Page 58 of Summertime Friends

In the hallway, we are standing outside the door to my room. I turn to face him. Liam reaches up and tucks a strand of loose hair behind my ear. His fingers graze my cheek in the process. He leaves his hand tucked in my hair, his focus dropping to my lips. Again.

“You’re staring at them like you’re trying to decide whether you should kiss me,” I call him out.

Yes. Yes, you should kiss me. I try to tell him with my eyes.

He takes a deep breath.

His chest rises and falls.

“Tell me not to,” he breathes out, fluttering his eyes close.

“I can’t do that.”

He doesn’t move.

“It doesn’t need to be anything more than it needs to be,” I say with encouragement for the both of us. “It’s just a kiss. A way to satisfy our curiosity, nothing more.”

Except I know that it’ll mean more, and I’ll want more. A kiss won’t be enough.

“Emerson—” His eyes are pleading with me to put an end to this, but his body is telling me a different story. It’s a story I want to finish writing together and on the other side of the door.

Without thinking twice, I rise on my tiptoes and kiss him.

If he isn’t going to do it, I might as well. Pressing myself against him gently, letting my top lip linger between his for a few seconds.

“Now, are you going to kiss me, or should I go get Geor—”

I’m unable to finish my sentence. Liam’s lips fuse with mine.

He’s fiercely kissing me as his body moves closer. My body hits the door behind me with a thud. He brings his free hand to cup my other cheek, holding me to him. Liam trails his fingers up my sizzling skin and into my hair. He leverages my head, tilting it to bring my mouth closer to him and deepening our kiss. I release a soft moan into his mouth.

It’s good. A damn good kiss and no kiss should ever be this good.

My hands roam his back as I feel every curve and line of his muscles. They shudder under my touch.

There isn’t much space between our bodies, but I push on him, trying to bring him closer because I need him closer.

Liam stops kissing me and removes his lips from mine. One hand falls to my waist, the other from my hair to my face. He drags his thumb over my lips until it reaches my mouth’s center. “No one, and I mean no one else, gets to kiss these lips. They’re mine.I want you to be mine.” He says it as if it’s a question for me to answer.

Pulling his thumb down and catching my bottom lip, he stops when he reaches my chin, nodding in agreement.

The world around me goes quiet as Liam places both of his hands under my thighs. He picks me up, and I wrap my legs around his waist, putting us level. My hips ground into him as he sandwiches me against the wall. I thought the last kiss was good, but this kiss takes me to heaven. I’ve never gotten off from only a kiss before, but with his possession and precision, I might—not to forget the incredible hardening length that is supplying ample pressure to my core.

Our kiss breaks when the footsteps in the stairwell echo down the hall. I’m placed on the ground, watching in shock as Liam pulls away. Standing there, Liam’s eyes roam up and down my body, watching as my chest rises and falls in tune with my heavy pants as I try to find air that isn’t him.

His hands that were holding me are now firmly planted on the wall next to either side of my head. Liam extends his arms, putting distance between us. He, too, is panting.

The footsteps become muffled as they climb higher and further away from us. A quiet tension now looms between us. Unlike earlier, this silence is uncomfortable and feels weighted. I can see it in his eyes that he is contemplating what next.

Option one, we open the door and find out what else could be good—based on those kisses, I’m pretty confident it would be.

Option two, we pretend that this kiss didn’t happen and go back to being strangers to friends.

I’m not positive there is a correct next move, but I know which one I want. Like I already knew, this kiss isn’t enough.

I turn to face the door, scanning my door key.

“Do you want to come in?” I ask over my shoulder, glancing back to see that Liam already selected option two.

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