Page 75 of Love Me Steadfast
Will’s tongue strokes deeper into my mouth. I chase it with mine, my skin turning extra sensitive beneath my clothes. The fabric of my bra too rough on my nipples. The waistband of my chinos too confining. A dangerous craving starts to buzz inside me.
Will pulls back and rests his forehead against mine, his breaths fast. “Charlotte.”
It comes out like a whisper, and tense with yearning. Or is it regret?
Is this the moment he tells me he made a mistake?
The alarm bells that I so easily ignored just moments ago explode in my mind. Will’s got a reputation. Different month, different girl.
Maybe I could accept those terms to be with him…but I know this with absolute certainty: he’d break me.
And if that wasn’t enough to push us apart, he’s the closest friend my brother’s ever had. Not just on the field. Theo even told him about Mom. About his plans to become a doctor. Stuff he’s never shared with his teammates. What happens to that friendship when William breaks my heart?
I force a slow exhale but it comes out shaky, all while my emotions turn sharp inside me. “Sorry.”
He pulls back to frown at me, and I let my hand drop to my lap. “Why are you sorry?”
I rack my brain for something light, but what comes out is, “Aren’t you?”
His eyes turn dark. “No.”
Great. Now I’ve done it. “So…what does it mean?”
His gaze falls to my lips, then back up to lock with mine. “It means I kissed you. And you kissed me back. Did you like it?”
I lean up and press my lips to his. How can I not kiss him right now when he’s looking at me like that?
Thesnickof our lips echoes in the quiet cab, broken by the snowy gusts outside and the creak of his seat as he leans closer. He slides his arm around my waist and rolls us to the middle of the seat, guiding me onto his lap. The instant I sink down, my thighs sliding alongside his, every nerve ending jumps. His body is so solid and warm beneath me. Capable. Strong. His big hands cradle my waist and those intense blue eyes lock with mine.
“Because I did,” he says, and leans in to kiss me again.
I close my eyes and let him. His tongue parts my lips. It’s faster this time, a little less gentle but I like it just as much. Maybe a little more? Because what we’re doing is reckless, yet he doesn’t seem to care.
He tugs me a little closer, enough that the heartbeat between my legs makes contact with the hard ridge in his pants. It takes my brain a beat to make sense of what it is and what it means. I reach for his shoulders. Partly so I have a way to hold him back from moving me any closer because,holy freaking wow, and partly because if this is the one time we do this, I’m not wasting a chance to touch him. Even through the fabric of his hoody, the muscles in his shoulders are taut and defined. Yet there’s something about him that feels delicate to me. How is that possible?
A gust of wind rocks the truck, but I’m so lost in his kisses, the universe could crack apart and I wouldn’t budge.
One more kiss, I tell myself.Then I’ll stop.
I comb through the curls at the nape of his neck, and he groans, the low note vibrating through me. It makes me want to get closer to him, but thanks to the growing ache between my thighs, that feels dangerous.
When I pull back, breathing fast, he strokes my hair, his face soft with longing. “You okay?”
“Should we…stop?” I ask, wincing at how the words land like bombs.
He leans back with a heavy sigh. “Because of Theo?”
My stomach turns leaden. I try to smile, but it hurts. “That’s one reason.”
He frowns. “You have more?”
My reckless heart tries to put up a fight, but she’s had her fun. Now it’s time to retreat. “I’m not really built for casual.”
His look turns pained. “Who says I am?”
With a sigh, I swivel off his lap. The cab has turned cold, sending a prickly chill over my skin. Like the separation from his body’s heat is making my core temperature crash. Or maybe it’s cold reality crashing in. Because Will and I are in completely different circles. Why doesn’t that bother him? He’s the popular jock everyone wants to be around, the future king of the school. I may have a slightly elevated status thanks to that clip Neve shared, but I’m still just a band girl, my wild sister’s surrogate mom, and a professional nerd. Jennifer Gray’s line in Dirty Dancing sums it up.I carried a watermelon.
“Charlotte,” William sighs.
