Page 48 of Most Likely to Score
My voice is breathless as I answer, and I’m sure it betrays my heart. “What do you think they’d be like?” I ask quietly, but my wariness over prying eyes runs strong, so I shake my head. “Don’t answer.” I peer down the hall. No one’s around, but whatever he’s going to utter is best said behind closed doors. “Come inside.” I open the door wider, and he enters. When the door slides closed with athunk, the sound reverberates.
It feels like a line in the sand.
A line I shouldn’t cross.
But I want to know what comes next.
He runs a hand through his hair and sighs heavily. His voice is vulnerable when he speaks. “Why don’t you look at me, Jillian?”
A spark of anger burns in me. “Why were you a jerk at the pool?”
He huffs. “Because I thought that guy was with you.”
“So you were dismissive and barely said a word?”
He nods. “Yes. And then when I talked to you, you just stared straight at me, but you didn’t look at me.” He takes a beat, breathes hard, then seems to let go of his anger. “And all I want is to look at you.”
I’m burning, everywhere. I’m hot and wet and electric. Heat flares low in my belly, settling between my legs.
“I do look at you.” I wind my hands behind my back and lace my fingers together to keep from launching myself at him.
“Do you look at me the way I look at you?”
“How do you look at me?”
He steps closer. He’s a foot away. I’ve never been so aware of space in my life. “Like it drove me up the wall that you were with that guy. Like it made me act like a jerk, and I’m sorry.”
A wild thrill rushes through me at his admission. I’ve never experienced this sensation, this absolute intoxication from knowing the person you long for is longing for you, too. My friends and family have told me he feels this way, but I hunted for every reason to disavow what they said. Now, I’m floating on this cloud of disbelief, and it feels so good to fly this high. I don’t want the real world. I don’t want consequences. I just want him.
“You’re not a jerk. But I told you—he’s a friend, and that’s all.”
His shoulders rise and fall. “I couldn’t stand to see you laughing with him. To see him hugging you.”
Since honesty seems to be the theme tonight, I toss out another kernel of truth. “It drove me up the wall that you didn’t have dinner with me.” It’s a relief to finally give voice to my own jealousy, and taking the first step frees me to say more. Emboldened, I add softly, “I wanted to have dinner with you.”
He steps closer. Inches separate us—that’s all. “I was trying like hell to stay away from you.”
I should tell him to go, but his words are everything I’ve longed for. Everything that’s a terrible risk. I swallow harshly as my bones buzz. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want to mess things up for you or for me. I don’t want to ruin anything. But when I saw Liam chatting you up at the winery, and then your friend Andre tonight . . . it was too hard to keep this all inside. It was too hard to act like I don’t totally fucking want you.”
A gasp dares to escape my lips. I’m crackling everywhere as he continues, “I know you’re beautiful, I know you’re smart as a whip, but I want them to look at you and feel like they can’t have you.”
He lifts his hand and lightly, ever so gently, runs his fingers across my shoulder. I spark from that touch. I’m a live wire, and I could power whole cities tonight.
“Because you’re mine.”
I’m flying through the stars. The man I want is laying bare his desire, shedding all his pretenses, and I can hardly believe it’s happening. He’s making his intentions clear. I want to hear every word, imprintthem on my memory so I can replay them when I’m on the other side of this, so I can remember why I’m about to do something foolish. Why I’m going to take a risk.
Somehow, I manage to speak. “What would you do if I was yours?”
He erases the distance, the inches, and lines his body up with mine. This is the point of no return, and I’ve passed it.
Willingly.
Gladly.
“Let me show you.” Cupping my cheeks in his big hands, he dips his mouth to mine, and he kisses me fiercely with everything he has.
