Page 69 of The Season
This time, when he kisses me, there’s nothing gentle about it. His tongue dives deep, demanding, taking. He pulls back only to nip my lower lip with his teeth before claiming me again. Beneath me, his body is practically vibrating, and when my own hand swipes under his jaw, coming to rest against his throat, I swear I can feel his pulse fluttering wildly against my palm.
Behind me, a chair scrapes, and a different sort of heat rushes through me, making my cheeks burn. I pull back, giving Antoine a sheepish smile. He doesn’t smile back though, just stares at me, pupils dilated, his lips parted, breaths coming in soft pants that brush against my own lips.
“Don’t stop on my account,” Seth chuckles, padding toward the stove. “I’m just putting the pasta in. The water is boiling.” He tosses me a smile over one shoulder, and he looks genuinely happy, his cheeks flushed, his eyes sparking with excitement.
Some of my tension eases, and I relax against Antoine, leaning forward to nuzzle my face into the crook of his neck, inhaling the sweet and musky scent of him, pressing light, teasing kisses beneath his ear, along his jaw, his throat.
He throws back his head, a low sigh escaping. “Mon dieu, Lily. Tu me tues.”
Before I can respond, there’s the sound of footsteps in the hallway and the simultaneous jangling of keys from outside the front door.
“What the fuck?” Eddie’s voice is a low hiss, and I turn just in time to see him stumble back, a look of hurt flashing in his eyes.
Antoine tightens his hold on me, large hands gripping my waist, thumbs just above the band of my sweats. Eddie’s eyes dip down the length of my body, settling on Antoine’s hands with a look of feral rage.
The front door swings open, a cold gust of air causing the ends of my hair to flutter around my face, sending a shiver through me. “Hey guys, I’m home,” Tom calls out, his voice strangely cheery. “I want you to meet my girlfriend, Eve.”
Chapter22
Eddie
For a brief moment, I wonder if I’m high. Like maybe I managed to get ahold of weed in this puritan hellscape, smoked it all, and forgot about it. Especially when Tom waltzes in, smiling like a fucking clown, announcing that he has a girlfriend.
A girlfriend.What the actual fuck?
I turn away from the idiot at the front door to look back to where Lily is sprawled on Antoine’s lap, gray sweats stretching over her muscled thighs, his goddamned hands on her waist, on that glimpse of smooth skin above the waistband of her pants. I take in her lips, still wet and swollen from kissing him, her hair mussed, her pupils blown.
My hands curl into fists at my side, and red speckles the edges of my vision.
She looked at me like that. Just a few days ago. She should be looking at me like that now, instead of staring at me with wide-eyed horror.
But I pushed her away.
Lily scrambles off Antoine’s lap, her cheeks going from pale to red as she slides into the chair next to Antoine, lifting a nearly empty wineglass with one trembling hand.
“Hey guys,” Seth calls out cheerily, like everything is totally normal, nothing to see here. “We’ve made dinner for everyone. Spaghetti bolognese and garlic bread.”
His eyes dart to Tom’s newly introduced girlfriend, whose name I’ve already deleted from my memory, and I swear I see his eye twitch. Maybe he’s struggling to make sense of her presence too—or maybe he’s just stressed about the extra mouth to feed.
“Aww, that’s really nice,” Tom’s supposed girlfriend coos. “Thanks so much.” She’s got one of those nasally voices that instantly has me wanting to gouge my own eardrums out, and I close my eyes, taking a deep breath and dragging my hand through my hair.
I could leave. Could turn around now, go back to my room, put my headphones on and refuse to deal with any of these people. But the food smells really good, and I’m seriously hungry.
I sigh, and fix Tom’s girlfriend with my most charming of smiles.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I drawl, wishing I could remember what her name was. I give her a wink for good measure, feeling a surge of vindictive pleasure when Tom’s expression darkens, his brow furrowing and making his eyes look even closer together than usual.
The girlfriend titters out a laugh, her face flushing red with pleasure, and I toss Tom a smirk. His nostrils flare, and he stumbles trying to undo the laces on his boots.
It makes me feel marginally better.
“Grab a seat, Eve,” Lily says, her voice surprisingly smooth and calm for someone who just got caught making out with her flatmate five seconds ago.
Lily waves to the empty seat across from her, and Eve babbles out her thanks before shucking off her full-length down parka, pressing it into Tom’s arms, and skipping over to sit by Lily.
“So, you guys are Tom’s roommates?” Eve asks.
Antoine nods, his features schooling into the mask of aloofness he always wears when he’s around strangers, his shoulders straightening, chin lifting. “I’m Antoine. That’s Seth, Eddie, and this…” he pauses, giving Lily a soft, lovesick look that has the start of my good mood dissipating like mist. “…is Lily.”
