“A-game, Larue,” I tease. “Bring it.”
And boy, does she ever.
Her lips land on mine with intention. With purpose. And before I can even start to control this kiss, she’s taken over. Not that I’m complaining. Her tongue sweeps into my mouth and her hands go around my neck. I loop my arms around her waist and yank her to the edge of the chair. Her legs twist around my back just above my butt, her core presses against my erection, and we both moan.
This isn’t where I thought I would be today. When I drove into town with my proverbial tail between my legs, I had a million scenarios of how my time in my hometown might go. Mac Larue didn’t factor into one of them. And now, it’s the only place I want to be.
Chapter 7
Mac
If one of my patients was making out with a childhood friend, out of nowhere, after day drinking and being confronted by a cheating ex who triggers all their negative childhood trauma, I would have to assess whether their behavior was human error, recklessness, or at-risk behavior. Me taking the challenge and kissing Conner isn't human error. I purposely slipped my tongue into his mouth, and the way it was making my body wake up like it's been in a deep hibernation I didn't know about, well I don't regret it. At the moment.
This is fully and completely reckless behavior brought on by seeing Beckett and being submerged in those feelings of negative self-worth. I know it, but then Conner’s tongue sweeps possessively into my mouth and I simply don’t give a shit why I’m doing this. It feels fantastic.
I am kissing Conner Garrison. The scrawny kid I met when I was young is now a very bold, very grown-up, very muscled, and jaw-droppingly handsome man. My girl bits are going to set off the smoke detector.
What the hell kind of Christmas-timeTwilight Zonedid I tumble into? His hands are at my hips and they grip me tighter,yanking me forward even more. I can feel the long, hard bulge in his joggers pressed right up against the space between my legs and it sends a shiver of desire racing through me. I haven’t felt a man’s want for me in a long time. The last six months of my relationship with Beckett were sexless. And before that… well, I don’t remember feeling like he wanted me as brazenly and openly as Conner is exhibiting in this moment.
I hook my ankles behind that tight bubble butt of his, making sure the friction between us is uninterrupted. “None of this makes sense,” I whisper against his mouth.
“But it feels good, doesn’t it?” he asks, his lips ghosting my cheek as they move to my ear. Oh damn, not my ear. I love… he nips at my lobe, licking and sucking, and I let out the most unfiltered groan of my life.
“Yeah, that feels right.” I let out a breath that’s shaky with desire. “Is this the alcohol, though?”
He kisses me again, softer than before, and ends it with a tug to my bottom lip just before his husky voice whispers, “I wasn’t kidding, Mac. You were my first crush. This… you… are a dream come true. And I fucking need that right now. A dream to come true. I think you do too.”
“I do,” I admit. I mean, he just watched me take my belongings back from a dude who ripped my heart out and, worse, dropped it into a vat of boiling humiliation. So yeah, I need a dream to come true instead of turning into a nightmare. Fooling around with the crown prince of hockey… definitely not nightmarish.
He pulls back again, and the heated look in his eyes cools a little. “If you aren’t down, it’s okay. I can?—”
I wrap my arms around his thick neck and pull his lips back to mine. I want to be wild and free and I need to be wanted right now. “I’m down. Time for you to bring your A-game, Garrison.”
And without another word, Conner Garrison uses all that muscle and height and power to pull me right off the stool, cup my ass, and carry me toward my bedroom. And I don’t have a second to process that this is happening, that I don’t intend to stop him, because there’s a knock at the door. Actually, it’s more of a bang.
“Mac!” a female voice bellows. “Is Conner in there?”
“I told you he was,” Tenley’s voice filters through the door next. “Guys! Open up!”
Conner stops walking and drops his forehead to my shoulder. “Ah fuck. That’s my stepmom.”
“Conner Garrison I have a key and I am not afraid to use it!” Callie Caplan-Garrison hollers.
I unhook my ankles from behind his back and he gently places me on the ground. I smooth my hair. Conner runs his thumb over his lips and adjusts the front of his joggers as he swears again.
“Legally, you don’t have the right to enter,” Tenley says loud enough so we can hear. “You haven’t given notice to the tenant and you aren’t even the landlord.”
“Listen, Nancy Drew or Veronica Mars or whatever, I’m a co-parent and I don’t care if he’s twelve, twenty-five, or fifty-five, I am going to hunt him down when something is wrong,” Callie tells her niece.
Conner sighs and crosses the short distance to the front door. He flips the lock and swings it open. In a blur, his stepmom and cousin barge right in. Callie reaches up and grabs her stepson’s face between her gloved hands. “We love you.”
“I love you too, Mama C.” Conner’s voice is soft and sweet and my girl parts start to melt again.
Then Callie lets go of his face and pokes him in the middle of his chest so hard he winces. Her brown eyes get harder. “Butwhat the hell is going on and why are you ghosting your family?”
“I’m not ghosting you,” Conner replies and turns to glare at Tenley. “You sold me out.”
She raises her arms and her big green eyes move from Conner to me and back again. “I didn’twantto tell her. She’s better at interrogation than me.”