Page 13 of Begin Again Again

“Pardon?”

He raised his beer to the amber dot near the moon. His free hand snaked around her waist, pressing softly against her stomach. Beth did an involuntary Kegel. “Are you… are you into planets?”

“Yeah.”

She waited for more, but none came. But she wanted more. Wanted the words so they could touch, kiss, get this show on the road. But she couldn’t think of anything to say, except, “This is an unusual date.”

“Is that a bad thing?” His hand brushed her stomach, moving up a little, then back down.

Beth closed her eyes. “No. It’s just a thing.”

“Sure.” His thighs pulled apart, spreading her legs against the bench. She bit back a moan, tried not to spread them wide, wider—as wide as they would go.

Come on, Byron Thomas. Please?

After several torturous seconds, it became clear she was going to have to make the next move. Knowing he thought she was tipsy made it easier. If he rejected her, her misreading the situation would be covered by the band-aid of alcohol. Heart pounding, she placed her palm on his right thigh and ran it upward. “Hi, Byron Thomas.”

He looked down at her, green eyes cool and amused. “Hi.”

“You’re really big. Tall, I mean.”

“You like it?”

Beth swallowed. “Of course.”

Byron shifted, putting his beer glass back on the table. His arms wrapped around her again, and Beth leaned back into his chest and closed her eyes. It felt almost embarrassingly good to be engulfed by him. She’d missed being touched so fucking badly. She’d cuddled with Angus and Lara over the last year, but it wasn’t the same as being held by a man.

“One more question?” Byron asked.

“Oh… okay?”

His hands closed possessively around her waist as he lowered his mouth to her ear. “What’s the best fuck you’ve ever had?”

Beth’s breath caught in her throat. Her first instinct was to joke, say her PE teacher or something, but she couldn’t speak, she just opened and closed her mouth like a fish.

“You don’t know?”

“I…?”

“You want to find out?”

His voice was low and playful, but the way he dragged the thin cotton of her dress along her thighs said he had the answer. That hewasthe answer.

“Are you going to tell me or not?” Beth breathed.

A low chuckle. “It’ll be me, Bethany Aroha Myers.”

She closed her eyes. The brashness of it. And yet shebelieved him. His easy confidence, his hard gorgeous body. He could be the best fuck she’d ever had. He could make number one as easily as he’d identified her hair colour as auburn.

“Byron…”

He halted his movements.

“No, please keep going?”

Byron’s hands rose, tracing the skin below her breasts. Beth swallowed, wanting him to cup, to squeeze, to hurt. She didn’t care they were in public, she wanted him with an ache deeper than any she’d felt in bed alone during lockdown. She could picture him taking her like this, bouncing her like a little doll on his lap, tearing her dress with his rough fingers.

“You want me.”

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