Page 3 of Anyone And You

A fucking terrible idea.

“Come on,” she said. “A friend told me they have apple cider moonshine in here somewhere. I’ll buy us a couple of shots to get us started.”

CHAPTER THREE - DES

AS WE ENTERED the festival, a few kids ran past us through the stacked hay bales and iron archway. I kept sneaking glances at Axel, feeling how stiff he was at my side. He didn’t say anything as I doted on a few vendors’ homemade products and even purchased a few candles and a t-shirt. Axel stood off to the side to wait on me, apparently judging every purchase I made—his arms crossed, eyes downcast and slightly squinted, jaw taut.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said. “By the way your apartment smells, I thought you’d had enough candles.”

“No such thing,” I replied, falling into step at his side. “You know, I actually find it hard to believe the apartment complex we stay in fits your rugged aesthetic,” I teased. “Shouldn’t you be in the woods? Far, far away, chopping trees or something more… rustic?” I looked him up and down. The unkept beard, the muscles straining against his old flannel he’d obviously been wearing for years now.

That bristle I’d come to love pulling out of him flashed in his hazel green eyes, so much more vibrant here against the sunset, and I smiled at the sight of it.

“You’re cute when you glare like that,” I said. I spotted the sign for the drinks and jerked my chin toward it. “Drink?”

“Please,” he grunted.

The whiskey truck wasn’t as packed as I expected, and we were through the line in minutes. Two shots each in hand, I raised my first one to his.

“To a night of breaking through that exterior of yours,” I said.

Axel squinted at me. “What?”

“Nothing,” I said, deciding to keep it to myself. “Cheers,” I chose instead.

His plastic cup touched mine, and we both choked back the burning liquid in one gulp. I shook my head at the sting, making a noise, and then watched as Axel’s expression barely moved. He grabbed the second shot we’d ordered and downed it as well.

A dribble of liquid escaped and dripped down his beard, the liquid coating his lips, and I suddenly wondered what his mouth would look like with what he could do to me covering his lips. How that beard would have felt on my thighs, tickling my pussy…

Wishful thinking, Des, I thought to myself.

I’d pleasured myself to the thought of him between my thighs more times than I could count but never loud enough for him to hear. Maybe once he left me for the night, I’d use that image to get off. Maybe let myself moan his name a little louder in the hopes he heard me through the walls and realized what he was missing out on.

“So,” I said, breaking out of my daze. “What do you want to do first?” I sipped the second shot as I let him think it over. “Games? Carnival rides? Food? Haunted house?”

“No haunted houses,” he said.

I bit my lip to keep from smiling. “Not scared, are you?”

“I don’t like things jumping out at me,” he replied. “Unless you’d like tonight to end with me in handcuffs in the back of a squad car.”

“Well, maybe not in the back of a squad car, but the thought of you in handcuffs does intrigue me,” I said before downing the rest of my drink and pushing off the rail we’d paused to stand beside.

“Fucking hell, Des,” he grunted. “Someone shouldreallystuff that smart mouth of yours,” he added, and I smirked at him over my shoulder as I turned.

“Volunteering?” I asked, giving him a once over, my eyes lingering on his snug-fitting jeans for a moment longer than I should have.

His gaze caught mine, my smile growing wider upon seeing the slight ease in that frustrating shell of his. Two shots of alcohol. Was that the secret?

I laughed as I started forward, but he grabbed my arm before I could get a step away. I was thrust off balance and back into his embrace, flush against that broad chest, my arms now trapped between our bodies as his other hand enclosed around my waist.

This was too close for the thoughts spinning in my mind, for all the images I couldn’t help but see. I wondered if he could see the need and lust in my eyes there.

We were so close that I could feel the breeze of his breath on my lips.

And for whatever reason, he didn’t let me go.

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