Page 31 of Leave Before I Love You
Without thinking, I move my hands to her legs, sliding over the soft skin of her thighs. The second I touch her, her smile grows, her eyes flickering with something victorious, wicked, knowing.
She straddles me, her thighs pressing against mine, and fuck,she feels so good.
My hands settle naturally at her hips, and she drapes her arms over my shoulders, crossing them lightly behind my neck.
I squeeze her hips, steadying her, steadying myself, but nothing about this feels steady.
It feels like standing at the edge of a fucking cliff, ready to jump without a bungee cord.
Her gaze is still locked with mine and her face is soft, and I find myself trapped in the firelit twinkle of her perfectly green-brown eyes. “Come on, Henny. The two of us together? You know it’ll be good.”
I laugh, but it comes out hoarse, strained.Good?Yeah. Between my experience and her raw, sexual charisma, it would be cataclysmic.
Which is exactly the issue.
“I’m sure it would be.”
“So…” She coyly digs her teeth into her bottom lip. “What’s the problem?”
“The same problem I told you before and you willfully ignored,” I murmur, my fingers tightening on her waist. “Everything about thisis complicated—the people, the situation…the alcohol swimming in your bloodstream.”
She licks her lips with just the tip of her pink tongue, and my eyes immediately drop to her plush mouth.
“Okay,” she says slowly, her voice dropping an octave until it sounds smooth like honey. “I’ll give you that. And if this were a first-time encounter, I’d even agree with it. But this isn’t new—this chemistry between the two of us…”
She leans in, her lips nearly brushing mine, and fuck, I almost stop breathing.
“We’ve walked these streets before, Henny,” she whispers directly into my ear. “Remember Allure?”
I nod, my eyes narrowing slightly while my fingertips flex into the skin of her hips. “Of course I do. I remember you kissing me, telling me you kiss everyone, and then kissing some football player. You didn’t choose me because I was safe. I was just a toy in the playpen.”
“Fine.” She rolls her eyes but doesn’t pull away. “What about Halloween, then? You can’t say that about that night, and you know it.”
I tense.
She’s right. That’s a different story. Halloween four years ago, at her parents’ annual costume bash, when Beau ditched me, Ronnie, and Mav for June—which none of us knew at the time—something happened between us.
Something I can’t ignore.
Something I don’t want to ignore.
Hell, it’s something I’ve tried to ignore for way too long.
The concept of Avery and me isn’t new.
Quite frankly, Avery Banks and Henry Callahan has been a hell of a long time coming.
The Past
Halloween, four years ago
Henry
Bodies in various states of undress litter the Bankses’ living room, tucking themselves into every available corner and lounging on every empty surface.
The sexy kitten, Spider-Dominatrix, and seductive witch I was talking to when I arrived have all gone out the back door to smoke, and because I don’t like to pigeonhole myself—or partake—I’ve decided to use the opportunity to get my bearings.
I lost Beau—dressed like some kind of fucking turn-of-the-century dude in tight pants, a ruffly shirt, and a long-ass coat—to the crowd nearly as soon as we arrived, and because of the quick convo with the skimpy trio, I haven’t had a proper chance to scout the other talent either.
