Page 62 of Hearts on the Line

“Hmm.” She takes another long, lazy lick, never breaking eye contact. I swallow back my groan before I embarrass myself. “Then don’t be.”

I take the Popsicle back, leaning in so close I feel her breath hitch against my cheek. “Fair warning, Sunny.” My voice is low and rough. “I’m not planning on losing you twice.”

Chapter 20

Sloane

His words rumble over me, and I collapse back against the car, my legs suddenly jelly.

I’m melting as fast as the Popsicle I drop at our feet and cup his face, drawing it down to my mouth. I could blame the heat or the fact I just had my heart broken, or that I just can’t get our last kiss out of my mind. Either way, I’m not thinking straight as I reach up and tug Ethan close by his T-shirt.

“Sun?” He pulls back just enough to whisper against my lips, his voice rough.

He tastes like lime and salt, and I can feel his groan vibrate low in his chest.

And I’m gone.

“Drive,” I whisper, my lips brushing his.

He doesn’t ask where. Doesn’t even ask why.

We’re in the car in seconds, my pulse still hammering from our kiss, his hand gripping my thigh over the console as if he’s afraid I’ll wake up from whatever fever dream I’m in. The Charger roars to life, and we pull out of the parking lot and head north, warm wind blasting through the open windows. My thighs press together, trying to ease the ache already building.

We take the back road to the cove without a word. It’s barely a five-minute drive, but every second stretches long, the air between us heavy. There’s a reason he knows exactly where to go. He kills the engine in a narrow pull-off by the cove surrounded by low scrubs and pine trees. For one breath, we’re still, only the sound of crickets, the soft crash of waves, and the faint metallic tick of the cooling engine.

Then he’s on me.

The seat belt’s still across my chest when his mouth crashes into mine, a kiss so hard and deep it knocks the air right out of me. It’s clumsy in the way only desperation can be with teeth catching, hands gripping and pulling wherever they can. His palm cups the back of my head, holding me close, sipping at my lips until I swear I’m on that beach seeing stars.

I don’t even remember unbuckling before I’m climbing across the console. He grunts when my knee digs into his thigh, big hands gripping my hips like he’s remembering every time he’s done this before.

“Back seat,” he breathes against my mouth.

We tumble into the back like teenagers, all awkward elbows, laughter breaking through the urgency for half a second. But the moment I’m straddling him, the air changes. His hands slide up the back of my sundress, fingers splaying over my spine, careful yet possessive.

Mine. I feel it in his touch, in the way his body anticipates and moves with me.

“One time,” I manage, even as my body is pressing closer, my pulse pounding in my throat.

“Yeah,” he says, tugging me tight against him. “Just once. Then…”

“Friends,” I whisper.

I ignore the small laugh of his against my lips. We both know it’s a lie.

His mouth drags down my throat, teeth grazing the spot that used to make me gasp in the dark of his truck twelve years ago. My dress is pushed up to my waist before I even realize he’s done it. His fingers hook around the side of my underwear and pull them aside, knuckles brushing bare skin.

I shiver.

“Ethan.”

He kisses me before I can say anything else, tongue sliding against mine. His other hand fumbles with his zipper. I hear the low rasp of it, feel the shift of his hips, and then… god, he’s there, thick and hard, pressing against me in a way that makes my breath catch.

“Wait,” I whisper against his mouth.

He stills instantly, forehead pressing to mine.

“I have an IUD. Clean check at the clinic this week after—” I stop short of saying his name. I’m tired of letting him seep into my life.