Page 8 of The Boyfriend Boycott
“Aren’t we supposed to pretend to be scary? Isn’t that how this works?” I ask.
“No, dummy. That’s how you get sprayed.”Nothing about Spencer’s tactic here makes logical sense, but it makes sense to me if it means I get to stand this close to her for a second longer.
We’re both quiet for a minute or two. The only sounds are the skunk, happily sniffing around in the dirt, our breathing, and my pulse pounding in my ears. Eventually, the skunk moseys off into the woods.
“Is it gone?” Spencer asks, remaining perfectly still against me.
“Let’s wait here until we know it’s far away,” I say, not wanting to pull away from her just yet. I give it another fifteen seconds or so, not long enough to be weird, and then I say, “I think we’re safe.”
Spencer glances around the campsite, confirming that the stinky pest is truly gone, and she leans back to peer up at me.
“You saved my life,” she says, somehow maintaining a completely neutral expression. “How can I ever repay you?”
Her hands are still around my waist, and I fear that the thoughts I’m having will soon make themselves known between us. A rogue erection is not how I want to make my declaration of my feelings for Spencer.
“I have a few ideas,” I say, knowing that if I give myself any more time to overthink this, I won’t let myself go near her again. I will slip into the ether of the friend zone as I have so many times before. Although I’m not one to regret the choices I’ve made, the one thing I can say with certainty is that I would regret not taking advantage of this second chance I’ve been given. The rational, responsible part of me didn’t make a move last time because I wanted to be respectful. I never wanted Spencer to feel uncomfortable staying in my house. We didn’t know each other then. But now … even she admitted we’re no longer strangers.
To my surprise, Spencer looks intrigued. One eyebrow quirks up as she perches up on her tip toes and twines her arms around the back of my neck, pulling my face down close to hers so our noses are almost touching.
“Then I would say great minds think alike, Landry.” Her teeth sink into her bottom lip before she cranes her neck up and grazes them against mine. Those lips. Those pillowy soft lips that I haven’t been able to stop staring at since the moment I caught her standing in the pantry cupboard looking like an absolute goofball. A really sexy goofball.
The first time she places them on my mouth it’s soft and tentative, until she nips at my lip and lets out a soft moan that sounds more like a hum. It sparks something within me, and my hand grips the back of her head, my fingers twining through the back of her hair, tugging so her head is pulled back, face angled up towards me giving me better access to her mouth. I kiss her the way I should have done months ago.
I kiss her, and I wonder if the version of me all those months ago was more responsible, and whether that was for the best.
Because now that I’m kissing her, I don’t want to stop.
CHAPTER 4
SPENCER
I’m kissing Grady Landry.I’m kissing Grady, and the flutter that ripples through me sucks the breath right out of my lungs. This is not what I had planned on doing tonight. In fact, I had actively tried to avoid it. I should be trying to avoid it. But the feeling of Grady’s tongue as it sweeps across the back of my teeth has me coming unmoored, floating, untethered from the realities that I need to keep me grounded.
The night air is chilly, but the heat radiating from Grady’s body keeps me from feeling cold. He backs me towards the van, never letting his mouth leave mine, until my back hits the turquoise metal, sending a different kind of shiver through me. The cold feels good on my feverish skin.
Grady bends down, running his hands from my rib cage to my hips, to the soft spot beneath the curve of my ass. In one swift motion, he lifts me off my feet, his large hands gripping my thighs in a way that feels secure, safe, even though I’m no longer on solid ground. I wrap my legs around his hips, steadying myself and taking some of my weight from his arms, and he responds by pushing his hard length against me.
Our tongues roll together in tandem, like they’ve always known how to do this, together. The moment I saw Gradystanding in that pediatric emergency room, all tattooed and just a little dishevelled in the sexiest way, I knew it would be like this. I knew that it would be explosive, like fireworks lighting up the sky for a brief moment, both of us watching in rapt attention knowing that in just a few seconds, it would be gone.
One night. This one night with Grady is intoxicating.Heis intoxicating. His scent is intoxicating. Like vanilla and leather and tobacco, and I want more. My hands roam up his firm chest and find the sides of his face before I wrap them around his head and dig my fingertips into his scalp. Not hard, but with just enough pressure that a groan escapes his lips and vibrates through me down into my core.
Suddenly he’s pulling me away from where my back was resting on the side of the van, and carrying me towards the door. I make use of the time he’s walking me over by trailing kisses down the side of his face, along his jaw, his neck, feeling the burn of his beard on my cheeks. He’s supporting me with one arm now as he reaches out and tries the handle.
He yanks on it a second time.
“Is there some kind of trick to this thing?” he asks, his voice deep and husky. It might have broken the mood if I wasn’t so damn turned on already.
“Oh, sorry, it’s locked.” He sets me gently on the ground so I can find the keys in my pocket, and I unlock it as quickly as I can. “Welcome,” I say, his hands finding the curve of my ass once again, as I climb up the steps ahead of him.
“This is where you’re living, huh.” Grady takes a moment to look around when I flick on the overhead light. The space isn’t much to brag about. The revamped version of the vintage van boasts a tiny kitchen on one side that I can conveniently reach while I’m lying in bed, and a folding table big enough for two abnormally short people. “I think I liked the pantry better.”
“Ass.” I laugh, but the fact is, I’ve rather enjoyed the cozy van and I’ll miss it when I have to return it to WanderLuxe. The sight of Grady having to crouch in the camper draws another laugh from my throat.
“At least I could stand upright in the pantry,” he says, ducking slightly as he climbs up inside.
“Who says we’ll be standing?” I quip back, flashing him my best sultry stare.
“I like to do all fucking entirely vertical. That’s the only way I do it.” His expression is neutral, waiting to gauge my response, but his eyes twinkle with a hint of mischief.
