Page 96 of A Very Merry Enemy
My marks. My mouth.Mine.
Something primal in me is satisfied by it, even though I know it’s going to be a problem. She’s completely oblivious to the fact that the evidence of what we did last night is branded on her skin.
“I never oversleep,” Holiday mutters. “Bella and Wendy and Bethany are currently baking without me. This is so unprofessional. Shit. Have you seen my phone?”
“In the chair,” I say, my voice raw.
She grabs it and immediately starts typing a text. I’m sure it’s to Emma.
“Holiday.” Jake is fighting a smile. His eyes keep flicking between her neck and my face. “What did y’all do here?”
She stops moving for just a second to look at him. “We didn’t do anything. We just talked and drank too much. That’s it.”
Jake’s eyes drop to her neck again, and he clears his throat. “Just talked, huh?”
“Yes.” Holiday stands beside me. “I know how this looks, us being out here all night, but nothing happened.”
“You heard her,” I say, even though the marks on her neck are clearly screaming otherwise. Even though I can still taste her. Even though my body is still humming from having her come apart in my arms to thoughts of me.
“We’re just friends. Lucas has made that very clear.” She’s already moving toward my truck with her arms full of her things.
“Yeah, it’s crystal fucking clear right now,” Jake says, and he’s full-on grinning. “But sure, whatever you say.”
She’s at my truck now, opening the door.
“I’ll pick this shit up,” Jake tells me, squeezing my shoulder. “Didn’t realize friends sucked each other’s necks like that.”
“Fuck off,” I tell him. “Dad get help?”
“Yeah, Hudson went with him.”
I shake my head. “I’ve been occupied.”
“Apparently,” he says. I move to the truck and climb in. I reach over and grab her hand. “It’s not the end of the world, okay? Repeat after me. Shit happens.”
She’s vibrating with stress. “Emma is going to be so upset.”
I laugh. “She won’t.”
The trail through the woods looks much different during the day. The golden sunlight sneaks through the branches and it makes me smile. My body remembers last night and how she felt in my arms. The sounds she made when she came and how she tasted.
My heart is pounding as she types another message to Emma.
She still hasn’t noticed the hickeys, and I know she’ll lose it when she sees them.
“Mondays are always so busy,” she whispers. And I count down to the day when her ex is to arrive in town.
Five days.
When he arrives, he’ll absolutely see those marks on her skin, knowing someone has been touching her, knowing she’s not his anymore. If she ever really was. Doesn’t sound like that was the case.
Love that for him.
“Emma says the girls have it under control, but I still feel awful,” Holiday mutters. “Wendy had to come in on her day off because of me.”
“They’ll be fine. My cousins love this, trust me.”
“That’s not the point.” She’s typing out a response. “I’ve never been late to work.”
