“Who keeps trying to sneak away from who again?”
She ignores the jab, pressing forward instead. “Then why are you always avoiding me? Why don’t you talk to me? Whyare you always scowling and grumpy and acting like I’m such a nuisance?”
“You don’t get it.”
“You’re right—I don’t. So tell me!”
I shake my head and turn toward the bathroom. I need a shower. Some time to cool down and put space between us before I say something I can’t take back.
“Ugh,” Jhene groans out of frustration. “That’s what you always do. You avoid addressing our issues! Then you act like nothing ever happened. Every single time things get real, you just walk away.”
I’m not sure what it is about what she says that sets me off.
Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been fighting hard to keep myself in check and here she is, so fucking boldly tempting me again.
My temper snaps.
I whip around so fast she takes a step back. Her lashes flutter as her eyes go wider. What she doesn’t know is I’m done avoiding the situation. Done pretending I’m not fazed by what’s going on between us.
“You want to know?” I growl at her. “You want me to tell you why I’m always fucking scowling and trying my damnedest to avoid you?”
She opens her mouth as if to respond, but I don’t give her the chance.
I’ve already closed the gap between us in two brisk steps, hooking an arm around her waist and wrenching her toward me. I crush my lips to hers in a kiss that’s been building for days. A kiss that explodes with tension and unrestrained desire.
Her lips fall open against mine as she angles her head and kisses me back. She instantly gives in out of the same frustration I’m feeling.
After days of dancing around each other, it’s impossible not to.
We kiss like two frantic people desperate to devour each other.
I fill my large hands with her heart-shaped face and push my tongue into her mouth. I’m not polite about it—or gentlemanly. I’m fucking demanding as it lashes against hers in massaging strokes.
Almost violently, like we’re still locked into a fight. Only a different kind this time.
I plunder her mouth, reveling in the pillow-soft feel of her lips. The sweet, warm taste of her and how she reacts to every minor shift in our kiss.
Her hands rest on my chest. Right over my heart that’s pounding away inside my ribcage.
Then she’s sliding her arms over my shoulders and around my neck. She’s hanging onto me as I angle her head back and deepen the kiss even more.
Tasting every inch of her. Savoring every second of it.
Craving her in a way I’ve never wanted a woman before. It’s heady and primal and so fucking intense my mind reels at the prospect. It can’t comprehend ever going without her again.
There’s no going back. There’s no point of return from this.
When I finally tear my mouth away from hers, we’re both panting. Her glasses are fogged and askew, lips swollen and moist. Her chest heaves as fast as mine is.
My forehead drops to rest against hers as I try to remember how to think.
“That’swhy,” I rasp, voice wrecked. “Because I’m so attracted to you—borderline fucking obsessed—and I’m afraid I’ll lose my mind if I give in. Because keeping you at arm’s length is the only way I keep myself in check.”
She’s dazed, blinking up at me. Her dark eyes search mine, lips still parted from the kiss.
For seconds to come, neither of us moves. We don’t utter a single damn word. We only breathe, processing the moment for what it is.
Accepting the fact that we keep ending up here.
