His admission steals the heat from our fight, but it doesn’t dissolve the tension. If anything, it sharpens it, as we stand toe-to-toe, my heart pounding, our breath mingling in the silence that follows.
“This isn’t us,” I whisper. “Why are you suddenly acting like you have a say over my life? You’re not my boyfriend, Chase?”
It comes out like a question. He doesn’t answer, but I watch his gaze drop to my lips, then lift back to my eyes. It’s the same look I felt in the darkness of the Ferris wheel. Heated and intense.
“What if I was?” His voice is low, almost a growl.
“What are saying?” I shake my head, ignoring the way my heart is threatening to explode out of my chest. I don’t breathe as I wait for his reply. I know what he’s saying. Deep down, I know. But after all these years of squashing my feelings down, hiding that part of myself, I have to hear him say it.
“I want you.” The words rush out on an exhale. “You’re all I can think about. You’ve become etched into every thought. I want to make you laugh. I want to hang off every word you have to say. I want to win every game for you. I want you by my side for it all. But most of all—” He pauses. The column of his throat moves as he swallows, his eyes burning into mine. “I want to hear you scream my name when I make you come over and over again, and I want to show you what it means to never have to settle.”
My throat tightens. A dozen replies burn through me. Things I’ve wanted to say for years, but none of them make it past my lips. Because he’s looking at me the way I’ve always looked at him. And there’s no going back from that.
The next second, he steps closer and then I’m in his arms and we’re kissing. Lips and tongue and urgency and need. It’s everything I feel like I’ve waited my whole life for. Chase deepens the kiss, his tongue moving against mine in deliberate strokes that make my knees threaten to buckle. I respond with a whimper, fingers sliding around the back of his neck, tugginghim closer. One of his hands cups my jaw; the other glides down my spine, pulling me flush against his chest until there’s not a whisper of space left between us. I answer with equal hunger, drawing out a moan from low in my throat. Even as every thought leaves my head and the only thing that exists is this kiss—this moment—I know nothing will ever be the same again.
Chase draws back a fraction, tilting my chin up so our eyes meet. “Do you really want this? Because right now there’s a chance we can walk away and find our way back to the friend zone, but when we break this rule or cross this line, whatever you want to call it, I don’t know if there’s any way back.”
A tiny alarm rings in my chest. A whispered warning:Chase doesn’t believe in forever.I push the thought aside. With Chase’s breath warm on my skin and every inch of me aching for this man, I don’t want to think about anything beyond this moment and how long I’ve waited for this.
I press myself against him, feeling every hard line of his body. “Rules are meant to be broken, Sullivan.”
TWENTY-ONE
CHASE
I’m lost.
Gone.
This is Serena. My best friend. I’ve spent years never allowing myself to see her as anything more. Ignoring the way I seek her out, my feet moving toward her before my mind has caught up. And the way I want to make her laugh, make her happy, hear her fun facts and the highs and lows of every day. I told myself all best friends felt that way.
I never looked too closely at how so much of my day was consumed with thinking of her. Wondering what she was doing, what book she was curled up with, whether she’d pulled her hair into that messy bun that makes her look too damn cute. I was always thinking about what joke I’d tell just to hear her laugh, knowing the moment I did, the sound of it would hit me low in the gut and stay there long after the laughter died. I never let myself believe we could be more, but now I’m wondering if I’ve been in love with her all along. Because what’s rushing through me now isn’t new. It’s the same pull I’ve felt for years, only louder, sharper. It’s like I’ve spent my whole life with my eyes squeezed shut, pretending not to notice what was right in front of me. And now, all at once, it’s crystal clear.
Serena is mine, and I never want to let her go.
I draw back from our kiss. Just an inch, just enough to drink her in. We’re both breathless, eyes locked. Nothing outside of this space exists. My dick throbs with how much I want this, begging me to press her up against the wall and show her just how far gone I am. But this moment is too important, too real, to rush. And so, I brush a lock of her silky blonde hair away from her face and flash a teasing smile. “I’m not going to fuck you.”
I relish the way her eyes grow wide. Surprise, then disappointment. Her lips part. I watch her wrestle to find the words, and I get there first. “Not until you beg me, that is.”
She laughs. “You seem pretty sure of yourself.”
“Oh, I am.” And with that, I lift her easily into my arms. She gasps—half laugh, half breathless surprise—and wraps her arms around my neck. Her body presses against mine, and I swear I feel every toned muscle and curve through the layers between us. Too many damn layers.
I carry her through the quiet of the house, up the stairs and into my bedroom, setting her down gently by my bed. In the dim light of the moon streaking in from the window, I catch the desire in her eyes. It’s not a look I’m used to seeing when it comes to Serena. Seeing that ocean blue darken with want unleashes something primal inside me, and I have to fight again not to take her right this second.
She moves like she’s going to press her body against me, but I’m too quick, stepping back, moving out of reach, all the way to the door. I cross my arms over my chest as I lean against the wood frame. I can’t help but smile at the confusion now drawing across her features. It’s a reminder that every man she’s ever been with has rushed and taken and never bothered to show her what her body was made to do.
Fuck, I’m going to enjoy this.
“Take off your clothes,” I say, keeping my voice low and commanding. It’s not a request.
For a moment, she hesitates. We’re both seeing new sides of each other tonight. No going back now. I let the silence stretch, let the weight of my words sink in. Finally, she pulls her sweater over her head, the fabric falling to the floor in a soft heap. Her bra follows, and I let out a slow breath as her bare skin is revealed, pale and glowing in the moonlight. The rush of blood to my dick leaves me dizzy. I’m so fucking hard for this woman.
Her breasts are full and soft, her nipples already peaked. I ache to draw them into my mouth, to suck and tease and make her cry out my name. But not yet. Not until she’s ready to beg. “Now the rest,” I murmur, voice rough.
Her hands shake as she undoes the button of her jeans, sliding them down her long, slender legs until she’s standing there in nothing but her black lace panties.
She hesitates again. “Everything?”