Page 21 of Bad Run

While I don’t necessarily feel better after talking about my family, I do feel accepted, and that’s something I haven’t felt in a long time. And it’s all because of this woman sitting beside me.

“I’d tell you anything if you asked.” It’s strange to say, but it’s true.

Silence falls, and the distance between us shortens.

Gwen sucks in a sharp breath as I cup her face in my palm, running my thumb over her cheek.

She has me feeling some type of way, and it has nothing to do with the monumental achievement I made tonight with my teammates. I couldn’t give a damn about what my friends are up to or that I should be with them celebrating our win.

Right now, the only person I want to celebrate with is her.

The rest of the world disappears as we sit side by side, staring at one another. My eyes follow her tongue as she swipes it across her lips. Shiny and inviting. Begging me to kiss them.

“Gwen?”

“Yeah?”

I lean forward. “Unless you push me away, I’m going to kiss you now.”

Gwen’s breaths gain speed, giving away her answer before she whispers, “I won’t push you away.”

My heart rams against my ribs as I tilt her chin back with my thumb. As much as I want to devour her mouth, taste her on my tongue, a soft voice inside my head tells me to go slow. To savor this moment. To savor her.

Closing my eyes, I press our lips together. Sparks snap at the slightest touch, and a wave of euphoria washes over me.

Gwen gasps, parting her lips enough for me to capitalize on the invitation to drink her in. I dip my tongue into her mouth and slide it against hers. She tastes of alcohol, lime, and something uniquely hers. Something heady and sweet.

I tilt her head to the side, deepening the kiss. Our tongues tangle in a slow, seductive dance. The need to pull her closer, to eradicate any space between us, has me gripping her waist with one hand and the back of her neck with the other, dragging her body to mine.

Gwen places her hands on my chest for balance as she straddles my right thigh, allowing me to kiss her harder, deeper.

She moans and digs her nails into my chest as our lips mold to each other in an embrace so sweet and sensual it makes my blood boil with desire. My cock swells behind my zipper, angrily pleading for more, as she sucks on my tongue.

Lust rages beneath the surface of my skin, yearning for more.

There’s no way I’m leaving this club without her. I won’t. I can’t let this kiss be the only one.

I break away from her addictive lips, pressing my forehead to hers. “Come home with me.”

“What?” Gwen rears back, wide-eyed and unsure. Her lips are swollen and puffy, and fuck if I don’t want to kiss them again.

All night long.

“Come home with me. Well, not home home, because I don’t actually live here, but I have a hotel room.” I know I sound crazy asking her to leave with me, and the request could backfire spectacularly. But I know to my bones that I’d regret it if I didn’t take a chance and ask. “I really hope I’m not fucking this up so let me start over. I want to get the hell out of here, and I want you to come with me. Doesn’t have to be my hotel. Let’s see where the night takes us.”

“Are you serious?” she sputters, looking at me as if another head has instantaneously sprouted from my neck.

I drag my hand from her nape down the ridges of her spine to ease the apprehension tightening her muscles. “So fucking serious.”

Her eyes search mine. I wish she could read my mind and see the truth of my intentions.

Would I like to take Gwen to my hotel and fuck her into oblivion? Hell yes.

But tonight doesn’t have to be about that. It can be about two people getting to know one another. Two people leaning into the unknown, into this wild and intense attraction.

“What do you say? Want to run off with me?”

Gwen must find what she’s searching for because her lips curl into a wide smile and she nods. “Yes, I want to run off with you.”