Page 32 of This Is War: All's Fair Duet
She squirms on my lap, then lets out a startled gasp into my mouth and grips my shoulders tightly as I sweep my tongue along her lips, then plunge it between them. I’m. Kissing. Rya.
The thought of it has my brain exploding, my heart racing faster and faster, and I hold her tightly in place as my cock hardens beneath her. She whimpers.Fuck.I want her. Need this.
Her lithe dancer’s body sprawled over my lap, those graceful arms around me, her fucking poetic hands in my hair. I groan, the rumble coming from deep in my chest. Her tongue rubs tentatively against mine, and I match her stroke for stroke as my blood ignites.
Breathless, she tears her lips from mine. “Logan.”
Fuuuck.I love the sound of my name on her lips. I dive back in, nipping at her mouth, unable to believe this is real fucking life right now.
“Logan, wait.” A moment later, her hands shove against my shoulders. “Stop.”
Surprise crashes into me as she pushes from my lap, then stumbles backward into Levi’s bed. I blink, staring ather through bleary eyes.Nooo.Her lip trembles as my head spins and spins. I hold my arms out to her. “Rya?” I blink several times, trying to figure out where Rya two and three came from. Whatever is going on, all versions of her look really upset.
“Logan… I need to know. Are you doing this because you want me? Or simply to keep Jaxon from having me?” Her ragged breaths come hard and fast, her cheeks bright pink in her distress.
I groan, long and loud, furiously scrubbing my hands over my face because it feels numb. And lacking of Rya’s lips and breath. “What’re you talking ’bout?” I huff, my eyes roaming lazily over her. She bites her lip, planting her hands on her hips. Those luscious fucking hips.Fuck.I close my eyes, and my head bobs, chin hitting my chest before my eyes go wide again.
Rya.I stand and stumble forward, pulling her into my arms again. Her heart hammers hard against my chest, and I slam my lips down on hers. But it’s not like it was a minute ago. She wrestles herself away, pushing with her hands against my chest.
Crack.
Pain explodes in my cheek, and I blink hard, shaking my head as I weave on my feet. Rya’s hands cover the lower half of her face as she stares at me with wide eyes. Backing away, she then turns and flings open the door. Ipitch forward, trying to go after her, but I’m not fast enough. The heart-wrenching look she tosses over her shoulder as she slams the door shut is my undoing. I drop to my knees, head in my hands.
She’s running. Fromme.
19
RYA
A sob eruptsfrom my throat as I hit the second-floor landing, but I continue down, down, down until I burst through the emergency exit on the first floor and into the night. Tears streaking down my cheeks, I gulp in cold air. It stings my lungs, but I flee without a fucking clue where I’m going. All I know is I couldn’t stay with Logan another second. Couldn’t go back to my room, either, because his drunk ass would’ve been pounding on the door five seconds later. I can’t talk to him right now.
It’s devastating to think my best friend is so fucked up he might not recall what he did. Our first kisses. Ruined. Our trust. Destroyed. All for what?
He dislikes his stepbrother to such a degree that Jaxon showing interest in me has been driving Logan out of his mind with— I pause. The only conclusion I can draw isthat it has to be jealousy. Ridiculous, seeing as how we’ve been friends for quite some time now, and he’s never shown any interest in me. Never once made me think he had ever thought of us as anything but friends. And there’s no forgetting the night last year when he burst my bubble of any hope that the two of us would get together.
I saw him kissing that guy, Nathan Connelly, and it’d finally become clear why he didn’t want me. He likes dudes. It’d taken me forever to admit I needed to put a pin in the crush I had on him and just love him for who he was.
But now, I don’t know what to think. Except I won’t be the fucking toy he’s been ignoring any longer. Now that Jaxon wants to play with me, like a petulant child, Logan’s upset. It’s all kinds of wrong. He can’t possibly really want me. He simply doesn’t want Jaxon near me, and it’s making him crazy. So, what? He decides he likes girls—likesmelikethat—all of a sudden? Wants to experiment? I’m so fucking confused. It’s bullshit. Yet, I’m torn. I’ve wanted him for so long. But now, with a few ill-timed alcohol-fueled words, the entire structure of our relationship is crumbling. He’s wrecked me.He’s wreckedus.
I wrap my arms around my torso, my body violently shivering beyond anything I can control. Is it the emotion of what’s happening or the temperature? Probably both.Fuck.Itisreally cold tonight, and I ran out of the dormwithout my coat. I don’t even know where I’m going. But does it matter?No.It really doesn’t. I shove my hands in my jeans pockets and let the tears free fall down my face as I continue on, practically blind to everyone and everything around me.
Turning a sharp corner, all the air expels from my lungs in a whoosh as I run headlong into something solid. Man chest. Oh, hell. How embarrassing. I can’t bear to look up with my face puffy and my nose red. Hands dart out and grasp my biceps to steady me, but I tear free and skirt around them. Breaking into a jog, another brokenhearted sob rips from me.
The next thing I know, an arm belts around my waist, lifting me off my feet and drawing me to a muscular body. “Rya. Stop.”
Confusion barrels into me, and I stiffen, immediately recognizing the voice. He loosens his hold, and I whirl around. My eyes connect with dark-chocolate ones. “Jaxon?” He’s still wearing the same dark jeans and black button-down from our date. He scans my features, and I sweep my fingers under my eyes, brushing the wetness from my cheeks. There’s a knot of emotion caught in my throat, and I do my best to ignore it, instead focusing on him. When he dropped me off an hour ago, he’d cryptically said he had something to take care of. He’d been upset and trying to hide it. I knew, but he wasn’t having itwhen I questioned whether he wanted to talk about it. “Are you just getting back? From whatever you had to do?”
He doesn’t answer, simply stares at me, his head cocked to the side as he steps closer, eliminating the short distance between us. “What’s wrong?” I open my mouth to protest, and he gives a firm shake of his head. “Who the fuck made you cry?” The growl of his voice shoots straight down my spine, and my eyes widen. My reaction is so visceral, I wonder if it’s something he’s practiced doing to elicit that response.
I draw in a breath, then let it escape through pursed lips. The reality of everything weighs on me, and I shake my head. “I can’t. I don’t—” Jaxon is possibly the last person I should be discussing this with. “Can you just—” My shoulders droop. I don’t know how to ask for what I need.
But a moment later, as if he’s capable of reading my mind, Jaxon wraps me in his arms, delivering a fierce hug. And I can’t help myself. I lean into it with all I have, resting my cheek against his pec and relishing in the pair of comforting arms that hold me close. The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest lulls me into the calm I came out here seeking.
He rests his chin on top of my head before murmuring, “Looks like we both had a rough night.”
“Why was your night shitty?” I mumble, in a bid to distract him.
Jaxon exhales sharply. “I’ll tell you. But not here. And only if you promise to tell me what’s got you upset, too.”
