Page 91 of Worth the Trouble

“Existence.”

“Isn’t that all we do?”

“Technically, yes, we all exist.” I brush my nose against hers. “But having, wanting, needing to get a taste of life again—I lost the part that makes things mean something.”

“And I make you want a taste?” She narrows her eyes.

I love the little challenges she issues when she doesn’t even realize it.

Grabbing her ass, I roll, flipping her until she’s beneath me, out of breath in surprise. Her legs tighten around my hips, and even with clothes on, I feel connected.

“A taste of you would never be enough, sweetheart.” I trail a line of kisses from her jaw to her neck, down to her collarbone. “You’re the drug my body’s been craving, and I can’t get enough.”

Kissing a path up the center of her throat to her chin, to her lips, I take her. I claim her with a kiss while the earth wraps us in the wind. She moans around my tongue as her arms cling to me.

Above us, I feel the clouds changing with the weather. Figures shifting because it’s all temporary. But I hold her like we aren’t because I’m not ready to pull away and see the different thing we’re becoming if I can’t have it.

30

Rome

Shesmellslikefall.The outside air clings to her skin as we make our way inside my house, like it isn’t ready to let go of her. Lili smiles at me over her shoulder and something inside me breaks.

“Drink?” I watch her walk into the living room as I make my way to the fully stocked bar in the kitchen.

My house is wide open, and I’ve never appreciated it more than in this moment when I can watch her circle. She strips off her sweater, leaving her in jeans and a simple cropped black tank top that shows off her toned stomach.

Lili is the definition of beauty and grace, and I’m in awe of her.

“Yes, please.” She watches me cross the room.

I grab a bottle of vodka and start making her something sweet, mostly because I want to taste it on her lips. I want to get drunk on her mouth filled with vodka and cherries.

She continues into the living room, her eyes moving to the stripper poles in the middle of it. I wish I could read her mind to find out what she’s thinking. It was clear when she first saw them they made her uncomfortable, but since then, she hasn’t paid them much attention.

Except right now, she’s walking up to one of them and brushing her fingertips over the pole in interest. So I can’t help but ask, “Do they bother you?”

I’ve never cared, which was the point of installing them. They were a dare for women to tell me they were offended because it didn’t matter. My house, my enjoyment. I’ve always been a bit of a voyeur when it comes to watching a woman dance, so fuck other people’s opinions. But Lili’s thoughts are different, and I want to hear them.

Lili wraps her hand around the pole and looks at me. “At first, maybe. At the very least, they painted an interesting view in my head of you.”

Something about that statement hurts, even if it’s accurate. I’m a fuckboy, an asshole, and so many other labels I shouldn’t be proud of.

“But I think I get you more now,” Lili says, slowly walking around the pole, holding onto it as she does. “You’ve got a lot of defenses, and you’re smart at how you plant them, like with these. Making sure no one thinks they can get close.”

She pauses with her back to me, looking over her shoulder and smiling.

“Am I right?”

I pour her drink and can’t help but smirk. “You know you are.”

That makes her let out a sweet laugh as she starts walking around the pole again, this time leaning away slightly so some of her bodyweight is on her arm, and she knows she has my full attention.

“They scared me at first,” she says, going in circles that hypnotize me. “They’re bold like you, and I’m…”

She trails off, not finishing her thought.

Picking up both our glasses, I walk over to the couch and take a seat, setting hers down and taking a big drink of mine.

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