Page 55 of Love You Like That (Excess All Areas 4)

“Stay now, you, why, me.” he signed clumsily. “I’m stupid.” And, randomly, “Tree.” She watched his hands, but also saw him mutter. “Fuck me.”

Resisting the urge to smile at his clumsy attempts, she signed for him to slow down, dragging her forefinger down her arm.

He looked confused.

“Slow,” she said, biting down on her lip at the intensity of his gaze.

“You need to stay with me,” he said, stopping his signing attempts. Alex cupped her cheeks. “I’m sorry I let you go. I didn’t intend to catch feelings. In fact, I’ll be honest, I’m not even sure what they are yet, and they terrify me. But I’ve spent the time since you left the pub trying to find British Sign Language videos for phrases like, “I was an idiot” and practising them. I know you think of me like a brother and friend but let me try and convince you why we could be something so much more.”

“You think I think of you like a brother?”

“Yeah. Last night, you said the band was like an extended family. Siblings.”

Zoe placed her palm to her forehead. He had feelings. She had feelings. “I didn’t mean you. If we are being honest, the feelings I’m developing for you are a long way from brotherly.”

Alex’s eyes went wide. “You want to give me an example?”

Heat flamed her cheeks. “Not right now. I just wasn’t sure I could be what you needed. I thought you’d friend-zoned me.”

“Jesus Christ. No. I thought you’d friend-zoned me. And for the record, I’m going to kiss you tomorrow unless you tell me this is a huge mistake.”

“Why not kiss me now?”

Alex’s thumbs caressed her cheeks. “Because I’m not going to kiss you while the taste of another man is on your lips.”

“I didn’t let him kiss my lips,” she said, quickly.

“In that case…”

She was still processing what he was saying, making sense of words she heard and read when his lips met hers. Soft, gentle. Her brain could barely keep up with what was happening.

One minute she’d been enjoying Chinese food, the next she was giving in to everything Alex wanted from her. Everything she wanted from him.

It seemed as though almost as soon as his lips had touched hers, they were gone again. His forehead touched hers, before kissing her again. Deeper this time. He backed her up against her hotel room door, his hands sliding down to squeeze her bum firmly.

He pulled back a little. “I’ve dreamed about this.”

His confession caused everything within her to tighten. Then Alex’s mouth was back on hers, and her hands threaded through his hair. The thickness of an unmissable erection pressed against her stomach. They were in a hotel corridor, but she couldn’t stop as their tongues caressed each other.

Finally, he took a small step back and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. “This is not going to be boring. You and me.”

Zoe ran her thumb over his lip like she’d wanted to a million times, and Alex let her, to a point, when he bit down on her thumb gently. A move that shouldn’t cause sparks to explode between her thighs, yet somehow did.

Alex wrapped her in his arms. The rustle of his jacket against her hearing aids meant she could barely hear anything beyond the scrape of fabric, but she didn’t care.

For the first time in a long while, she had someone on her side.

His hand slid around her neck, massaging it gently.

“Can we do this without everyone watching?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, from what I understood, Matt and Iz were a secret. Cerys and Jase spent their first few days hidden away in a cottage. And Luke didn’t even tell you guys about why Willow was here for nearly a week. And Cerys is waiting for a sign that I’m moving on. And Ben already thinks we’d make a good couple.”

Alex’s eyes went wide. “Ben told you that?”

“Yes, we talked on the tour bus. Anyway, what I guess I meant was can we just keep this private?”

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