Page 46 of That Reunited Feeling

“Dylan has a problem with his hearing. It’s rare. I’m not exactly overflowing with insurance. And Rachel’s got him into a clinical trial at her hospital. It starts in the summer.”

Realization passes across Tom’s face. “Is that why he had to wear ear plugs to the movie?”

I nod. “They think loud noises might make it deteriorate more quickly.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” I swipe the tears from my face. “So you can’t go around being friends with him or teaching him guitar or anything. Because we’re about to live on opposite sides of the world. And?—”

But I don’t get to explain it again. Because Tom’s crossed the room at the speed of light. His hands are on my cheeks. His lips are on my lips.

13

TOM

The dam bursts. I can’t take it any longer. Can’t wait any longer.

Since that moment in the back of the car last night—hell, who am I kidding?—since I set eyes on her as I clutched my naked balls, I’ve needed to kiss her, to taste her, to be inside her for the first time. To have her be mine again.

I might have vowed to cleanse my relationship palate, but I hadn’t reckoned on Hannah Hepburn crossing my path again. The one woman I’ve never been able to resist, the one woman who could make any resolution crumble and bring me to my knees.

Her body, initially stiff with surprise, relaxes, and her lips press back against mine. Glory be.

But she gives in for only a second. Then her hands are flat against my chest, and she shoves me off with the force of a tsunami.

“What the fuck are you doing?” she asks, her still-tearful eyes wide and full of fire, as she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Kissing you.” I’m breathless, my heartbeat pounding in my ears. Now as much out of shock and disappointment as from the touch of her lips, the press of her body against mine. “I missed you, Hannah. All these years, I missed you.”

“You can’t not speak to someone for seventeen years and then just kiss them.” She flings her arms wide. “You can’t just tell them you miss them. And teach their kid guitar. Andkissthem.”

My stomach churns at how very far we now are from our lips ever touching again. I have to claw this back. I have to. “Look, I know we’re only going to be in the same place for the next couple months. But I want you, Hannah. I want you just as much today as I did that night at Rachel’s party.”

That was the night we gave each other orgasms for the first time. And the last. A week before I left for London, Rachel’s parents went away for the weekend, so the obvious thing for any high schooler to do was to have a bunch of friends over and engage in some underage drinking.

I had a bit of a buzz after a couple beers. Hannah had downed only one. We sloped off to the guest room to make out and ended up jerking each other off. It was awkward and embarrassing—I’d never come over anyone’s hand but my own. But the image of Hannah’s face as she climaxed on my clumsy teenage fingers has lived in my mind ever since.

Not because it was the first time. But because she’s the only person who’s ever made me feel the way I do right this second. Like my brain and my body are firing on all cylinders. Like I need to live life on my toes, ready for anything. Like if I don’t have my hands and my mouth on her right this second the world will end. Like I’malive.

“It doesn’t matter whatyouwant,” Hannah spits. “And it doesn’t matter whatIwant.”

“I get it.” I close the gap she put between us, reaching for her. But she might as well be a hundred miles away. “The only thing that matters is what’s best for Dylan. Totally on board with that. But what do you want, Hannah?You? The amazing singer, the best frontwoman any band could be lucky enough to have? What happened to that girl? What doesshewant?”

“That girl’s boyfriend moved to England. And she ended up with a total jerkface who promised her he loved her and, one night, convinced her to have unprotected sex. Then she had his baby. That’s what happened to that girl.”

The consequences of my actions smack me in the face like a cymbal crash. If only I’d known the mess I’d left behind. If only I’d been able to help her before now.

“I’m so sorry. I can’t turn back the clock. But I’m here now.” I place my hands on her shoulders, expecting her to pull away, but she doesn’t. “And you’re still you, Hannah. You still have your own wants and needs. What do you want, Hannah?” Her eyes search mine like she might find the answer in them. “Right this second, what doyouwant? What doyouneed?”

My dick is harder than that of a teenaged boy who’s just stumbled across his dad’s porn stash, eager to know the answer.

“I can’t have what I want.” Her fight is fading, the tension in her shoulders easing under my hands as I dig in my fingers and circle them slowly in a deep massage. “Not anymore.”

“But maybe you can. Tell me what it is. Maybe I can make it happen.”

She looks down between us, where she can’t possibly miss the bulge in my jeans, and shakes her head.

“Is it me, Hannah? Is it me you want? Do you want me as much as I want you? Because I think there’s a chance you might.”

---