The silence that follows is thick, humming with something I can’t put a name to. Her hands are on the counter between us, and I watch them flex.
“I’ve done a lot of things I don’t think about too hard. Usually, it’s related to my job, but walking out of that hotel room without waking you up?” I shake my head. “If life ever started handing out second chances, that’s the first one I’d ask for back.”
“Why are you telling me this now?” she whispers, looking down at her hands.
“Because you asked,” I say quickly. “And because I’m fucking tired of you thinking you weren’t worth a goodbye. Because you were. Youare.It’s why that night we slipped in the apartment, I made a point to tell youI wasn’trunning.”
The air between us snaps tight.
She stands up from the stool, rounding the island between us. I stay where I am with my back against the counter. My heart pounds in my chest with every step she takes. Stopping in frontof me, she looks up at me with a mix of anger and hurt—something molten that steals the oxygen from the room.
“You made me feel disposable,” she says. “You know that, right?”
“And I fucking hate myself for it.”
“Good,” she breathes out, chest rising and falling. “You should.”
We both stand there, staring at each other. The space between is charged enough to light the whole damn town. She’s so close that I can see every fleck of color in her eyes. They bore into mine, filled with so much heat.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about the last time I kissed you,” I admit, the words pouring out of me like a confession. “Because it was the first time I didn’t feel like running. I think that’s what wrecked me, because I don’t let people get close like this. But you keep…” I shake my head. “You keep finding every fucking crack.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
Her gaze drops to my mouth then snaps back to my eyes like she’s angry for even thinking about it. The look on her face is pure conflict. But then her eyes go dark—a warning and a challenge all at once. The kind of look that saysdon’t you fucking do this to me again. Her breathing is shallow, but her voice doesn’t come.
Something snaps in me. I reach for her, hands coming up to frame her face. Her skin is warm under my palms. She sucks in a breath, fingers flying to my wrists. It’s not meant to push me away, but to hold on.
“All I think about is how your mouth felt on mine and how much I didn’t want it to end,” I say, my breath against her lips and she doesn’t move. Instead, her body moves an inch closer to me, pressing her body against mine. “Last chance to change your mind, Scottie.”
“Don’t you dare.”
I lower my mouth to hers.
The world narrows when I feel her lips against mine. A soft sound escapes from the back of her throat before her hands move from my wrists to my chest, fisting my shirt like she needs this as much as I do. I pull her in hard until there’s not a breath of space left between us, one hand sliding into her hair, and the other across the small of her back.
She melts, kissing me back with a kind of desperate relief. I stumble her backward a few steps until her hips hit the edge of the counter. My thumb strokes along the line of her jaw, tilting her head to deepen the kiss.
She lets out a soft, broken sound that goes straight to my knees.
When her fingers slide under the hem of my shirt, heat sparks across my skin. I groan softly into her mouth before I can stop myself. My grip tightens on her waist as if I can anchor both of us to this moment before it spins out of control. Her bodyfitsagainst mine. Every curve presses close, familiar in a way that makes it hard to breathe.
I lift her to the counter, and her legs open instinctively so I can step between them. The movement pulls a laugh from her, but I swallow it when my lips are back on hers. This kiss isn’t frantic anymore. It’s slow and deliberate as we both acknowledge every feeling we’ve been fighting to hold back.
Her hands slide up my arms, fingers digging into my shoulders, and it nearly undoes me.
“I don’t think I can stop,” I murmur against her mouth, letting my thumb trace the curve of her jaw. “You need to tell me to stop if any part of you doesn’t want this right now.”
She wraps both arms around my neck, pressing her forehead to mine. “I don’t want you to stop.”
I kiss her again. Each one is heavier until I’m painfully aware of every place we’re touching. I move, peppering kisses along her jaw. She tips her head to the side, allowing me full access tothe sensitive spot on her neck. Pulling down one of the straps of her tank top, I trail my lips along her collarbone.
“Tucker,” she practically moans.
“Yes, babe?”
“More.”
