Page 75 of Friend Zone to End Zone

She nodded, and then bent closer to whisper in my ear, “They feel even better.”

And then she was kissing me again. Her hands explored my stomach and my chest, sending electrical sparks everywhere she touched.

I slipped my hands down to her waist, squeezing the little bit of softness she had over her hips. My fingertips grazed across a sliver of skin on her back, just above the drawstring of her shorts—myshorts. And as I let my hand travel down farther to feel the smoothness of her legs, I couldn’t decide if I was grateful that she’d put on the shorts before coming out here since it would help with my self-control, or disappointed she had because I wanted to feel more.

I wanted so much more.

I wanted to find out if she’d used that body scrub on her whole body.

“This is so crazy,” she said breathlessly.

“I know.” I sighed, my heart so full with everything I felt for her I could barely draw in a decent breath.

Our kisses grew deeper, longer, slower, and my body ached for her—an intense longing that made me lose all sense of everything. There was only this moment. Only Arianna. Only us. And I had never felt more at one with someone in my entire life.

Her fingers traced their way along my arms, my shoulders, and my neck. Heat spread through the pit of my stomach as her mouth brushed along my jawline, leaving a path of fire everywhere she touched.

“Arianna,” I whispered when I realized just how close we were to jumping off the edge with each other. But she didn’t seem to hear me because she just continued kissing her way down my collarbone.

“Arianna…” I said her name again, even though the last thing I wanted was for her to stop. “I—we—” I blinked my eyes closed, hoping it would help me form words. “I want to make sure we aren’t taking things too fast.”

She sighed, like she didn’t want to slow down either. “I know.”

She kissed me on the lips again before resting her forehead against mine so we could catch our breath. And in the barely lit room, I found the same desire reflected in her eyes that I was feeling and it almost made me want to take my words about not going too fast right back.

Because I’d waited for so long for her to look at me like this. Look at me like I was the only thing she wanted in the whole world.

I touched her cheek with my thumb, the softness of her skin feeling so good. “Believe me, I want to go further,” I said. “I just don’t think we should do everything in one morning.”

“You’re right.” She nodded. “Just give me a few more minutes of this, though.” She caressed my bottom lip with her finger. “I promise I won’t try to take it further.”

So I pulled her mouth to mine again and allowed myself to savor everything thatthismoment was.

Because the best things were worth waiting for. And taking my time with each step Arianna was willing to take with me was a step I knew I’d treasure forever.

32

Arianna

I don’t knowhow long Cole and I lay on the couch, tangled up in each other’s arms as we made up for what seemed like years of suppressing feelings I’d been scared to admit were there. But by the time we came up for air, breathing ragged, my lips swollen and chaffed from the slight scruff of his beard, the sun had just risen over the mountains and it lit the room with the sunlight of a new day.

And it did feel like a new day—a new chapter full of possibilities for us.

I rested my head against his chest, cuddled up to his side. “That was nice,” I said as I drew circles on his chest, loving the way his T-shirt stretched across his muscles.

“You can say that again.” The way he sighed contentedly as he tightened his arms around me made my heart swell so big I thought it might burst from how much I was feeling.

We hadn’t exactly said how this might change things between us moving forward, but I had never felt so adored by a man in my entire life. And even though there had been several moments when I’d wanted to take things a lot further—to experience and explore the full passion burning between us—Cole had known, even when I hadn’t, that we needed to take it slow and that taking things into his bedroom prematurely might complicate things before we were ready.

And though I was pretty sure I’d never regret seeing that side of Cole, the fact that he hadn’t taken advantage of my foggy-headed state and kept us in line was so sweet.

Which was basically the opposite of Chad telling me he loved me just so I’d sleep with him.

Yet another reason why Cole was infinitely better.

Which reminded me— “Are you still planning to go to the housewarming party with me tonight?”

“The party where I’m supposed to pretend like we’ve been secretly seeing each other behind Chad’s back and make him insanely jealous?” He quirked up an eyebrow.

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