Page 47 of See You Next Winter
I hide my giggles behind my palm while we toast. “Nope.”
“Cheers to that!”
Chapter 35
Ryan
Traffic is crazy busyat this time of night, and I make it to Yvet just as Cameron and Kayla are leaving the restaurant arm in arm. They’re joking and laughing like old friends, but the way her face falls when she sees me is going to haunt me for a long, long time.
“Thanks, man.”
“My pleasure,” Cameron says, eyes twinkling as he releases Kayla from his crooked elbow. “We’ve had a blast, right?”
“We have,” she says, smiling up at him.
“I am so sorry I couldn’t make it,” I tell her again, but I’m sick of hearing myself say it, and I’m sure she is too. “It’s not too late. Do you want to go for a drink somewhere?”
She rubs her belly. “I’m exhausted, and so full from dinner. Can we go back to your place?”
“Sure, of course. Anything you want.”
Beside us, Cameron pulls out his phone. “Some friends are having drinks nearby, so I’ll leave you guys to it.”
I don't know if that’s true or not, but I appreciate the gesture. Some alone time will hopefully get us back on track.
“Thank you for dinner, Cam. I had a really nice night.”
Kayla hugs him goodbye, and I shake his hand, then take hers and weave our fingers together. The tips are painted a glossy red to matchher dress. She made a lot of effort for this dinner, and I fucked up big time.
Back at the apartment, she kicks off her heels the second we’re through the door, groaning in relief. I hang up my jacket and run my hands up and down the sides of her waist.
Her dress really is stunning. Long, and deep red, made of silky fabric that hugs her curves and pools at her chest. We stay like that for a while, my hands roaming, craving all of her in the darkness of my hallway.
“You wore this to dinner with my best friend?” I tease, hooking a finger underneath the delicate straps on her shoulder.
Kayla scoffs, then pokes me hard in the sternum with one finger. “I wore it to dinner with you, you asshole. It’s not my fault you didn’t show up.”
“Well, I’m here now, and so fucking lucky I’m the one who gets to help you out of it.”
I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her tight to me and walking her backwards to my bedroom.
“So beautiful,” I murmur against her neck on the way. “This beautiful back, your beautiful hips.”
She tips her head to one side, giving me space to run my lips softly along the column of her throat. I could do this for hours, explore her body, the scent of her skin, the taste of it all.
At the foot of my bed, her mouth finds mine, and she opens on a moan, letting my tongue sweep into hers. Kayla closes her eyes, her hands clutching at my sides while I take it slow, revisiting old memories, making new ones with every nip of her lips.
When she tears her mouth away, she drops to her knees in front of me, and makes light work of my belt buckle and zipper. My stomach twists uncomfortably.
“Stop,” I whisper, covering her hand with mine. “I don’t—”
She looks up at me, her head cocked to one side. “Since when don’t you want to get your dick sucked?”
“Since we’re not in a hurry,” I tell her, pulling her to her feet. “Since kissing you is my favourite thing to do.
“I don’t want to kiss,” she says, unzipping her dress and slipping it off her shoulders. It falls to the floor, and I feel robbed of the chance to undress her myself. She kicks it to one side and lays back on my bed, a vision in black lace underwear I’ve never seen before.
Reaching behind her back, she unclasps her bra and tosses it aside, then shimmies out of her panties and sends those flying too.
