Page 45 of Not Your Girl
She nods. “There’s that, but it started before that. Like I told you, I never wanted to make life harder for Gabe, so I was always fine, even when I wasn’t. I kept all the big stuff from him, and then it got to the point where I was keeping the small stuff from him too. I guess I tried so hard not to be a burden that I became the kind of person who never tells anyone anything. It’s ironic because I was the opposite of that person before my parents died. My mom and I talked about everything, even when there was nothing to talk about. That’s the reason I was in San Francisco the day I met you on the plane.”
“You went to talk to your mom.”
She nods, smiling a little. “It’s a ridiculous thing to do when I have a brother who is alive and well who would be happy to talk to me anytime about anything, a sister who I adore, and a sister-in-law who loves gossip like it’s her job, but a few times a year, when I feel overwhelmed, I fly out to San Francisco and go sit with my parents at their graves and talk to them. I guess it kind of keeps the pressure from rising so high it explodes.”
“What happens when the pressure explodes?”
Amelia rests her forehead on her knees and mumbles something unintelligible, and I chuckle. It feels good to laugh. “You want to say that a little louder, Ames?”
She lifts her head and scrunches her nose, looking so disgruntled that I have to laugh again. “I do things like accidentally create the number one app in the Redwood store without telling my brother. Or anyone else.” She heaves a sigh as my curiosity piques. “Sorry again for making this about me when this was supposed to be all about you.”
“Mystery Girl, I’m not embarrassed to say that I’m crazy about you and sitting here telling secrets with you right now is my favorite thing on this earth. I’m going to need to know more about this app, like, yesterday.”
Amelia flops backwards and throws an arm over her eyes dramatically, her feet still planted on the couch and her knees pointed up at the ceiling. “Okay fine, but if we’re doing this, I need emotional support snacks.”
I sit up and put a hand on each of her knees, pushing her legs down until I can crawl over her, my own knees on either side of her hips and my hands pressed into the couch, bracketing her head. I look down at her and her breath hitches, her pulse fluttering in her throat. “Oh, we’re doing this,” I murmur, no longer talking just about her dramatic confession. When she nods, I know she’s not just talking about her confession either.
This is happening.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ELLIOT
Ilean down, resting my forearms on either side of Amelia’s head, bringing our faces closer together and gliding my thumbs back and forth lightly along her cheekbones. Her eyes heat as she moves her hands to my hips, and I feel the warmth of her skin burning through the cotton of my hoodie.
“This changes everything, you know,” I say quietly, my eyes locked on hers.
“God, I hope so.” Her raspy voice carries a hint of desperation that goes straight to my dick, even though I’m hovering above her, our bodies barely touching.
“We’ll have to be a secret. Not around my family because after today they’d never buy it anyway. But at school, we’d still have to be just professor and student.”
Amelia glides her tongue along her full bottom lip, and my eyes track every inch of that sexy movement. “I’ve always liked a little bit of subterfuge. Sneaking around is hot.”
“My brain can be a dark and twisty place sometimes.”
Amelia smirks at me. Fucking smirks. “Dead parents, remember? I’m a whole ass orphan. We can compare dark and twisty brains sometime. El, are you going to kiss me or what? I think if your lips aren’t on mine in the next ten seconds, I’ll actually die.”
I chuckle, leaning in closer until our lips are almost touching. “No turning back now,” I murmur, as my mouth closes over hers. Amelia gasps, and a groan works its way out of my chest as she opens for me immediately. I lick inside to taste her, my head spinning as our mouths move together and the only thought in my brain isyes, this.
This is what it’s supposed to feel like.
This.
Her.
Us.
Everything.
I capture her bottom lip between mine and sweep my tongue over it as Amelia moans into my mouth, her hands reaching up to grip my hair, scraping her nails over my scalp and tugging in a way that has all the remaining blood in my body rushing to my dick. I want to feel her nails on every damn inch of me. I want her to leave marks that never heal.
Mine.
Possession beats in my blood as I use my thumbs to tip her head back, taking the kiss deeper, knowing in the depths of me that there is no deeper that would be deep enough. Not with her. I break the kiss, drifting my lips over her cheek, loving the sounds she makes when I drag my teeth over the column of her throat. Her moan when I suck at her pulse point. Her sharp gasp when I pull her earlobe between my lips and suck. Her raspy groan when I lick the spot behind her ear.
“Fuck, El,” she moans, pulling my mouth back to hers as her hands start to roam, sliding over my shoulders and downmy back until her hands meet the hem of my hoodie and then push underneath. I slide my hands under her head and tangle my fingers in her hair as she starts to explore, fingers gliding over my abs and up my chest, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. When she circles my nipples with her thumbs, I hiss out a breath, dropping my hips to grind against her, the friction and her answering groan making my head spin, even as our mouths stay locked together.
Every nerve ending in my body sparks. Every sense is heightened. I’ve never felt anything like this.
