Page 150 of The Snowball Effect

“It’s why I got it,” Regan’s voice was so hoarse, so quiet, it barely registered over the way Emma’s pulse pounded in her ears. “The vanilla. Mocha chip – anything coffee-flavored – is my favorite, too, but when you ordered it, I thought,mm,” Regan sighed out a delicious groan, before she flicked out her tongue to slide over Emma’s lips.

The sensation of it made Emma’s knees quake, and she had to slap one of her hands onto the wall next to Regan’s head to ensure she remained standing.

“I thought that I should get vanilla, because I knew they’d taste so good together, if this happened,” Regan finished, before she used the hand in Emma’s hair to pull Emma back in, decimating the scant centimeters she’d put between them.

God, Emma was vibrating with how strong this molten desire filled her veins. She slid her hand down slowly, relishing in the feeling of Regan’s leanly muscled thigh under her fingers. Oxygen escaped her completely as her fingertips reached Regan’s bare skin at the bottom of her cutoffs.

Regan keened, gripping Emma’s shoulder so hard as she rolled her hips into Emma’s.

Swearing into Regan’s mouth, she rolled her hips back, harder, pinning Regan against the wall.

“Emma,” Regan panted against her mouth, her lips brushing tantalizingly over Emma’s, and something about it – about the way Regan’s mouth felt on hers was so… so… insanity-inducing.

She’d thought about this mouthso muchover the last few years. Back when she’d first had that fantasy crush on Regan, before she’d even known her. Even throughout their tumultuous relationship, when Emma hadn’t let herself like Regan, she’dgotten so distracted by these full lips. The last several weeks – especially since she’d felt them on her own – had been torture.

And she didn’t know how much self-control she could hold onto right now, she really didn’t.

That fact made Emma feel crazy, mindless with this desire. Now that there was nothing holding her back, now that the final vestiges of Emma’s hesitation were depleted, she justwanted.

It was that thought that had her breaking the kiss.

She gripped Regan’s thigh tightly, stroking her thigh over the soft skin there even as she drew back a few inches, forcing herself to put some distance between them.

“I don’t want to… to rush into anything,” she managed out a whisper, through her panting breaths. “But it was a twelve,” she breathed against Regan, tilting her head down and pressing their foreheads together. It took everything inside of hernotto kiss Regan again, but she craved this closeness so deeply.

The hand Regan had gripped her hair with gentled and released, as she sifted her fingers through Emma’s hair, and Emma could feel her hand shaking slightly. “Huh?” She hummed.

With every ounce of strength Emma possessed, she took a deep breath and lifted her head away. Regan’s cheeks were flushed, her lips so pink and swollen, and she still had her eyes closed. Emma’s heart skipped a beat, entirely unrelated to this raging heat inside of her, and all to do with how stupidly beautiful Regan was.

“On your scale,” Emma murmured, finally feeling steady enough on her feet to take her hand off of the wall so she could stroke Regan’s hair behind her ear. These dark waves she’d looked at but never touched were so, so soft under her fingertips. “The date was a twelve.”

Regan blinked her eyes open, and… yeah. There were those tawny flecks around her irises in eyes so dark they were nearlyblack with desire. “Wow. I outdid myself so well, I didn’t even know it was possible,” she joked, quietly.

Emma nodded, entirely seriously. “Not surprising.”

Regan took a deep, steadying breath and tilted her head back against the wall. “I know I need to walk you to the door and finish our date, but I also really don’t want to. Because I totally respect that you don’t want to rush into anything, but I don’t want it to be over.”

Emma very much understood the sentiment. “Unfortunately, Mrs. Clemmons is probably going to peek out into the hallway to snap at loiterers any minute now.”

The laugh that Regan let out was loud and full-bodied, and – in a feeling Emma had become increasingly familiar with – made her feel proud for causing it. “You’re right.”

Even though Emma knew it needed to happen, Regan sliding her hands away from Emma and dropping them heavily to her sides made her feel absurdly cold. Reluctantly, she removed her hands from Regan, as well, even though she knew that she’d still feel the phantom sensation of Regan’s thigh under her hand for the rest of the night.

They slowly meandered the rest of the way to their door, lingering outside as Emma took her keys out of her pocket. “So, uh, I’d invite you inside,” she started, clearing her throat as she sent Regan a conspiratorial smile. “But I have a roommate who recently told me that if I brought home a prospective new partner, she’d rip their hair out. You have really beautiful hair, though, and I’d hate to see anything happen to it.”

Regan smiled, entirely unashamed. “I appreciate it. She sounds a little unhinged, though; you should be careful.”

Emma shrugged. “Ehhh, you know, I’ve really come around to her.”

twenty-three

Regan was still vibratingwith energy an hour later, as she lay on her back in bed.

Yes, it was nearing midnight. Yes, she’d had an extremely busy day; she’d worked an early morning shift, then had to cover half of Liz’s shift she’d called out from, before coming home to prepare for her date. Then, had gone on the best fucking date of her entire life.

She couldn’t believe it had gone so well, especially when she’d been a total idiot and hadn’t double-checked the details for Alexis Levine’s Q&A.

But… ithad.

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