Page 69 of Hexed & Hazy

He presses his lips to mine, swallowing my joy with a tender kiss.

“This is all I’ll ever think about now,” he says against my mouth.

I’m all he’ll think about.

Unbelievable.

A few weeks ago, the idea would have sounded impossible rather than improbable. Seth thinking of me at all, much less claiming I’m the only one… so strange. My conversation with David, not to mention their past friends-with-benefits situation, creeps into my mind even when I don’t want it to.

Seth is sweet-talking me, but is he genuine?

“Really?” I nuzzle my nose against his. “Just me?”

“Only you.” He closes his eyes. “I know I haven’t been able to commit to anything serious in a while, maybe ever, but it’s different with you.”

I roll my eyes and try to move off him. “I bet you say that to everyone.”

Seth’s firm grip keeps me in place, his powerful arms wrapping around my back. “No. And I don’t mean it like some romantic thing, really, but… You know my family. My mom. My sisters. You understand.”

When he opens his eyes again, he peers at me earnestly and loosens his hold. I could move, but I don’t. How could I spend so long praying for this closeness only to push it away the moment I get it?

It would be a hex in and of itself. I won’t make that mistake.

“Everything that kept me from being serious before doesn’t exist with you.” The lump in his throat bobs.

I stroke the side of his face. “Doesn’t that scare you?”

“Little bit.” His lips tug up at the corner, and he pinches his fingers together. “But I’ll get over it. I care about you, and—I know it’s different with you.”

That can’t be sweet talk, can it? It’s not charming. It’s real.

My heart is pounding out of my chest, and I want to tell him everything—that I love him. The exact moment I fell in love with him. We were still teenagers, and when no one was buying my badly made knitted items at the craft fair, he scraped everything he had together to buy what I now recognize as the ugliest scarf.

And he wore it every winter until I finally made him a new one. A better one, in my opinion.

“I trust you,” I say instead. “Trust is a gift, and it can be taken back easily. Do not break it.”

“I won’t. Ever.” He holds my face in his hands and presses his nose to the side of my cheek, inhaling deeply. “I never wanted to be an asshole—to anyone. Not Dave, or Scarlet… I tried my best. But I’m going to try harder now. For you. You’re my best friend.”

“No, I’m not⁠—”

“You are.” He kisses me, silencing any further interruptions—of which there would be many.

Try as I might, I’m still carrying all the fears I’ve been trying to put down.

There’s so much said in those soft kisses, pressed to my mouth again and again. Until they deepen into something more. Not flaming hot, but molten lava. I move lower, even as he lets out a frustrated sigh, and I rub my core—no longer throbbing and overstimulated—against his stiff length. My arousal is still plentiful enough to coat him. I continue shifting my hips until he’s rubbing against my clit.

He grabs my hips and guides me through the motions as we kiss. Never entering. Never pushing past whatever boundary still exists between us. Each moan, each huffed breath, feels like pleasure rushing through me.

After so long apart, I’m able to make him feel like this.

Sitting up, I search the bed for his pants until I find his belt, which I look at slowly… and then him.

His lips part. “What are you thinking, beautiful?”

The pet name likely means nothing, but to hear Seth, of all people, call me beautiful… it boosts my confidence.

I bite my lower lip. “I’m thinking that you seemed to enjoy pleasing me, did you not?”