Page 5 of Hold Me for Now

I nod.

He lowers his mouth to mine. Warm breath and soft lips, a gentle kiss. T smells strongly of mint, as if he ate an entire pack of Altoids on his way over here.

A sigh escapes me at the sweetness of it. I can’t remember the last time, if ever, that someone kissed me like this. That someone touched me so delicately, as if they were afraid to break me.

But I’m not fragile, and, as nice as this is, it’s not going to get us into bed. Which is what I desperately need because if this doesn’t work…I don’t know what I’ll do.

I part my lips and let my tongue flick over his bottom lip, tasting the heat of him. T inhales sharply, his breath shuddering against my mouth like he wasn’t expecting this. That split-second hesitation is all the invitation I need. I slide my tongue past his lips, catching another startled gasp—hot and sharp, it spills into me. I drink it down greedily, like I can steal a part of him, take his breath, his need, his hesitation, and make it mine.

The kiss shifts. It starts out chaste and then ignites into a three-alarm fire.

T’s fingers slip into my hair. Without hesitation, he palms the back of my head and deepens the kiss, leaning his long, thin frame against my shorter one. Now I’m the one surprised by the pressure of his body, by the intensity of his mouth moving against mine. I had pegged him for a bit of a country bumpkin. I had assumed that only being with one woman would make him inexperienced, but I was so wrong.

This man.

He knows how to kiss a woman.

Arousal shoots up my spine, quickens my breath, and makes me moan, a quiet whimper.

That single sound, so unplanned, breaks the spell between us.

T stumbles away from me with wide, shocked eyes. His hand flies up to his mouth, fingers pressing against his lips like he can still feel me there.

On instinct, I go to chase him but stop myself, which is unusual for me. I’m always the one who pursues. The one to make the first move. To be the aggressor. It’s occurred to me recently that maybe that’s part of my problem. Why I always end up with the assholes, the users. Perhaps I force acts, relationships, that were never meant to be?

This time will be different, I decide. After all, T’s nothing like the guys I’ve dated in the past.

Not that I’m dating him, of course.

This is just sex.

Nothing more.

Chapter four

Iputmyhandsup,showing him my empty palms like I’m trying to convince him I hold no weapons.

“I’m—I’m sorry,” he stutters. “I just—I wasn’t expecting that…and wow. You’re a good kisser, but it feels so strange. Like I’m cheating, but I’m not. I—I don’t know how to handle this.”

“I get it,” I reassure him, attempting to put myself in his shoes. “As weird as this is for me, I’m single. Haven’t had a steady boyfriend in over two years. It must bewaymore difficult for you.”

He quirks his head at that, eyes sharpening. “Two years?”

I let out a nervous, high-pitched laugh. Exposed and vulnerable, I wonder why of all the things I just said,that’sthe detail he latches on to. “Yeah…it’s been a while.”

“But how can you be sure you can’t—you know—orgasm if it’s been that long?”

I laugh again. This time sharper, with a bitter edge. Sarcastically, I say, “Oh, you sweet, naïve man. Just because I haven’t had a boyfriend doesn’t mean I haven’t had sex.” I hold his gaze, daring him to react. “I’ve hadlots. Made it my mission, really, trying to figure out what’s wrong with me.”

That makes T frown, his mouth bracketed by deep curved lines in the corners.

I break off my chuckling abruptly, sure that he’s judging me. Crossing my arms over my chest, I send him a glare. “No slut shaming, please. That’ssoearly 2000s.”

A guilty flush climbs his neck. “Sorry. I wasn’t—well, maybe Iwasthinking that, and you’re right. I shouldn’t judge. I know how bad that feels. Lots of people give me grief, say I’m stupid for only ever being with one woman.”

NowIfeel awful, because Ididthink that about him, that he must have low standards to settle for the first girl to wet his dick.

“I’m sorry too,” I admit. “It’s easy to throw stones at other people’s choices and ignore the glass walls that surround us, isn’t it?”

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