Page 30 of Tops
“Nessa, who is that?” Hannah’s voice was in awe as she looked him up and down.
“Hannah, meet Nik,” I said, grabbing the candy from his still outstretched hand and placing it on the table next to our bottles of alcohol. Turning back to Nik, I tried to ignore the burning need to get closer. “Nik, this is my best friend, Hannah. The one that was attacked in the video.”
He even smelled mouthwatering. Clean and fresh after his shower, but the faint scent of gun oil seemed to remain. The smell almost made me itch to go to the range and practice. Now I was practically drooling, great. I took a large gulp of wine in what I was sure was an entirely sexy way and not as horrifying as I imagined. Nik’s eyes seemed to come alight when our gazes met. I loved Hannah to death, but I really wished she wasn’t here at this exact second.
“You want to watch the movie with us?” I asked softly, as if I was in the middle of a dream and everything was about to go to hell.
“If Hannah doesn’t mind. Hi, I’m Nik,” he said, walking to the bed to officially greet Hannah. They exchanged light introductions while I focused on finishing the entire mega pint I had poured for myself. Once the glass was drained, I felt just enough buzz of the alcohol to temporarily turn my anxiety off. But it was a hard level to maintain.
“Did we want to invite the others? I’m sure Tanner is still working, but Colten already watched the first half of the movie with Hannah earlier, so I’m sure he would want to finish it.” The words flowed out from me in a rush as a wave of nervous excitement took over. “Here, I’ll just message everyone.”
My mind and body stopped as Nik’s hand came up to sweep my hair back behind my ear. His eyes tracked down to my lips before coming up to meet mine.
“You don’t even see it yet,” Nik whispered low. So low I could barely make out what he was saying. “You don’t know what you are becoming, but think of this place as your chrysalis, Vanessa.”
“What?” I blinked, not really understanding.
“I said I already messaged them,” Nik said, as he looked momentarily worried. I must have had a weird facial expression since apparently, I just made up whatever I thought happened a few seconds ago. “See,” he said as he showed me the group chat on his phone. “Colten says he’s gone back to his apartment for the night, and Tanner is, in fact, working.” He smiled a full, heartwarming smile that tugged at my lips to mirror. “Think I can handle movie night without backup?”
I cracked and smiled. He was such a cop. “Yes, sir, I think you will handle movie night just fine.”
It made me feel powerful when his eyes lit up when I said the word, sir. This time I did it on purpose, hoping for this exact response. My gaze fell to his lips before I watched his eyes do the same. The electric current feeling was back, forcefully pulling us together. I wasn’t aware I was moving, but I found myself closer to Nik.
Magnets: desperate to unite.
“Since I already saw a half of the movie while Vanessa snuck off for some alone time with Tanner,” Hannah said, drawing out the end to make a bigger deal out of it than it was. “I say I get to pick a new movie for us to watch,” she finished.
Twisting that magnet and breaking the spell between Nik and me. The space between us multiplied as my breath caught. Nik smirked, like he knew he was the reason why I forgot to breathe correctly. Cocky bastard.
“Sounds good to me,” Nik said, turning away from me and back toward Hannah, fitting himself on the back of the bed near the headboard.
I would have to watch the movie sitting right in front of him unless I sat in the chair like Colten. A loud voice inside me screamed at the idea of that. I really didn’t want to leave Nik on the bed alone with Hannah. I trusted her, but between the two of us, we all knew who the pretty one was of the pair. I didn’t think I could handle it if any of the guys decided they wanted her over me. That was one significant upside to Tanner.
“Just tell me to duck if you can’t see,” I said to Nik as I got up on the bed and tried to make myself as small as possible. There was a chance I would kick Hannah before the movie ended and my legs relaxed.
“Or why don’t you sit with me so we can both see and be comfortable,” Nik suggested as he spread his gray sweatpants wide.
“Yeah, Nessa,” Hannah’s voice came from what sounded very far away. “Go sit with him,” she finished in her regular tone.
I looked back at Nik and his challenging smirk. He knew I liked him and wanted me too, for some reason. He wanted me because I had to pretend I didn’t even know him. Every touch we had shared, innocent or not, had been done under a blanket of forbidden. That’s what he really got off on.
I found myself crawling toward him on my hands and my knees, letting my ass stick up in the air while my baggy shirt rode up enough to expose part of my lower back. My anxiety and sense of decency were silent against the all-mighty power of copious amounts of wine. Despite the warm buzz of alcohol coursing through my veins, I was concerned about coming across as sexy until I noticed his fingertips digging into his pants. That boosted my confidence, and I placed my hand on the mattress between his spread thighs. I watched his face to gauge his reaction and saw his tongue lick his lip slowly before he smiled. Immediately, the energy between us turned to heat that settled between my thighs.
“Don’t wiggle around too much. That would be distracting,” Nik said before raising an eyebrow and spreading his hips wider. I couldn’t help but glance between his legs. Gray sweatpants were a gift to women everywhere.
I turned around before scooting back until we were just barely touching.
“Lean back so I can see a little better,” Nik said as his arms encircled my waist, pulling me flush against his chest. I was nearly sitting on his lap. “Perfect,” he growled into my ear.
That was when my mind had an orgasm and proceeded to walk out on a break. No thoughts were running through my mind. I was effectively scrambled. My hands were on his thighs, gripping them out of instinct.
“Movie is picked,” Hannah said triumphantly. “Aww, you two look comfy,” she said before tossing a throw blanket over our laps.
Helping me was so not helping me right now, Hannah.
“Need anything, Vanessa, or are we good to start?” Nik said, loud enough for Hannah to hear but low enough that we all knew it was a conversation between just us.
“We’re good,” I squeaked, swallowing hard and nodding, feeling like I just gave consent for something other than a movie. I guess, in a way, I was saying yes to something more; I just needed to be sure everyone was on the same page.
