Page 35 of Trust Issues
“How do you know I’m drunk?” I quizzed, folding my arms. “You can smell alcohol on my breath, can’t you?”
“No. Your breath smells like Starbursts like it always does. I guess if you spend enough time around a person you get to know them whether you like it or not.”
“I guess so,” I toyed with a throw pillow then sighed heavily. “I’m swearing off men after that. Do you know he asked if he could live with me for a little while? Then when I told him he was out of his fucking mind he thought it would be a good idea to woo me with sex. I wanted to vomit.”
“Wait, wait, wait…he asked to live with you? You’ve only known this motherfucker for what a week?”
“If you can callthatknowing someone. He’s awful. He made me think he had his own place but this asshole was living with his mother the entire time. Ugh, it was a nightmare.” I massaged my temples in circles and shut my eyes. “Like I said, I’m done with men. I’m not dating anymore. I’m swearing them off.” I sliced through the air with my hand then opened my eyes. Max was staring straight at me and I thought I would tilt off my axis. He averted his gaze quickly then found something to say.
“You’re not swearing off men, Kyle. What the hell are you going to do with that big ass book of standards?”
“Burn it.” I brought my fingers up to my lips and began to nibble. Max slapped my hand away and frowned at me. Naturally, I hit him back because who the fuck does he think he is? That’s all it took for us to start roughhousing on the couch.
Tucked in between the spaces of laughter and insults was a quiet moment that seemed to take both of us by surprise. He hovered over me while my thighs squeezed his sides. The air around us was thick.
It made me feel immensely light-headed. Max’s coffee brown eyes flitted all over my face. My eyes did the same. Before I could pull myself back from the ledge, I pulled Max down to my lips and kissed him.
I. Fucking. Kissed.Max.
I couldn’tstopkissing him, actually. His lips were smooth, soft, and warm and I couldn’t stop pulling them into my mouth one after the other until he slipped me his tongue. I took it gladly too.
I savored it like a pink Starburst.
My body pulsed to a crazy cadence while his hands roamed up and down my sides. What the hell were we doing on the couch tangled in each other? Tangled in a kiss that should have never happened?
It felt so sinfully good though. Max’s kiss was like him, decadent and chocolate.
We must have realized we were committing an unspeakable act at the same time because we backed off each other trying desperately to collect fragments of our sanity. “Nineties sitcoms…right?” He said, clearing his throat.
Okay, good, we were going to ignore the entire situation. I could do that at least for a little while. It would give me time to calm down and sober up.
“Yup. Sounds good. You hungry? There are still leftovers from what Austin cooked.” I was too happy to jump up and run into the kitchen.
“Yeah, thank you. If you feel like making me a plate,” he called into the kitchen. I rubbed my palms on my legs and steadied my nerves. I could still feel Max’s lips on mine. I could still taste his tongue and feel his strong hands.
How much tequila would it take to wash those memories away?
Every time a glimpse of us tongue-tied on the couch passed through my mind, my thighs clenched and my belly flopped. Why the fuck were his lips so perfect? I put a plate of food in the microwave and rubbed my forehead with the heel of my hand. In the living room, I heard the opening theme music for Martin start and felt a little anxiety lift from my chest. Nothing like a little time travel to the nineties to ease my jittery nerves.
When I handed Max his food, I sat on the other side of the couch like I should have done in the first fucking place.
“Thanks, I know how territorial you are over food.” That was actually true and not a jab at me. I would bite someone’s knuckle off over my damn food.
Max and I refused to acknowledge our kiss and sat on the couch for hours watching shows like nothing ever happened. It never left the back of my mind though. Hell, who am I kidding? It never left the front of my mind. There was no putting that kiss out of my mind. I just wouldn’t ever talk about it out loud.
…
MAXWELL
Days passed and I couldn’t get that fucking kiss with Kyle out of my head.
Okay, days hadn’t actually passed. It just felt like days had passed. In reality, it was just the next day but damn if I didn’t think about those soft lips every hour on the hour. I couldn’t get any sleep and when I did doze off, the flashes of dreams I had were about Kyle.
What the fuck had I done?
She kissed me though so what the fuck hadshedone?
Although I’d be a fool if I said it wasn’t a damn good kiss. It was one of those kisses that make you reevaluate everything you’ve ever known. I was comparing Kyle’s kiss to every kiss I’d ever had.
