Page 67 of Riptide

By the time I come back, Foxx is still standing where I left him, glasses back on and scrolling on his phone with a little frown. When he hears me coming, his eyes lift, and he tracks me moving closer. I don’t hesitate to press my lips to his once and give him a hug that envelops me in his spicy scent, melting into him.

“Brought my finals with me to grade,” he says into my hair, his voice low. “In case you fall asleep on me later.”

I groan. “You’re not grading while I’m around.”

He chuckles. “You say that now, but I’ve got a stack of essays about differential equations that say otherwise.”

“I really need to pay more attention in your classes.” I chuckle leaning back.

“Do you pay attention in your other classes?”

“Oh yeah, Dr. Crane is always telling me what a good student I am,” I tease and watch his eyes flare with something akin to possession.

“Dr. Crane, huh? He’s more your type? Or is it the fact he’s even older than me that gets you going?”

“Hmm,” I say, tapping my lip, pretending to think it over. “I think it’s the fact that as soon as I mentioned his name, you got a little jealous.”

Foxx scoffs twice, and both times, it’s the most unconvincing sound. “Was not.”

“Sure.” I try to smother my grin.

He reaches out to hook a finger in my belt loop and tugs me close enough that our thighs touch. “Fine, maybe there was a little sting of jealousy.”

I lean in, my lips a featherlight touch against his. “Hmm…” I continue to evade a real kiss from him, liking how he’s searching for my lips still. “Dr. Crane doesn’t fuck me like you do.”

He makes a tortured noise in his throat. Before I can say more, his hand moves from my waist to the back of my neck, guiding me closer until there’s no space between us. His kiss is demanding and possessive and so fucking hot. When he pulls away, I can’t stop my body from following his. “You drive me fucking crazy.”

I lick my lips, tasting him. “I’ll take you crazy if you kiss me like that again.”

I feel his laugh huff against my heated skin. “Later. I’ve ordered pizza,” he says without letting me go. “I hope you like pineapple.”

I pull back to see his face. “That’s the cruelest thing you could do.”

The smile that spreads over his lips is nothing short of beautiful, and then he dips down to kiss me. His mouth is warm and soft against mine and, suddenly, I think maybe I could forgive him for putting fruit on something that absolutely shouldn’t have fruit. No, nope. “Don’t think that kissing me gets you out of ruining dinner.”

He pecks the side of my mouth again. “There’s no pineapple, promise. I’m not that evil.”

I narrow my eyes at him, still half-suspicious. “You sure?”

He raises two fingers, scout-style. “Swear. Classic pepperoni.” He glances at his watch. “Should be here in twenty minutes.”

“Good,” I say, already tugging him toward the couch, flicking on the baby monitor as I pass. “We’ve got time to make out some more.”

I push him down and straddle my legs around his hips. My hands immediately find the back of his neck, threading my fingers into his silky strands there. He hums into my mouthand opens for me, pulling me down closer to him. Every touch courses through my veins and lights me up from the inside.

A shiver snakes through me, heady and sweet, as his mouth moves against mine, kissing me like we’ve been doing this forever. I shift, angling my hips to grind against the hard line of him beneath me, and he groans, a sound that rips through me and lands straight in my balls. My fingers curl tighter into his hair as he bucks up into me, chasing friction, his hands now fully beneath my shirt, palms dragging over bare skin like he wants to memorize every inch.

“Fuck,” he mutters against my mouth. “I’ve missed this.”

His words loop in my mind as I sink deeper into him. He’s missed this, the heat, the wildness, the way we crash into each other like it’s second nature. And God, I feel the same thing, that pull, that need rising fast in my chest. It’s hardly been any time, but it feels like longer. Like I never stopped wanting this. Wanting him.

It hits me then, how easy this is. How easyheis to want. Not just because he’s hot as hell, though yeah, he is, but because something about being with him makes me feel like I can turn my brain off for a second. Like I don’t have to keep carrying every broken piece of the past on my back. He doesn’t try to fix me. He just lets me be.And I didn’t know how much I needed that until right now, with his lips swollen from kissing me and his hands holding me like I’m something worth holding on to. My brain is clearly linked with my ability to get a fucking erection, and I need to chill.

I don’t say any of that out loud. I wouldn’t even know how, and it’s not something I’m willing to blurt out in my lust-filled state. But it’s there, heavy in my chest, pulsing under my skin, threatening to unravel me.

“Fuck,” I whisper, dipping down to kiss him again, and then the door buzzes and I groan. “Double fuck.”

He grumbles a light laugh. “I got it.” Then he taps my legs, and I move off him, watching as he readjusts himself and goes to get our dinner.

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