Page 54 of Yes & I Love You (Say Everything 1)

Shit.Jasper pulled back, his heart beating fast and his blood pumping hard. Hollyn’s eyes blinked open, a dazed look of shock there.Shit. Shit. Shit.He was kissing a woman he’d just fed shots to. A woman he was supposed to be teaching, not trying to get naked.

He scooted back. “I…uh…”

A look of panic flashed over Hollyn’s face and then her cheeks went apple red. “I…” She cleared her throat and looked down, pretending to button up her shirt.“I have one question. Did I get the part?”

Jasper stared at her for a moment and then it registered. She’d given him another line. She was going back to the game. Or maybe that had all been part of the game, and he’d taken it too far? He’d kissed lots of improv partners onstage, but what he’d just done had been decidedlynota stage kiss.

He let out a tense breath and ran a hand through his hair. He tried to find a casual smile to plaster on his face, and he just hoped to God the half-hard state of his cock wasn’t obvious in this position. “Wow, you, uh, really committed to that one. Good job!”

She rubbed her lips together and looked away. Her nose scrunched a few times in succession, and her fingers were moving in some kind of pattern against her thumb, like she was counting. He frowned. He was starting to learn the signs of her freaking out.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “That was… I don’t know what the hell that was.”

“Bourbon, probably,” he said, trying to keep his tone light. “You were in the moment. And don’t apologize. I think we both got a little caught up in the scene. It happens.”

Her gaze darted to his, a skeptical look on her face. “It does?”

“Sure,” he said with a tight shrug. “I’ve kissed every one of my improv group onstage at some point, girls and guys.” Not with tongue and he certainly didn’t get hard kissing any of them, but he wasn’t going to mention that part. “You do what will make the scene the best for the audience. It’s all in good fun.”

She rubbed the spot between her eyes. “Maybe drinking was a bad idea.”

“Right.” He cleared his throat and sat next to her, leaning against the wall. “But for what it’s worth, you were great.” He winced. “With the scene, I mean. Not the kissing.”

She stiffened.

“Though that was fine, too,” he said quickly.Fine? What the fuck, Deares?He was blabbering.Hello, hole, let me dig you a little deeper.“You know what I mean.”

Hedidn’t know what he meant, but maybe she had a better shot at deciphering it.

“I need to get going,” she said, tone abrupt.

He looked over at her. “Oh. Already?”

“I… Yeah.” She got to her feet, her movements a little jerky. “Thanks for the lesson.”

He scrambled to stand. “Hollyn—”

She gave him a tight smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He frowned. “Are you okay to drive? I mean…the bourbon.”

She was already walking over to grab her purse and bag off a chair. “I’m not drunk. And I walked to work today anyway.”

“I can walk you home.”

She hooked her bag over her shoulder. “No, I’m fine. It’s fine. It’s a short walk.”

Shit.He’d screwed this all up. She was in full retreat. “Wait. Are we going to do another lesson?”

She looked away.

Dammit.“Hollyn, I’m sorry. This was my fault. I shouldn’t have brought liquor into it, and I should’ve taken the suggestive ones out of the stack. Please don’t let my screwup scare you away from the lessons.”

She scoffed and finally looked at him. “Your screwup? Jasper, Ikissedyou. Literally less than an hour after you made it very clear that you have no interest in thatchick with issues, I mauled you.”

The words were like cold water in the face. “What? I never said—”

She groaned and tipped her head back. “Congratulations to me. I have the uncanny ability to turn an already awkward situation into a mortifying one. It’s like some reverse superpower.” She shook her head. “I can’t do this.”

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