Page 74 of Finding Our Reality

She moans.

That all-encompassing little moan that tells me she’s ready to be kissed. That sexy little moan I’ve played on repeat throughout my every fantasy for the past twelve years.

I thought I would never hear it again.

And here it is.

The best damn sound I’ve ever heard.

The second my mouth slants over hers, her lips part. She’s ready, she’s waiting. Except we don’t kiss. I just need a minute tofeelher. So… we breathe. Her hot and heavy breath pours from her lungs into mine, giving me the oxygen I’ve been living without. Moaning, breathing, panting.

And just as my tongue is about to taste her for the first time in over a decade, all hell breaks loose.

Several loud screams erupt through the crowd, followed by laughing and cheering. The band falters off key. Someone bumps into us and spills a beer down my back. Trying to gather my senses, I glance at my immediate surroundings. The crowd has pushed in front of us, blocking the stage.

“Crutch!”

I spin around as soon as I hear Will scream my name. He’s at the back of the room, holding onto Raylee and pointing wildly at the stage. “Crutch! Get her!”

The crowd parts just enough for me and Lulu to see the culprit of the commotion.

Kristie.

She’s standing on top of one of the huge amplifiers, dancing and flashing her tits to the entire bar. Her shirt is completely off, and her bra is pulled down, trussing her bare breasts in the air.

“Oh my god,” Lulu’s gasp rings in my ears.

Suddenly, the portion of the audience filled with young—slightly drunk—and super-horny guys start to mob the front of the stage. Someone knocks into Lulu, bouncing her around likea pinball. Catching Ridge’s eye, I gently push Lulu toward him. Nodding, he races up to protect her. Off in the corner, I hear Ray yelling.

“Get the family in the back room,” I order Ridge.

I barge my way through the people and jump on the stage. The second, I block Kristie’s bare chest from public view, men and women alike fuss and boo. One jackass throws a beer bottle, and it crashes in an explosion of shards against the back wall. Knowing better than to touch Kristie’s naked body and force her bra back up, I order her to dress and come with me. She slaps me across the face. She’s too drunk to put any real force behind it, but it still pisses me off.

By this time, Will’s made his way to the stage. “Put your clothes back on and get down, Kristie! Are you fucking insane?”

She just laughs. A small bubble of spit flies from her mouth. She looks me in the eyes, and that’s when I see her pupils. Yep. High as a damn kite.

Ripping the clothes from my own body, I toss my T-shirt over her chest, covering her. Several women in the crowd shriek in delight. Scooping down, I tuck my body underneath her waist and toss her over my shoulder. Scrambling from the stage, I follow Will through the bar to the back storage room.

Good thing Kristie’s a woman. If she were a man, I’d strangle the last breath from her for ruining my kiss with Lulu.

And for leaving me with balls so blue they could be mistaken for Olympic-size blueberries.

Chapter 25

ELLA

You know the saying‘tension so thick you could cut it with a knife’? Well, the sexual tension between Ry and me has been so thick you would need a chainsaw powered by jet fuel to slice through it.

I spent the remainder of Friday night and all day Saturday babysitting Kristie at my house. Holt had to stay with Ridge because I was afraid Kristie would hit on him. It wasn’t hard to confirm Ry’s suspicion that Kristie was high. I tried to stage a one-woman intervention, threatening to tell her father. Kristie swore up and down that she doesn’t have a drug problem. She said she just started a new anti-anxiety medication and she had an adverse reaction when mixing the medicine with alcohol and her normal sleep medication.

I don’t know if I believe her, but I’ve been out of her life for so long I don’t know if it’s my place to enforce rules on her. One rule did get enforced, though—Will has banned her from the bar. She’s not allowed to set foot in there again.

By the time I drove Kristie to her house Saturday night, Ry had caught a big case. A missing thirteen-year-old girl, lured away from home by an older man she met in a chat room. All the detectives were overwhelmed, chasing lead after lead all week long. I tried to stay out of the way, knowing they would ask for my help if they needed it. We only saw each other for a few minutes here and there when I was in the station working. But those few minutes were filled with unspoken passion, electricity,and desire. Stolen glances and passing touches gave me enough hope to dream about what our future may hold.

Am I really ready to dive back into a relationship with him? Are we really ready to try this again? I can’t have my heart broken. Not again. There’s no way I would survive it. Lying in a ditch and being run over by a train would be easier than living through that.

And now, on this Friday afternoon, I can’t help but wish we weren’t going to see Trash for a follow-up interview, but instead, tumbling into bed together. I daydream of pulling the covers over our heads and rediscovering all the different kisses and touches that make us each scream out in pleasure. Because it’s been a long damn time since I’ve had somepleasure.

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