I was such an idiot for calling it that.
Because this?
This is undeniable.
I sink into it.
Let myself feel it.
Every shift of his lips.Every press of his hands.Every quiet, unspoken thing that lingers between us.
There are cat calls, and whoops around us.People telling us to get a room—but I don’t give a shit.
I feel the shift in his breath, the weight of his chest pressing just slightly against mine.The deep, rhythmic slide of his tongue over mine—not demanding, not rushed.
Just right.
Somewhere in the distance I hear Lily’s giggle of approval, but even that barely registers.
Heat licks up my spine, settling in the hollow beneath my ribs, something spreading through me that I don’t have a name for but desperately want to express.
My lips part on a soft, unsteady gasp.
He takes it.
Swallows it like it belongs to him.
Like it’salwaysbelonged to him.
The kiss deepens, his hands sliding from my face, fingers pushing deeper into my hair.A quiet possession, a silent question.
I don’t answer with words.
I press closer.
And that’s all he needs.
A sound rumbles low in his throat, vibrating against my lips.His grip tightens just enough to send a shiver cascading through me.
My heart is racing.
Every nerve feels alive.
I don’t know how long we stand here, tangled in each other, drowning in something too big, too much, too fucking inevitable.It could be minutes, it could be seconds.It feels like eternity.
He takes up all of my senses.
His lips, his hands, the way he kisses me like he’s certain of this—whateverthisis.
Like he knows I’m finally certain too.
He pulls back just enough to rest his forehead against mine, his hands still cradling my face, his breath mixing with mine.
His voice is a hushed mess.Rough, frayed, barely above the noise.Like he doesn’t trust it to hold steady.“Come upstairs with me.”
My pulse stumbles.
I blink, still feeling the kiss on my lips, still trying to pull myself back into my body.The club is loud around us—people still cheering, music from the DJ now humming in the background—but all of it feels muted, distant, like I’ve stepped into some other reality where only Joel exists.