Page 98 of The Naughty List

I shake my head. “Touch her, you’re dead.” I walk away, heading outside for some fresh air to cool off.

I lean against the hood of my car and cross my arms over my chest. My breath comes out in little clouds in the freezing night air. I left my coat inside but right now, I don’t even notice the bitter cold. I hang my head, staring at the gravel beneath my feet. I try telling myself all the usual shit, but it’s not having the same effect it usually does. It’s not making me back down. Instead, I’m just telling myself how stupid I am for holding out this long.

I don’t look up until I hear the crunch of gravel. I look up and find Felicity walking toward me. “What are you doing out here?” she asks, coming to a stop in front of me.

I shrug. “Just needed some fresh air. It was a little crowded in there.”

She nods once, then moves to lean against the hood with her arms crossed just like I am. “It is a little crowded in there. And it stinks. I forgot how badly a hundred feet smell mixed with the scent of stale beer and grilled onions.” She laughs and I smile.

Silence falls between us for a moment. I look over and notice she’s also not wearing a coat but has both of ours in her arms.

“You need a coat.”

“You seem off tonight. What’s up?” She ignores my comment.

I shrug before looking over at her. “It’s just being back here with you and all of them. It makes me miss that time of my life, you know? I wish…I wish we could have known back then that we were in the good ol' days. Makes me wish I would’ve done things a little differently. Does that make sense?”

She nods. “It does. I think about that all of the time though. I don’t have to be here for me to think of it.”

“What do you wish you could do differently?”

“Well, I wish I never would’ve wasted any time with that jackass Greg in there,” she giggles out, but her tone quickly turns serious. “I wish we could’ve gotten closer.”

“How so? We were already pretty close,” I remind her.

“Back then, the only thing I wanted was to be pinned to the hood of this car by you.”

I look over at her and it’s like the world stops. Everything stops, everything but us as we stare into one another’s eyes. Her chest is rising and falling quickly. As is mine. But it’s out there. She’s said the words. Does that change anything? No. Is it enough to stop me this time? No. I’m too weak to keep this game up any longer.

Before she can process what’s happening, I’m spinning around, positioning myself between her legs, and laying her back on the hood of my car as my lips find hers. Our coats fall to the ground but I don’t care. This isn’t the first time we’ve kissed, but it is different. This time, I’m not worried about ruining her future. She’s a grown woman now and she knows what she’s doing. She isn’t some eighteen-year-old kid who doesn’t know what she wants. She’s telling me she wants me and I want her too. We’re both adults here, so what’s the problem? Other than the obvious of us being best friends who are about to fuck up everything we’ve ever known. I wonder if she’s thought this through like I have.

Either way, I give myself a few moments to enjoy this, just like I did back then. My hands tour her soft body. I let my hands feel her full hips, reaching around to grab her ass and pull her closer against me. Fuck, she feels amazing in my hands. I’ve never allowed myself to touch her this way. Her breasts feel heavy in my hands, more than a handful but nothing is wasted. Our mouths never stop moving; I cover her lips with my own, snaking my tongue in and out of her mouth. Her hands are around the back of my neck, pulling me closer—her fingers raking through my hair. It feels like we can’t get close enough to one another.

“Fuck, Felicity,” I whisper against her lips. “You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted you. How long I’ve waited to hear the words.”

Her arm moves between us, her hand reaching down and finding my aching dick that’s still in my pants, threatening to bust through the seams. “Oh, I think I have an idea,” she whispers, squeezing me.

“Damn, I didn’t think you’d actually do it,” Greg says, walking out of the bowling alley, causing us to both pull back and look at the smug grin on his face. He starts slow clapping. “Good for you, man.” That’s the last he says before climbing behind the wheel and taking off.

“Asshole,” Felicity says from beside me.

“Come on. Let’s get out of here.” I move around to the passenger side and open the door for her. She slides into her seat as I pick up our coats and climb behind the wheel. I start the car and drive away from the alley. With the cool air blowing through the cab of the car, it’s easier to think more clearly, to see the mistake we could be making.

“Felicity, you know what you mean to me, right?”

She looks over at me, brows drawn together.

“In my life, I lost my dad to the divorce. After that, my mom changed too. You’ve been the only constant in my life, even if we went months without talking, I knew you’d be there for me in an instant.”

“Why are you telling me this, Carson?”

“I want you, Felicity. I do. I’ve always wanted you. That time you came to look at my college, it nearly killed me to pull away. That time when I came to visit and I found you stripping on that table, it took everything I had in me to put your shirt back on and take you home instead of pulling you into some dark bedroom and having my way with you. And when I heard that Greg was trying to take you from me, I lost my fucking mind. He didn’t call you back because he’s an asshole. He didn’t call you back because I threatened to beat his ass. I couldn’t bear the thought of someone else touching you.”

She shakes her head. “What does this have to do with anything, Carson?”

“I want you, Felicity, but I can’t have you.”

Her face goes slack.

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