Page 54 of Shared By my Ex's Best Friends
The tension that’s been quietly twisting between us snaps like a pulled wire, and the kiss deepens almost instantly. My hands slip to her waist, gripping gently but firmly as I pull her against me.
She clutches at the front of my shirt, anchoring herself to me like she’s afraid I’ll vanish if she lets go. I kiss her harder, mouth parting to draw her in, savoring every flicker of contact, every shiver that travels down my spine when she sighs against me.
When she presses her body against mine, I back her slowly into the ivy-covered wall. The rough brick is cool beneath my palms, but her skin—where I touch her through the fabric of that dress—is fire.
Her thigh slides between mine, and I can feel the heat of her through the thin barrier of my pants. My breath comes rough against her cheek as she tilts her head, deepening the kiss even more, one hand finding its way to the back of my neck.
The air hums between us, electric and alive.
I press my forehead to hers, barely breaking the kiss. We’re breathing hard, our bodies flush and tangled in moonlight and want.
“I’ve wanted this for so long,” I whisper, voice ragged.
Maya closes her eyes for a second, then opens them again, wide and searching. “Me too.”
Something in me splinters—because this isn’t just heat. It’s not just lust. It’s the kind of connection that threads itself through your ribcage and settles in your bones.
I kiss her again. Slower this time.
“I should take you back inside,” I whisper, breaking the kiss, breathing unsteady.
“Probably,” she breathes, but her fingers don’t loosen their hold on me.
Instead, they move into the hair at the nape of my neck, soft and certain, and she pulls me into a third kiss. This one is different—less heat, more depth.
It’s slow. Lingering. A kind of kiss that carves its way beneath the skin and stays there. Sweet in a way that feels dangerous, because it carries weight.
Meaning. Promise.
I feel all of it.
When I finally pull away, my voice is hoarse. “I’m not just in this for tonight, Maya.”
Her lips are still parted, eyes glassy under the moonlight. “I know,” she whispers, her voice as fragile as the breeze tugging at the leaves overhead. “That’s what scares me.”
My heart stutters. I reach up and brush her hair behind her ear, letting my fingers trail down the curve of her jaw, forcing myselfto slow down even though everything in me wants to hold on tighter.
“Me too,” I admit.
I’ve been in love before, but never like this.
Not with someone who lights up every room and still somehow sees me in a crowd. Not with someone who breaks my walls with a single look and makes me want to be better just by standing beside her.
We stay like that—quiet, still, caught in the hush of something new. Something fragile and bold all at once.
Her head leans against my chest, and I wrap my arms around her. I feel her heartbeat against mine.
Finally, she shifts, pulling back enough to glance up at me with a small, rueful smile. “We really should go inside.”
“Yeah,” I murmur, but my thumb grazes her cheek again before I let her go. “We probably look suspicious.”
She snorts. “Jake probably already made a bet about it.”
“Liam’s going to try not to look smug and completely fail.”
“And Danielle’s definitely going to give me that look. You know, theI told you so, but also, be carefulone.”
I smile at her. “Let them look. Let them all look.”
