Page 7 of Vaughn

"Hey," he nudges my arm with his, a smirk on his face. "Nice to see you out tonight. How'd you get over here?"

The warmth from his body seeps into mine. I want more of it, and as I drink a bit more of the alcohol, I'm wondering what it would feel like for him to be over top of me. For him to slide between my legs, the way I watched Barrett slip between Gabby's earlier. "I walked over. It's not too far."

"Hmmm should've called me, Val. I don't like knowing you were out there by yourself this late at night."

"It's nine," I roll my eyes, "and it didn't even start getting dark until I got here."

"Still. You need a ride, you call me. I'll make sure you get where you need to go. I don't like you walking all over the place by yourself."

I shrug. "Believe it or not, I like it. It's quiet time. No one is telling me what to do, and I don't have the background noise of Get Baked in my head. Most of the time, I don't even think about it as being dangerous. I guess it could be."

"Yeah it could." He gives me a smile. "Especially for someone as small as you are, and I hate to say it, but you're sheltered, too. You haven't been exposed to some of the shit in this world. I see it every time I'm helping after a disaster, it most definitely doesn't bring out the best in others. They look for someone whois like you. A person who doesn't understand what dangers there are, that's nice enough they want to help with anything and everything. It terrifies me." He reaches over, grabbing my hand with his. "Promise me you'll call me if you need me."

"I will." I take another drink before turning to him. "Do you want to dance with me?"

"Fuck yeah, Val. I'd love to dance with you."

And that's who we end up out on the dance floor at Monroe's together, our bodies pressed up against one another, and me desperately wanting him to kiss me.

CHAPTER SIX

Vaughn

I've lived a lot in my twenty-five years, probably more than I should've, but there have been a lot of things I've learned. One of those things is when a woman wants something from me.

Val is hanging on tightly around my neck, pressing her body against mine. My hands are at her hips, pushing her further away from my body. I'm not sure she wants to know exactly how much she's affecting me right now.

"Do you like me?" She asks, gazing up. Her eyes are glossy, and tomorrow she more than likely won't remember much of this. I kind of hate that, I want her to remember everything having to do with the two of us.

"I do." I answer honestly. There's no reason to play hard to get, we're old enough to not be playing games with one another. I did that enough in high school. "But I also have a feeling you aren't thinking straight right now. That drink Alexis made you is clouding your judgment."

"No it's not." She shakes her head. "It's loosening my tongue, and the strict hold I have on myself."

Now we're getting somewhere. I've always wondered why she holds onto herself so tightly. Every time I look at her,her shoulders are hunched, she's never relaxed, always looking around like she expects a bomb to go off. "Then why don't you tell me whatever you want me to know, Val. I'll listen."

Her eyebrows raise and she tips her chin. "I wish I were different. I want to be one of those girls that you can kiss whenever you feel like it, that you don't have to watch yourself around. You may not think I realize it, but you treat me differently than anyone else."

I do, because I respect her more than most. "You're not like everyone else." I admit, hooking my arm around her waist, pulling her tighter.

"What do you mean by that, Vaughn? Half the words you say, I don't understand."

I don't either. "I don't quite understand either. There's an attraction between us, it's one I've never felt with anyone else, but I know that there's no way you're ready for any of that."

She stops swaying with me, and digs her fingers into my neck. "How do you know if I'm ready for it or not?"

"Have you ever been kissed, Val?" I ask slowly. It's as if the two of us are the only ones out on the dance floor together. Everyone else fades into the background as I wait for her to answer.

"No." She shakes her head, licking her lips. "Never been kissed."

This is the stupidest idea I've ever had, but there's nothing I can do to stop it. I have to satiate my curiosity. The sound of boots hitting against the wooden floor, the voices of others talking and laughing, it's all muted as her words hit me. No one has toucher lips before, they've never experienced her reaction. I'm not the type of man to get all fucked up over what my partners have experienced. I'm not the person to get caught up in numbers or anything, it stands to reason that if we're consenting adults, then we've both previously had experience,but this? It's giving me some type of shuddering in my stomach. The words come before I can halt them. "Can I kiss you?" I'm not normally the type of man to ask for permission, but I don't want to scare her.

Those eyes of hers widen, before she nods. Reaching forward, I take hold of her chin, tipping it so that it'll be easier for our mouths to touch. We creep forward, toward one another.

"I need the words, Val. Not just the nod. I need to know that you realize what happens between us when we kiss will change the way we are together. Once I get a taste, I can't promise I'll be willing to go back to how we are right now."

"What do you mean?" She asks, her breath coming out in short gasps, as if she can't get her heart rate to regulate.

I wish I wasn't so honest, but it's how I've kept myself sane over the past few years. "I'm patient with you because I want to know what you're hiding behind those sad eyes all the time. I really like it when you smile, and I wish you'd do that more." I'm getting so far away from what I actually want to tell her. "I'm not doing this right."

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