and just like that, we’re in the scene.
The air between us crackles, heavy with pent-up emotions. My character left her to serve in the army and now he’s back as if no time has passed.
“You need to leave.” Hailey delivers her line, her voice piercing the air.
“Not until we talk.”
She scoffs, crossing her arms, disdain tainting her pretty face. I know it’s an act but seeing her this upset fuckingkillsme.
“There’s nothing to talk about. Did you think I’d wait forever? I moved on, James. You left me. It was your choice.”
“I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“Right for you, maybe,” she retorts, easily summoning anger. “You didn’t think about what it would do to me.”
“You’re right,” I admit, reciting the script as I step closer. “I never should’ve left. Not without a word but... I had to.”
“Selfish!” She spits out the word. “You were always so fucking selfish. Never mind who you crushed along the way as long asyoucame out unscathed.”
Another two steps and we’re close, so close I see small torches swimming in her eyes. I feel the heat blazing off her body. My heart races, pounding against my chest, reality blurring because she’s that fucking good. She makes it real and it’s crushing. Her anger, the magnetic pull between us, the desire eating me alive.
Real.
Potent.
Almost irresistible.
“You think I didn’t suffer?” I grit out, not entirely sure if I’m following the script word for word. “It’s been four years but every day, every night, it wasyourface that haunted me,yourvoice I couldn’t fucking escape.”
“Oh, spare me the dramatics!” she snaps, rolling her eyes.
She fuckingrollsher gorgeous blues at me, simultaneously slamming her tiny fist against my chest.
She keeps screaming but I can’t hear a word.
My cock hardens faster than I can blink. I have no idea why that move gets me so hard, but it does. Every single time. The scene floats into the background as I go off script.
I think I had one more line to deliver but I’m fuckingdone. Driven by a force beyond my control, I grasp the back of her neck, drag her into me and my lips come down on hers.
Adrenaline surges through my veins when she opens for me and my tongue slips inside the silk of her mouth.
It’s not a sweet kiss.
Not a gentle one.
It’s a fight without fists.
A clash of artificial anger, guilt, and very real, long-suppressed desire. I run on instinct, sweeping my tongue inside Hailey’s mouth, taking all I can as fast as humanly possible. It’s rough, intense but Hailey doesn’t falter.
Her nails dig into my back, not to pull me closer but to punish my character for the pain he caused hers. Or maybe she’s punishing me for the loss of inhibitions this kiss has triggered within her. A small, sweet gasp falls from her lips, driving me fucking feral. I swallow that sound, desperate for more. My hands twitch to move lower, grab her thighs, haul her up then drag her the hell out of here and straight into my bed, but Hailey braces both palms against my chest, slowing the kiss.
I’m suddenly aware we’re supposed to beacting. The bubble bursts the second she stumbles back, raising her trembling hand to her forehead.
She’s deliciously flushed, eyes bright and staring at me in utter disbelief, lips swollen.
