Page 36 of Suspicious

“You got drunk because I didn’t kiss you?” I glare at her.

Bea slowly glances back up at me again, her eyes somber. “I broke us. I know that. I just thought with the way we were looking at each other today and then that moment in the hall…” She pauses, pain clearly evident on her face. “But I read it wrong. I’msosorry. I should go.” She immediately tries to stand from my grip, but I pull her back into my lap.

My hand slides up into her wet hair, forcing her to look at me. “I haven’t stopped thinking about kissing you all day, Bea.”

Her eyes, those same eyes that hold my heart captive, flicker with the exact emotions I’m feeling. Suppressing her emotion, her breath hitches. The rapid rise and fall of her chest tell me she’s just as anxious as I am right now. We’re saying so much without words—the space between us is charged with unspoken longing. That usual spark, that fire, that adrenaline surging, makes me burn inside, even though the chill from the water should be causing me to shiver by now.

“Bea,” I whisper, my voice husky with emotion.

Her eyes close for a moment, leaning into my touch, and when they open again, they’re filled with unshed tears. “Alex,” she breathes out, my name a soft plea.

I can’t hold back any longer.

It’s too hard.

Slowly, I lean in, giving her a chance to pull away. But she doesn’t. She meets me halfway, the electricity around us surgingout of control.

When our lips finally touch…

… it’s like coming home.

A thousand memories flood my mind, playing through my head, including every beautiful, blissful moment I ever had with Bea, reminding me why I fell in love with her in the first place.

The kiss is tentative at first, almost timid, but it quickly deepens. Thirteen years of separation dissolve in an instant. Her hands grip my club cut, pulling me closer, and I can taste the salt of her tears mingling with our kiss.

The world fades away.

All our worries.

All the chaos that we’ve been through.

It leaves just us, wrapped in a moment I’ve dreamed of for so long.

Bea’s lips are warm, familiar, yet new. There’s a desperation in our kiss, a need to make up for lost time, to rediscover what we once had. My heart pounds in my chest, and her fingers tangle in my hair, grounding me in the reality of this moment.

A soft moan leaves her lips as her tongue dances with mine. My cock instantly hardens. The feeling of her nose ring reminds me that she’s all woman now, not the young teen I knew. We have grown so much since then. We have such a huge past and issues we need to deal with. Part of that is the reason she’s here with me now—drunk—and I realize I need to cool this down.

I remember how easily we get caught up in each other, and Bea is intoxicated. I don’t want us to go any further tonight, not while she isn’t completely in control of her senses.

Regretfully, I slowly begin to pull back, breathless and a little unsteady, our foreheads resting against each other. Her eyes search mine, and I witness the same mixture of hope and fear reflected back at me.

Everything has changed now.

Theo still doesn’t know about us, and the app is a problem we need to fix. Not to mention, there are issues from our past that we will need to talk about.

But for now, there’s only one truth that matters.

Weakly smiling at her, I stare into her beautiful eyes. “I’ve missed you,” I whisper honestly.

Finally, a bright smile crosses her face, and she lets out the most harmonious giggle. “Me, too,” she replies, her voice trembling. “So, so much.”

We sit on the shower floor, holding each other, the past and future converging in this single, perfect moment. And for the first time in years, I feel like maybe everything will work out for us. With my hands running up and down Bea’s bare arms, her goose bumps alert me to the fact she’s cold. Leaning in, I press a tender kiss to her shoulder and let out a long sigh. “I hate seeing you drunk like this, Bea. I need you to sober up. No more drinking like this…promise me?”

Her bottom lip trembles, and she nods, a fresh wave of tears streaming down her face.

I reach up, wiping them from her cheeks, and then lift her with me as I stand in the shower. “C’mon. Let’s get you warm.”

She sniffles, wrapping her arms around me as I lean back, turning off the faucet. Then, stepping out of the alcove and into the bathroom, I stand Bea in front of the basin in her drenched bra and shorts, reaching for a towel as I kick off my boots.

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