Page 79 of Happily Never After

“Because I realized I feel the exact same way.”

“You do?”Regret rescinded.

“Absolutely. Every time we kiss, it’s like a fuckingexperience, like this event that gets tripped up on an infinite loop in my head every minute I’m awake.”

Oh, wow. He’d described it perfectly. I’d had plenty of good kisses in my life, but he was right—the kisses with himwereevents.

No, not events. Events were too... ordinary. Kisses with Max were like holidays. Like birthdays. Like monumental, butterfly-inducing extravaganzas.

“All I can think about,” he said, his eyes dropping to my lips for a second, “is what it was like to kiss you and when I’ll get to do it again.”

“Same,” I agreed, shocked by his honesty but grateful for it. It felt nice to not play any games.

Maybe it was because we knew it was going nowhere that it felt safe to talk about it so freely.

“But now sex is in the picture. I don’t know how or why, but last night—and this morning—fucking dropped me. If the kisses destroyed my ability to think about anything other than your mouth, then the sex has obliterated every corner my consciousness.”

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t pure serotonin, the way he made me feel when he said that. Maybe it was just because I’d felt so...unwantedafter Stuart, but hearing those words warmed me from the inside.

“Sounds like Maxxie is obsessed with me,” I teased.

“That’s kind of what I’m worried about, smart-ass,” he said, setting his palms on my knees and squeezing ever so lightly.

The warmth of his hands immediately awakened all the nerve endings in my body.

“I know you don’t believe in love, or flowery romantic feelings, but I do. I think they suck and I don’t want anything to do with them, but I know they’re out there. And I know that I’m playing with fire every time my mouth and my hands touch your body.”

I felt a little light-headed. “Are you saying, that, um...”

He just watched me, his eyes daring me to utter the words.

I shouldn’t say it, but suddenly I wanted to know. I took a deep breath. “You think you could fall for me if we...?”

“I do.” His voice was quiet but resolute, as if he’d given this a lot of thought and there was no doubt. “And neither of us want that, right?”

I got a little stuck, looking at him, and it was tough to break our eye contact.

We didn’t want that, right?

I inhaled through my nose and swallowed.

“Right,” I managed, but my voice cracked and barely had sound to it.He thinks he could fall in love with me?

“So you agree that we should stop.” His eyes were intense and hot as he waited for my answer, almost as if he wanted me to say no.

But that would mean....

No.

He definitely didn’t want me to say no.

I nodded and my knees pressed into the front edge of his stool. He was so close, his mouth right there, and I felt almost... hell, almostsadat the thought of never kissing it again.

“I do,” I said, my voice a near whisper as I felt sleepy-tipsy. The pads of his fingers were warm on my skin, and I leaned forward,just a little, my eyes distracted by his mouth. “But do you think we should...”

“What?” he replied quietly, his fingers tightening as he leaned forward to meet me where our breaths hovered, suspended in the shared space between our lips.

“I don’t know,” I breathed, “maybe have one last kiss, just as a farewell to...”

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