Page 47 of Fragile

My mouth falls open in a silent gasp, and then he pulls me to him, his lips crashing against mine. He captures my moans with his mouth, swallowing each sound as they escape me. It feels primal, raw. God knows he’s earned every single one.

I melt into him, surrendering to the rush. Surrendering to him, letting myself believe that this is actually happening.

My body hums with complete and utter satisfaction as he continues to kiss, nibble, and devour me.

It’s only when I finally sag against him, my limbs heavy with exhaustion, that reality sets in. We’re still in the stairwell of my building.

“So…that happened,” I manage, my voice shaky.

He stiffens slightly, his grip tightening. “Are you okay? Shit, I should’ve thought about where we are. We could’ve been caught—”

I cut him off by placing my hand over his mouth, those deep brown eyes consuming me.

“It was…amazing.” A post-orgasm thrill makes me shiver again as I release his mouth and press my lips to his. “So hot,” I mutter.

“Yeah?” he asks, with a boyish tilt to his head that makes me swoon.

I giggle as he deepens the kiss, threading those perfectly thick fingers into my hair, taking what he wants from me.

Eventually, Miles moves his leg, lowering me to the floor once again. My feet feel like clouds as I stand in my heels, trying to keep my balance. Two big hands smooth down my dress, covering my body, as I fix my hair, then swipe my thumb over his lips, removing the remnants of my lip gloss too.

“As good as you look with shiny lips, I think it’d be obvious if we walked back in there wearing the same shade.”

He laughs, light and carefree. “I’d walk back in there with my head held high because it means I was the one kissing you.”

His words send another flutter through my chest, such a damn peacock. But then, it hits me—our friends, my brother—they’re all at the party. They’ll see my flushed cheeks, the kiss-swollen lips, and it’ll be impossible to hide what just happened. I’m not ready for them to know. Not yet. I want to keep this moment, keep him, to myself a little longer.

“I need to go freshen up first. Meet you back in there?” I say in a rush, needing to just give myself a second to clean up and process what that was.

He eyes me warily. “I can wait.”

I wave him off. “No, it’s fine, go back to the party. It’ll look less suspicious if we go back in separately.”

Nodding, he steps closer, pinching the tip of my chin between his thumb and index finger before pressing a kiss to my lips, then another. “I’d like to come with you because I don’t want you to freak out. I’ll wait like a good boy on your bed, keep my hands to myself, then take you back to your party. We can arrive separately if you want. But one thing I’m not going to do is make you come, and then disappear. It’s not happening, Queenie.”

Swallowing hard, I take in the serious expression on his face. “Well,” I breathe, feeling tingly all over. “Let’s go then.”

Chapter twenty-two

Miles

Sweat runs down myback as Coach shouts from the middle of the field for us to “move our asses.” In our defense, we’ve been sprinting across the field for over three minutes now, and while all of us have a high fitness level, it’s fucking hard.

“Pick up your knees, Parker!” he bellows. “Dawson, I need my captain to be fast!”

Grunts echo along our line up as we all heave for air and push our bodies further and further until, finally, the sweet shrill of the whistle blowing makes every single one of us collapse.

“That was mediocre. Is that what my team is? Mediocre?” Coach spits.

“No, Coach,” Seb yells—at least I think it’s Seb. I don’t look up to check because I might just pass the fuck out if I do and I can’t hear over my panting.

“Then get up and show me why you deserve to be on this field and on this team!”

None of my muscles want to move. They protest as I lazily raise my body from the grass. As I sit up, I see the cheer squadmaking their way to the far side of the field, stretching and warming up. And then a flash of red catches my eye, and in slow motion, I watch with rapt attention as Quinn bends over to put her water bottle down, giving me a full view of her peachy butt.Jesus, keep it together, man.

“Cooper, get up and stop staring at the skirts,” Coach yells, and it’s then I realize I’m the only player still sitting down. Everyone else is at the side, ready to run again. Even if some of the newbies look like they might throw up, they’re there.

“Sorry, Coach,” I grumble, heaving my body upright, suppressing the exhaustion and running drills with my teammates again.

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