Page 158 of Hope & Harmony

Her mouth fell open. “I?—”

I chuckled. “Kidding. I’m not doing this without you. What song did you pick for us?”

Her smile returned, though it was smaller. “‘Don’t Go B-b-breaking My Heart.’”

I leaned closer and chucked my knuckle beneath her chin. “I couldn’t if I tried.”

CHAPTER 4

SELENA

At the end of the night, I hugged all my friends. I’d see them again soon, but it wouldn’t be as intense as the last couple of weeks in the studio. There was nothing like the bond formed in the trenches of recording an album.

I’d miss them, but I had some big changes coming, and I’d be too busy to get down for long.

My rideshare was the last to arrive, and Marco volunteered to wait with me.

He leaned against the building beside me, kicking one foot up. “I had a lot more fun tonight than I expected.”

My mouth hitched. “Y-y-you didn’t think you w-w-would like karaoke?”

“Nah. And I can honestly tell you there’s not a chance in hell I’ll be going back unless you’re there, taking the stage.”

My stomach fluttered a little bit with nerves, but more from excitement. Marco wasn’t exactly who I’d pegged him as. He’d gotten up on stage with me and let himself be goofy. I really loved that he was able to drop his cool-guy facade and laugh at himself.

For the rest of the night, he’d been by my side, making a game of guessing the song people would choose based on theirstyle. His picks were off the wall, and maybe it was due to the edible, but he had me crying from laughter.

I raised my eyes to his. “That could happen.”

He turned to the side and slowly lifted his hand to slip his fingers beneath my hair. “Could it?”

He brought his face to mine, hesitating right before our lips touched. My heart thrashed as I tipped my chin back and closed the breath of space between us.

Nipping at my bottom lip and pulling it between his, he tasted my mouth. I flattened my palm against his chest and leaned into him, my knees already weak.

He banded his arm around my waist and pulled me closer, deepening the kiss. I whimpered when his tongue breached the seam of my lips and came into contact with mine. His tongue curled and slid, taking his time inside my mouth.

I opened wider to him, and he tasted like ice and vodka, like thrills and warm nights by a fire. Comfortable yet so incredibly exciting, my head was spinning.

My phone buzzing in my bra brought me back to Earth. A loud, beeping horn cemented me to the ground.

“Crap,” I muttered. “My ride’s here.”

His arm stayed tight around me, and he drifted his hand down to the upper curve of my ass. “I need a ride, too. We’re headed in the same direction.”

“Are we?”

“Mm-hmm. We should be environmentally conscious and share.”

I looked into his heated, deep brown eyes, and I was certain I didn’t want the night to end yet.

So I slipped my hand in his and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Let’s go, then.”

He kissed me all the way back to my place. Hands in my hair, lips on mine, kissing soft and sweet. As much as I wanted to climb onto his lap and feel his body against mine, I also liked how respectful he was in the car.

Once inside my apartment, all that flew out the window. He shoved my cardigan off my shoulders and pressed me into the nearest wall. Erection thick and hard against my hip, he palmed my breast and licked up the side of my neck.

My head fell back, eyes fluttering closed, as I gave myself over to this experience. I wasn’t naive enough to not understand this would most likely be a one-time thing, so I wanted to soak up every detail. His scent, the sounds he made, how his body felt under my hands.

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