Page 60 of Playing Games

The air is warmer in here, still humid from his shower, and the mirror is fogged at the edges. Blake’s back is to me, but when his eyes catch sight of my reflection in the mirror, he freezes—and then his entire presence seems to radiate pure light. His smile is bright, his mood welcoming—he doesn’t make me doubt myself for even a moment.

“Need something, babe?” he asks, turning around to face me.

But I don’t say anything. I can’t. My eyes are focused between his thighs again, and before I can second-guess it, I step forward and get on my knees in front of him. I look up at his surprised face beneath my lashes and reach out to touch his now-hardening cock.

“Lex,” he whispers my name, his voice a mix of awe and growing need. I don’t squander it. I lean forward and swirl my tongue around the tip, trialing a taste. It’s fresh and manly and personal—it makes me feel good.

When I suck him into my mouth, his gasp of surprise is deep and raspy, just like it was the very first time I did this, and it only emboldens me further.

I feel confident and powerful as I move my mouth up and down his length. And I savor the way he grows completely hard against my tongue, letting myself relish the way he feels like silk and stone against my lips.

When I take him deeper, letting the tip of him tap against the back of my throat, a guttural groan escapes his throat that causesgoose bumps to roll up my spine and a throbbing ache to form between my thighs.

“Fuck, Lexi. You’re going to ruin me, you know that?”

He might think he’s the only one who is being affected right now, but the truth is, I feel like I’m the one falling apart. I don’t think I’ve ever let myself be this vulnerable with another person in my life. I feel bare and uninhibited and safe.

So incredibly safe.

It’s a far cry from the woman who wouldn’t give him her phone number, and it’s all thanks to him. His open and honest and self-sacrificing pursuit has completely robbed me of my shields, and when I’m alone with him, I feel no need to put them back up.

And right now, all I really want to do is makehimfeel good.

So, I do.

I feel his body tense beneath my fingertips, and instead of pulling back like I did the first time, my desperation to tasteallof him overcomes me. I let him come inside my mouth, and astonishingly, it feels almost as good as the orgasms he’s given me so many times with his mouth and lips and tongue and fingers.

The logical part of my brain wants to scrutinize every single second of the intimate interaction, but when Blake lifts me off the floor and carries me to his bed, I can’t focus on anything besides the fact that he’s smiling down at me as he removes my clothes.

“Now, it’s my turn,” he says, waggling his brows at me as he slides my panties down my thighs.

And when he puts his mouth on me? Well, the logical part of my brain goes straight into sleep mode, leaving only this wild, wanton Lexi that I didn’t even know existed at the helm.

Blake Boden has changed me.

My ship is in uncharted waters with an untested captain in charge—who the hell knows where it’s going to take me now.

Friday, July 4th

Lexi

Just like Memorial Day weekend, Fourth of July at Uncle Brad and Aunt Paula’s lake house is always an extravaganza for the Winslow clan. Though, every year, it feels like we’re adding more and more people, and speaking from a purely square-footage perspective, that’s a miracle.

Everyone is scattered, some inside the house, some swimming in the lake, and some sitting on the deck outside. I pour a glass of my grandma Wendy’s famous lemonade into a glass, give her shoulder a friendly squeeze as I pass by her in the kitchen where she cuts up a watermelon, and head out the deck doors to take in the chaos.

All the Winslow family is here. My parents, my brother, all my aunts and uncles—both Winslow and Hayes—Helen, my grandma Wendy and her husband Howard, and all my cousins. Not to mention, my parents’ best friends Kline and Georgia and Thatch and Cassie, along with their sons and daughters Ace, Gunnar, Julia, and Evie.

Finn brought Scottie along, and Blake tagged along with Ace—just like he suggested he would two weeks ago—and since Cassie and Georgia both graduated from Dickson too, many years ago,and the guys are all football freaks, everyone has been thrilled with the addition.

If I don’t lie to myself, I am too.

Which is categorically insane, considering how much time we’ve been spending together and how strong-willed I’ve been about keeping us a secret. In this close of quarters, being as addicted to each other as we are, with this many eyes and ears everywhere, it’ll be the eighth wonder of the world if we don’t get caught.

As I look down at the lake, I take stock of everything. Looking outward is way easier than looking inward, as it were. Ace and Julia swimming side by side, and even from up here on the deck, the way he looks at her is unmistakable—like she’s the only person in the world. His smile is broader, brighter, and his focus on her is unrelenting, like she’s gravity itself, anchoring him in place.

Blake told me about the night out at Groove a few weeks ago, when Julia’s joke about being pregnant catapulted Ace straight into the big I’m-in-love-with-my-best-friend moment that we’ve all been silently waiting for one of them to have.

The problem? Ace hasn’t told Julia yet. Instead, he’s channeled all his energy into something completely Ace-like—overhauling his entire class schedule to match hers for the fall semester. Blake described it with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, shaking his head at Ace’s plan to ward off any loser who dares to talk to her.

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