Page 85 of Play Me
I lift my chin, my inhale shaky. “If you didn’t hate me, I might let you.”
His grin sears its way right through me, melting me into a puddle at his feet. He searches my face as if he’s wondering if I’m just playing with him or if I mean it. I give him the slightest nod.
Slowly, he lowers his lips to mine.
I can nearly taste the sweet anticipation hanging in the air between us. Goose bumps break out across my heated skin, and I feel both vulnerable and acutely aware of it. But, instead of beingfreaked out and desperate to run, the only place I want to go is in his arms.
I part my lips, my eyes fluttering closed.He’s so close.
“Hurry the fuck up in there!” Brooks shouts from the other room.
I gasp, filling my lungs with the oxygen I’ve been depriving them. I’m stunned … by all of it.I almost kissed Gray Adler.
His lips form a thin, tight line as he shrugs on a shirt. The vein in his temple throbs as he tosses me one of my own. “I’ll wait out here.”
“O-kay,” I say, watching him walk out of the room.
I sit on the bed again and bury my head in my hands.
What the hell just happened here?
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
Astrid
“Did he feel bad about it?” I ask, taking a sip of my third beer. It’s supposedly a fan-favorite concoction that only comes out during the spring fair. It’s so popular, in fact, that it’s the only alcoholic beverage served at the festival. All I can figure is that it’s a local delicacy because it tastes like trash to me.
Brooks snorts, telling me without telling me that my question was ill-informed. “No, sunshine. He was in the gym to prove a point.”
Sunshine?I lift a brow, and he winks with a cockiness that has me rolling my eyes.
“I thought you were training, which by definition would mean that you were trying to help each other improve,” I say.
Brooks shakes his head. “Gray, get your girl.”
Our group of Gray’s family and friends who are hanging outside of Patsy’s laughs.
Although I know that no one is laughing at me—because they truly are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life—I still blush … and refuse to sneak a glimpse at Gray. The heat of his gaze warms the side of my face.
We’ve not spoken about ouralmostkiss in his bedroom, mainly because Hartley rode to the fair with us. We’ve not had a moment alone, but his leg did rest against mine in the truck. His palm has lain in the small of my back multiple times this evening. And he wiped cotton candy stuck to my bottom lip with his thumb, nearly killing me in the process.
I’m buzzed. I’d blame it on the beer, but it started well before Hartley bought the first round at Patsy’s a couple of hours ago. This is so foreign to me, and I wish I had Gianna here to explain it since she seems to know everything when it comes to attraction. Because Iamattracted to Gray.
God, help me.
I snap a picture of the group and send it to Audrey and Gianna. It takes Gianna point-one seconds to reply.
Gianna: How does it feel to be God’s favorite?
I giggle, sitting at an empty picnic table to the right of Gray and the guys.
Me: Wish you were here.
Gianna: Not as much as I do, I promise you that. Who are those people? Specifically, the three guys who are not Gray.
Me: Gray’s brother, Hartley, is in the flannel shirt. His best friend Brooks is in the navy T-shirt. Their friend Jasper is wearing the cowboy hat, and the girl with him is Meadow. I haven’t decided whether they’re dating or if she just wants to date him.
