“So why aren’t you back there?” she asks, nodding toward the rest of our team behind me.
I pause, my bottle hovering near my lips. “Not really in the mood for celebrations,” I mutter, glaring at the wall across from me as I take another sip.
“Ohhh, are you jealous?” she asks slowly, leaning closer. “Is this what jealous Colton looks like?”
I let out a deep sigh. “I ain't jealous either.”
“Ain’t jealous?” she teases. “Wow. You’re so upset that your country roots are showing, cowboy.”
That pulls a smile out of me and she notices, smiling back.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” she says softly, placing her hand on my thigh and not pulling away.
The contact sends a jolt up my spine and it becomes harder to focus. I look anywhere but at her as she picks up her mojito and takes a sip, looking up at me through her lashes, her hand burning a hole through my pants.
The last thing I need right now is to get another hard-on in this place, and especially in front of her when I’m the one that put a boundary in place for us.
“I talked to Gabriel,” I finally say, tapping the pool of condensation around my bottle. “He basically told me I’m not becoming a permanent member until everyone trusts I won’t leave again.”
Her expression softens. “But doesn’t he remember why you left in the first place?”
“Doesn’t matter to him.” I shrug, taking another sip before looking at her. “What about you? Why aren’t you celebrating?”
She sighs, finally removing her hand from my thigh as she looks over her shoulder. I follow her gaze and land on Zale, whose hands and mouth are all over Alessia.
“Wow,” I mutter. “They’re really going at it in front of everyone, huh?”
“Tell me about it,” she mumbles, turning around and taking another sip of her drink. “And the worst part is she keeps looking at me like she’s waiting for some sort of reaction.”
“Yikes. Sounds like she’s having some doubts about Zale.”
Kairi nods. “I wish I could make him as uncomfortable as he makes me.”
I look at her, my eyes dropping to her lips as I remember how soft and consuming they felt when we kissed. I’ve never experienced anything like it, and I don’t know if the adrenaline from my anger was behind the experience, or whether or not she felt it too. But I can’t help wondering if it’d feel the same if I kissed her right now.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asks quietly.
I peek over my shoulder and as expected, Zale is watching so I quickly turn back to her.
“Do you trust me?”
She doesn’t hesitate before she nods and it makes me feel warm inside. “Yeah. Why?”
“Good.” I smile to myself. “Keep that in mind.”
“Wha—”
Before she can ask anything else I reach for her, my hand settling at the back of her neck, and pull her toward me until our lips collide. She’s stiff for half a second before she melts into the kiss.
The noise of the bar fades away, along with everything else, and the only thing I’m able to focus on is the steady rhythm of our kiss and the way our tongues dance together. I tilt her head back and deepen the kiss, completely aware of how hard I’m becoming every time she lets out a whimper or moan.
Her hands grip my shirt tightly, and she leans into me like she wanted this kiss just as badly as I did. I’m so lost in the feeling that I don’t know how long we kiss for before the spell breaks at the sound of a throat clearing beside us.
I already know who it is, so when we pull apart to find Zale standing next to us, I’m not one bit surprised.
“Yes?” I ask, my tone annoyed.
He looks between me and Kairi, jaw tight. “I heard a rumour that you two were caught kissing at this bar a few days ago.”
