Page 386 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
Audrey nods, but Kenji has nothing to worry about. I can’t imagine wanting to go anywhere when the alternative is stayinginwith Audrey.
I’ve been thinking way too much about all the time we’re going to spend together. Thehotel roomwe’re going to share—not that I have any intention of trying anything. I won’t even kiss her unless she asks me to, even if it takes every ounce of restraint to keep from doing so. I just want her to be comfortable, to be able to relax for one night before everything gets crazy tomorrow.
Beside me, Audrey sighs and drops her head onto my shoulder as she stifles an enormous yawn.
The contact sends that same pulsing energy through me. Every place she touches me crackles with electricity. I could light up all of Los Angeles with this energy, with the fire that sparks whenever her skin brushes against mine.
I lift my arm and wrap it around her shoulders, tugging her closer until her head is resting against my chest. It feels so easy. So natural to hold her like this.
She must think so too because she lifts an arm and wraps it around my waist. Whether intentional or not, her hand slips under the hem of my T-shirt and presses against the skin on my lower back. Her touch is whisper soft as her fingers trace tiny circles on my skin. I close my eyes, not wanting her to stop but knowing if she doesn’t, I might lose my actual mind.
She’s killing me with this.Literallykilling me.
My phone buzzes from my pocket, but I don’t dare move to grab it. Instead, I tilt my wrist and read the message notification on my watch. It’s a text from Kenji, and it’s only two words long, so it’s easy enough to read the entire thing.
Kenji:Fake, huh?
I look up and meet his knowing expression. All I can do is shrug.
I don’t know much right now.
But I know that nothing about holding Audrey in my arms feels fake.
We take the long way to the hotel, some swanky place in West Hollywood, giving Nate and Joni time enough to get our luggage, then get to the hotel and do a security sweep to make sure everything checks out.
Kenji has already checked us in, so it’s a relatively straight shot from the car, through the hotel doors, and to the elevators. From there, it’s a quick ride up to the eighth floor, and suddenly, Audrey and I are alone.
For the night.
The suite is spacious—an open living space, a full kitchen, and French doors that open into a luxurious bedroom.
Our luggage sits near the foot of the bed, and there’s a tray of fruit, cheese, and sparkling water on the table by the window. A text from Joni confirms that dinner will be up in an hour, which means we won’t have to leave this room for anything unless we want to.
Audrey didn’t protest when Simon demanded we stay in the same room, but I can’t help but wonder how things are going to go tonight. Whatever it takes to make Audrey comfortable—that’s my priority.
I watch as she slowly walks through the hotel suite, her fingers running across the back of the sofa. It’s a little small, but if I end up sleeping out here, I’ll manage all right.
I push my hands into my pockets. “Are you hungry?”
She picks up an apple from the tray on the table, then puts it back down. “A little,” she says, but when she looks up at me, it doesn’t look like she’s thinking about fruit.
We’ve been touching all day, taking every excuse to have our hands on each other, but now that we’re alone, we don’t have a reason to pretend. That doesn’t stop me from wishing I could pull her into my arms.
“Flint, will you kiss me?” Audrey blurts out.
Her words are like cannon fire throwing me fifty feet backward. I stutter out a laugh. “What?”
“I liked being in your arms today,” she says. She wraps her arms around her middle, like she’s trying to shield herself from the room. From me, maybe?I hope it’s not me.“I liked it a lot. And I know I said I didn’t want anything to happen between us, and I think I probably still feel that way. But I also feel like my limbs are going to spontaneously combust whenever you touch me.” She licks her lips and takes a step forward. “It’s hard for me to even say that sentence out loud because hyperbolic expressions like that always irritate me. But I don’t know how else to describe what I’m feeling. When you’re not touching me, I want you to be. When you aren’t in the room, I can’t stop thinking about when I’ll see you again. It’s illogical.” She lifts her fists to her cheeks, then thrusts them down again. “It’s maddening.”
She takes a deep breath and drops her eyes, then gathers her hair and pulls it forward over her shoulder with trembling hands. “Last week, when we almost kissed, that was real, right? You wanted to kiss me for real.”
I nod slowly. “I did.”
“Do you still want to?”
I swallow, thinking of the promise I made to myself to only kiss Audrey if I’m kissing her for real. “Only if it’s what you want.”
She shrugs. “I asked, didn’t I?”
