Page 50 of Riley

I want you.

I wanted Riley Evans, but I knew I needed to tell him the truth.

I couldn’t lie to him anymore. I wanted him to wantmefor me.

Not the me that everyone else got—XxPrinceAyricxX,the charismatic performer, Eric the eternal bachelor who knew how to have a good time. I wanted Riley to want me for the lost, childish idiot I was who couldn’t breathe when he was in the same room.

My heart beat steadily in my chest as I squeezed my knees tight.

This was it, this was the downfall, I could feel it. I’d flown too close to the sun.

“I know you probably won’t believe me, but I don’t normally do this sort of thing either,” I said, feeling on the spot.

Riley squinted his eyes before brushing some hair out of my eyes. The touch was gentle, and I hated how much I liked it.

I’d been in plenty of scenarios the morning after, both being the one to leave, and the one being left, and usually that was the end of things where I was concerned. But as I stared at Riley in that hotel bedroom, a part of me didn’t want this to end.

A part of me wanted to believe that in the mistakes I had made, I could salvage a pure truth.

And that truth was that I was falling in love with Professor Riley Evans.

“Why wouldn’t I believe you?” he asked curiously.

The words caused a lump to form in my throat.

“Because, Riley I?—”

But they’d never be spoken. They were lost the moment Riley swiftly caressed my jaw and planted the softest kiss I’d ever felt on my lips.

Riley kissed me like I meant something. Like I was trulyeverythingto him, just the way I was.

And God forbid, I wanted to drown in that kiss.

I always dreamed a man would kiss me like that, but no one ever did. Not until that moment.

I kissed him back, not wanting the moment to end.

The vibrant spark between us.

“Shhh... it’s okay,” he whispered against my lips, brushing his thumb across my jaw.

“Riley...” I whined. Like a total bitch.

Riley’s bitch.

Riley pulled me closer, and I fell into him like rain falls to the ground.

The impact, the feel of his warm, smooth chest against my own, his fingers in my hair... It all made me feel lightheaded.

I parted my lips, and he didn’t miss a beat as we both fell back against the bed, my cock brushing against the damp, white towel separating us.

Riley slid his tongue in my mouth as his lips traveled over my jaw, down my neck, causing fresh fire to bloom in my blood. My head was pounding, my cock aching as his fingertips grazed my skin.

“Tell me...” he breathed as he draped his hand across my hip.

I allowed my hands to travel over his chest, down his abdomen, resting on the knot where he’d tied the towel closed, absentmindedly brushing my thumb over the bunched fabric.

Riley looked at me and in his eyes I could see he was scared too, though what he had to be scared of was beyond me.

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