Page 165 of Call the Shots
“Hm?”
He swallowed. “You have a leash around my neck and you’re the only one who doesn’t know.”
Seconds passed between us. A million emotions whirled while Bear burned darker and darker red. Oh, he wanted sex. Heabsolutely wanted to fuck. And he had no idea I felt the same. I moved to take Bear’s hand when he left for the stairs.
“Bear?” I blinked. “Bear?”
The door swung shut behind him and I hurried to follow. Bear stopped on the stairs to turn back. “What the fuck is wrong with me? You’re going through aneating disorderand I’m trying to get pussy—I’m sorry.”
“Bear—”
“We can pretend like I didn’t say anything,” he insisted. “Because I’d rather have you as a friend—I’d rather have you in my life at all than fuck this up—what was Ithinking?”
“Bear!Bear!” It didn’t matter how many times I interrupted, he continued to our dorm, leaving me to run after him. We passed the lounge, the questions echoing behind us.
“What are they doing?” Montoya wondered.
“Don’t ask, Kid’s Toy,” Nick said firmly. “I don’t want to know, you don’t want to know, it’s better if we don’t know.”
In our dorm, I ducked in front of Bear, and he brushed me aside. I stumbled on my sneakers and swiped something heavy on the counter, the five pound bag of flour I meant to close up. Both the flour and I hit the ground, flour poofing into the air.
“Fuck!” Bear dropped down, a face in the haze of flour. “I’m sorry?—”
The flour choked out my laughter. “Bear, I’m fine?—”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry?—”
“I can have an eating disorderandhave sex, those aren’t mutually exclusive.”
Bear froze. His warm brown eyes had my focus, slowly trailing to my mouth. My laughter eased until it was the two of us on the kitchen floor, in a cloud of flour, and my heart thumped painfully in my chest.
He shifted forward. “You said you’d never kiss me because you hate me. Do you still hate me?”
I shook my head. “No.”
Time slowed to a stop, heightening the electricity between us. He touched my face, running his hand along my jaw until he cupped it, pulling me to him, like he’d been pulling me to him all along.
Bear’s lips met mine.
Stars begin with a gravitational collapse, something crumbling into itself from the sheer force. It was a shock in the literal sense of the word, jolting me in surprise. We tore away from each other, and I knew I wasn’t the only one who felt it. Bear stared, eyes wide, before his lips crashed to mine.
His arms went around my waist, mine to his neck, we were clumsy, taken aback with the electricity—what the hellwasthat? I’d never experienced anything close.
“Fuck,” he panted, yanking away. His eyes were wild. “I—I have to brush my teeth.”
Of all the things to say—I laughed, my head spinning too much to do anything else and I relied entirely on him when he pulled me to a standing position.
Taking him in, I giggled. He was covered in flour withPROPERTY OF JUNE BASILon his face. “We should get cleaned up?—”
“No, no, no.” He shook his head quickly. “Can we shower after?” He dipped down for another kiss, backing me up against the counter. “I need to eat you out and my knees are going to hurt in the shower.”
CHAPTER 63
JUNE
DIVORCED BY MONDAY
While Bear gargled mouthwash,I found the bottle of lube, preparing to rock his world until…I wasn’t. Having sex on the rug had been one thing. That’d been forty seconds of lifting my skirt. This was another.
