Page 43 of Diving In

I heard the door to my room creak open before Cal pressed his chest against my back, running his hands up and down my arms.

“I just wanted to check on you,” he started. “You doing okay?”

“I feel like I could get caught breaking and entering—that’s how weird this feels,” I tried to joke.

“I get that. Jack always said he never changed anything here, and looking at it now, it looks like he literally didn’t changeanything.” Cal turned me around in his arms, gazing into my eyes. “Look, I just want you to know that I’m here,” he insisted.

I quivered at our proximity. I’d never been so consumed by someone the way I was by Cal.

His smell was delicious and alluring, pulling me closer until I was devoured by the scent. Both my mind and my body were at his complete disposal, and I wanted him to know that.

“Cal, my head is spinning.”

“Understandably so.” His fingers taunted me as they played with the zipper of my cropped sweatshirt.

“Everything is upside down, backward, and completely fucked, but I don’t want to leave here with another piece of unfinished business. I want you to know that despite all the crazy shit”—I took a breath, gathering my courage— “all I can think about is you,” I said on an exhale.

“Have I not made it insanely obvious that I feel the same?” he breathed. “Georgia James, you’ve been my very own wrecking ball from the first day I saw you. You might have been Fletch’s little sister, but that didn’t stop me from always keeping my eyes on you,” he confessed.

“It’s only been two days, but I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the first day at the aquarium. And somehow, regardless of the madness that I’ve been swimming in since arriving on this island, you’ve found a way to make it bearable, even enjoyable at times. You’ve welcomed my chaos, and you’ve looked damn good doing it.” I released another deep breath as I finished.

His lips parted slightly as he spoke again. “Has it only been two days? Yeah, it has. And is it possibly fucking insane that we feel this way? Also yes. And even though I haven’t seen you in years, every time Jack spoke of you—every story, every detail, every everything—made you feel a little bit closer. It made me feel like I never really lost sight of you. So it’s safe to say I was thrilled when it was you that showed up at the aquarium two days ago.” He took a breath, gently pushing a piece of my hair out of my eyes. “I wouldn’t change a minute of our time together.” He smirked, and I felt the butterflies come to life again. “Other than how long you’ve made me wait to have my way with you.” His voice sounded hungry, a low grumble leaving the back of his throat.

My chin shot up at his last comment, his indigo eyes eagerly waiting for mine.

The mere thought of Cal thinking about me as anything other than Fletch’s little sister all those years ago had my insides twirling. He’d ignited a flame, and I was afraid there was no putting this one out.

The energy in the room shifted with our confessions. The intensity grew, and I couldn’t help but notice just how much of him I could feel pressed against me.

The growing need for him pulsated from the bottom of my stomach all the way to the tips of my toes. My body was throbbing with so much desire from the fire he’d ignited within me, and I wanted him to fuel it.

No, Ineededhim to fuel it.

Our faces were only inches apart, our bodies buzzing from the sensations floating through my head. I leaned in, kissing him without second-guessing myself.

I threw my entire body into him, and without faltering, he gripped my hips with just the slightest bit of force. A soft moan left my mouth, my lips parted, and I was immediately greeted by his tongue, making a subtle groan leave the back of his throat.

That was the sexiest groan I’d ever heard, and I wanted to hear it again.

His lips demanded mine as he hugged my body tighter. I wasn’t sure we could get any closer, but neither of us cared, we kept trying.

I forced myself to pull away for just a second. This man, who in the time I had known him had been nothing but composed and put together, was absolutelyflustered, and I was the reason behind it. I bit my bottom lip, turned on by the fact that I had some sort of control over him.

“Don’t do that,” he scolded me.

“Do what?”

“Don’t bite your lip,” he impatiently responded.

“What? Wh—”

“Because every fucking time you do, it makes me want to devour you right then and there,” he whispered in my ear. “I’ve held back since the second I saw you. I don’t know how much longer I can resist the urge to rip your clothes off and make you scream my name right here in this bedroom.” His fingers danced along my collarbone, electrifying everywhere he touched.

“Then do it.”

“Fuck.” He managed to choke out before he gently shoved me against the bedroom wall, his hands doing everything they could to rip off my sweatshirt and black sports bra, leaving me standing in nothing but my leggings.

In most cases, I would’ve been insecure in a time like this, but not with Cal. No, this man made me feel anything but self-conscious. The thought of a man like Cal wanting me, every part of me, made me feel sexy. Empowered, even.

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