Page 80 of Then There Was You

My stomach flips at the thought, and I close my eyes. “And that would be bad, right?”

He chuckles. “I think it would be hot, Tay, but it’s not happening.”

“Tease.”

He kisses me softly before stepping back and rearranging his hard cock.

“We should go downstairs before we’re missed.” He helps me down off the vanity.

“Thanks for sticking up for Ash before.”

He frowns. “I’m always going to stick up for her, Taylor.” He drags his hand through his hair. “We’re only the way we are because we care.”

I cup his stubbled jaw. “I know.”

He smiles and takes my hand, leading me to the bathroom door. “I’ll check no one is out there.”

I giggle and he looks over his shoulder. “What’s funny?”

“All the sneaking around. It’s like we’re doing something we shouldn’t.”

He smiles. “Aren’t we? Wait there.” He opens the door and pokes his head around the doorjamb. “All clear.” He guides me out of the bathroom and into the hallway. “You go down first, and I’ll follow in a few minutes.”

Even though we’re not hidden away in the bathroom anymore, he pulls me into his arms again and brushes my lips with his. I step back and make my way downstairs, his words playing in a loop in my head. Are we doing something we shouldn’t? We’re both adults, and we’re both single, so whyarewe sneaking around like teenagers?

CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT

Taylor

It’s New Year’s Eve and almost midnight. I’m sitting in a packed Eden, wondering what the hell I’m doing. Spending Christmas Day and every night since with Seb has me wanting things I know I can’t have. We’re always together, and it’s feeling more and more like we’re in a relationship. We’re not, though, despite how much I want to be. I don’t know how much longer I can keep pretending I’m okay with how things are between us. He made it clear at the beginning that he didn’t want anything more than sex. I was the one who convinced him I could deal with that. I can’t deal with it. Not at all.

“Should we go and find Seb before midnight? It doesn’t look like he’s going to be able to leave the bar with how busy it is,” Ashlyn shouts over the noise of the crowd, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Yes! Let’s go,” Paisley says. “It sucks he can’t get over here.”

I blow out a breath and stand as everyone files out of the booth. I want to see Seb, and I want to ring in the new year with him, but I also want to kiss him at midnight, and I know that’s not going to happen. While we might spend every spare minute together, it’s always behind closed doors. He’s not going to kiss me in front of everyone.

“Are you okay?” Ashlyn asks as she drops back from the others and links her arm with mine. “You’re quiet.”

“I’m good,” I tell her, forcing a smile.

She bumps her shoulder with mine. “Maybe you and Seb can sneak off to his office for five minutes.”

I stop walking and she stops with me. “What?”

She smiles. “I saw him kissing you in here on Christmas Eve, and I saw how he couldn’t take his eyes off you on Christmas Day. What’s going on with you two?”

I blow out a breath and tug her to the side of the room and out of sight of the others. I’m desperate to talk to someone about him, and it probably shouldn’t be his sister, but right now, I don’t care.

“I’m in over my head with him, Ash. It was just meant to be some fun, but I’m falling for him, and I don’t know what to do.”

Her forehead creases in a frown. “Have you told him how you feel?”

I shake my head. “He doesn’t want a relationship. He was very clear about that before…” I trail off, unsure Ash is going to want to hear about her brother’s sex life.

“Before what?” she prompts.

I sigh. “Before we slept together.”

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