Page 36 of Slash & Burn

“Nothing,” she replied too quickly. She was still in my embrace, but she was leaning back as far as she could. I should probably have let her go, but Jill being in my arms was the one thing keeping me in the moment and I didn’t want it to end. “Why are you blushing?”

“I’m not. You’re just hot.” Her eyes went wide as soon as the words popped out and I laughed. “Temperature. Body heat. Shit. Shut up, Grady.” She smacked my good shoulder, but still didn’t unwrap her legs from around me. I liked that she didn’t seem to want to let go either.

“Did you think I was hot back in high school too?” I asked, digging my fingers into her side playfully. But I stopped when I saw her cheeks flame.

She wasn’t just pink anymore, she was bright red. Splotches broke out down her neck and my eyes followed them as they bloomed across her chest, all the way down to the scoop-neck of her suit where her breasts sat poking out of the surface of the water. She was fucking perfect. Delicious round edges, and gripping my waist with those gorgeous long legs.

“You would think every girl had a crush on you back then,” she said, her voice breathy even as she kept her eyes down.

“I don’t care if every girl did. I want to know ifyoudid?” It was stupid to press her on this because it didn’t really matter. But some part of me wanted to think that Jill Jordan—clever, funny, never-impressed, Jill Jordan—had seen something in me back then that she liked.

She rolled her eyes. “You’re not going to drop this are you?”

“Not a chance.” I was practically panting, my eyes glued to the thick lashes she was hiding under.

“Fine. Yes. Okay? Better now?”

“Really?”

“Yes, Grady,” she huffed, rolling her eyes again before they finally met mine. “I had a crush on you. Happy?”

She didn’t know how much. “Fuck yeah I’m happy now,” I said, grinning at her like an idiot. “I’d be happier if you still did, but I’ll take what I can get.”

“I don’t have a crush on you anymore,” she said, swallowing as her eyes dropped to my mouth. She licked her lips, and a fresh flush fanned out over her cheeks.

“No? That’s a shame.” My heart was pounding so hard I was sure she felt it thumping against her chest.

“I don’t think it’s called a crush once you’re old enough to drink it away.”

“What’s it called then?”

She shrugged. “Trouble.”

I laughed, but there was no humor in it. Jill was still looking at my mouth, and my dick was starting to respond to the heat in her eyes. We’d cruised right into dangerous territory without hitting a single stoplight and if we didn’t put the brakes on soon she was going to feel just how much trouble she was in.

My fingers flinched, tightening on her waist. Jill shifted, her legs cinching her body closer to my half-hard cock. I groaned, grinding my teeth to try and hide it, but failing.

“Sorry,” she whispered, looking away bashfully.

“Don’t be sorry.” I hugged her a little closer, my willpower starting to slip. We both knew this couldn’t happen. Joey would never forgive me, and the last thing I wanted to be was another man who fucked with Jill’s head. But the fire in her eyes wasn’t one I wanted to put out either. She’d had a crush on me all that time we were kids? Well, maybe I had one on her now. “How about we drink this away tomorrow?” I asked, her eyes sliding back to meet mine. “And tonight we just . . .”

Her voice was low, but clear. “Get into trouble?”

“Fuck yes,” I rasped, spinning to pin Jill against the side of the pool.

I bracketed her with both arms and sank against her warm, soft body as I took her mouth. God damn she tasted fucking good. She took handfuls of my hair, yanking me closer and sending a shot of pure fucking lust straight through me. Jill wasn’t the shy bookworm she appeared to be, and when she opened her mouth on a breath, licking the seam of my lips, every last reserve of restraint I had turned to dust. I ground my cock into her core, both of us groaning at the utter torture.

“I lied,” I hissed, grinding into her again and swallowing her moan.

“What?”

“You are better than I remember,” I got out, panting as I sucked on the tender spot beneath her ear.

“I am?”

I nodded, nipping at her ear lobe, my cock straining against the mesh of my shorts. “But only because back then I couldn’t do this to you.”

Jill was breathless, scraping her nails down my back, the twinge of pain like lightning straight to my cock. “Grady,” she whined, her thighs like a vice around my waist as she moved herself along my length.

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