Page 25 of The Triple Play

For a moment, a long, stretching moment, we just stood there in relative silence. But then her mouth opened, the hint of a thought threatening to come out, before she closed it again.

I understood. I needed to do something. “You don’t have to?—”

“I didn’t know what to say.” Her voice was quiet, barely audible over the light wind, and I realized I’d gotten it wrong. I hadn’t needed to speak at all, she’d just been trying to come up with the right words.

“To what I asked you?” I guessed, but I already knew.

She nodded, her auburn hair shifting around her face, her fingers tightening their grip on the wood. “You… you and Colton and Xavi, you’ve all been so nice to me tonight. I didn’t expect that. I didn’t expectanyof this. I barely even know what I’m doing here.” Her lips pressed together, her voice a little breathy, and I could tell it was costing her something to keep her speech steady. “Look, it’s obvious, with all three of you. I’d be stupid if I didn’t see it. I just don’t want to make things messy between you guys, you’re all clearly close and I don’t want to cause any issues.”

I glanced down at her, studying the slope of her shoulders as they sagged a little, the way her jaw tensed as she looked out over the tops of the live oaks. “Look,” I said, keeping my voice as low and even as I could. “The three of us have been through a hell of a lot together. We’ve had screaming matches, fights that turned physical, nights where one of us didn’t come home ‘cause we were too pissed off — usually me. But we’ve always made it out on the other side. We’re not exactly fragile. If things get a little messy, we’ll deal with it.”

Her gaze slowly turned to me, her brows knitting together. “But I don’twantto come between you guys. I don’t want to be a wedge.”

I shook my head, turning my eyes upward toward the smattering of stars, staring straight at the big dipper. “You’re not,” I said simply. “You’re not a wedge, Annie. You’re a person. And you’ve got every right to choose what, orwho, you want.”

I could feel the heat of her stare lingering on me.

“No pressure,” I added, glancing back down at her. She looked as if she didn’t quite believe me, like I’d said something insane.

“How do you just… say things like that?” she murmured, shaking her head slightly as if to shake off my words. “You sound like you’ve lived a dozen lives. Like you’re some weird monk in the forest giving me advice.”

I snorted then, the ease of conversation coming a little more naturally now, and bumped her shoulder lightly with my upper arm. “Didn’t you hear? I’m old.”

She laughed then, really laughed, her nose scrunching and a genuine smile breaking across her lips. “You don’tlookold.”

“Flattery won’t get you out of this conversation,” I tried to deadpan, but the grin tugging my lips up definitely gave me away. That damnlaughhad done something stupid to my chest, had cracked it open and flooded me with something warm and dangerous that I almost wanted to run from, something I hadn’t felt in years.

I felt it before I saw it. The softness of her fingers, light and small and gentle, grazing my forearm as if they had every right to be there before they settled just beneath my elbow, squeezing almost sympathetically.

My thumb brushed against the inside of her wrist, over her soft skin and fluttering pulse, lingering on the way her vein pounded beneath it. She didn’t pull away as I leaned a little closer, but her breath caught in her throat, stuck like she didn’t know what to do with it, and god, I felt that sound go right through my chest and settle between my hips.

Her eyes flicked between mine, looking at me like I was either something dangerous or something incredible, like she was thinking of running or standing her ground at the same time. Her lips parted, her throat working on a swallow, and I could barely fucking think straight when she looked at me like that. I was gone for her.

“You’d think with how ancient I am,” I said quietly, my voice barely more than a whisper, “that I’d know better than this.”

She didn’t move a muscle, but I caught the way her eyes flicked down to my lips before coming back up to mine. “Better than what?”

I could barely hear over the roar of my pulse in my ears as I leaned a little closer, her breath warming the space between us, my nerves tucked neatly away in a box where they couldn’t stop me. “Better than kissing you right now.”

I could feel her heartbeat jump beneath my thumb and her shaky breath against my lips, my chin, my jaw. Her eyes didn’t leave mine even as they became unfocused with me so close, not even for a second, and she didn’t move away.

So I kissed her. Harder than I meant to.

All the restraint I’d been holding onto since I’d realized I wanted her snapped in an instant.

Her gasp hit the back of my throat, swallowed up as my mouth claimed hers, hungry and urgent and unfettered, like I’d been waiting for this longer than I could bear to admit. Her lips were so goddamn soft and warm, parting easily beneath mine, and she didn’t evenhesitate, not even for a heartbeat. She kissed me back like she’d been holding her breath all night and I was the only air left.

I tightened my grip on her wrist as my other hand came up to her jaw, cupping it, feeling her warmth against more of me before sliding my fingers through the soft waves of her hair at the back of her neck. I held her there, deepening the kiss further, exploring her mouth, claiming it as her hand fisted the front of my shirt, anchoring herself to me, pulling me closer, andfuck, I let her pull me. Crowding her against the railing, I pressed my body flush to hers, instinct and need driving me entirely as the cooler air whipped around us. But she was burning hot beneath my grip.

She whimpered, just a little, into my mouth, and my god, I felt it everywhere. It went straight to my cock, blood already pooling, and I didn’t fuckingcareif there was a chance she’d feel it against her. I groaned against her lips, my hand releasing her wrist and wrapping around her, sliding down her spine over Xavi’s hoodie and stopping at the small of her back. Desperation screamed at me to pull her closer, to crush her against me, but I was still clinging onto that last thread of control that I was barely keeping a hold of.

She tasted like cola and warm rum and something purely her, something that was already starting to feel addictive with every swipe of my tongue and move of my mouth. Every brush, every squeeze, every nip of her teeth, every soft and eager little sound she gave me unraveled me in pieces I knew I wasn’t going to get back.

I wanted more.

Chapter13

Annie

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