I move toward the hall. I don’t take her into my bedroom, knowing if I do, I’ll want to fuck her there. Instead, I wrap my fingers around her wrist and move forward, crowding her and guiding her to where I want her.
When her back is pressed against the wall and she can’t get away from me, I move in closer. Lifting one hand, I press my palm against the wall next to her head, gripping her waist with my other hand in an effort to keep her close and caged in. That’s when I dip my chin so I can look at her eye to eye.
“Nothing happened,” I murmur.
“I shouldn’t care,” she exhales, her breathing coming out in soft pants. “But I do,” she mutters. “I care too much.”
“Yeah,” I grunt
Releasing my grasp on her waist, I raise my hand and cup her cheek with my palm, sliding my thumb along her bottom lip, trying not to tell her just how much I care, too. It would do no fucking good. None. Except to make all of this that much harder. And as each day passes, I realize that it’s only getting harder.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
LAINEY
When I feelhis thumb slide across my bottom lip, I know I need him right now. I don’t know that I can even wait long enough for him to meet me back at my house. Sneaking my tongue out of my mouth, I taste the pad of his thumb.
He grunts, shifting his hips forward as he presses his hardened length against my belly. I can feel he’s hard and ready beneath his jeans. He lowers his head, his mouth touching just behind my ear, which sends chills over my skin.
“Gunnar,” I breathe.
“I can’t fuck you here. Someone is going to see.”
Indeed, he can’t fuck me here, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want him inside me right now.
I really do.
Like, right this minute.
And I wouldn’t care if anyone saw. They could watch, and at this point, take pictures, too. I would be okay with it all. Sure, I would regret it immediately after, especially any pictures, but I want him so badly right now that I would do just about anything.
“Go home, and I’ll follow you there,” he murmurs against my ear.
“You’re trashed,” I whisper. “You can’t ride your bike or drive. No way in hell.”
He laughs softly. “No, I really can’t.”
It’s my turn to lift my hand between us and cup his jaw. I search his gaze, wondering what the hell I’m going to do with him. Because I really want to keep him. I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to walk away from him. Even drunk, even with that woman hanging all over him.
I want him.
Gunnar shifts his face so his lips are touching mine, but he doesn’t deepen the kiss. “Since I can’t eat your sweet cunt here, I’ll get one of the guys to bring me to your place, and we can pick up my bike tomorrow.”
“Gunnar,” I say, his name coming out as a pant at the thought of his mouth between my legs.
He chuckles against my lips, then takes a step backward, giving me a bit of space. My hand drops from his face, even though I don’t want him to retreat. I want him to move forward—to touch his mouth to mine, to feel his fingers on my skin.
“Let’s go home, baby.”
My entire body shivers at his words, at the thought of them. Home. I know it’s not our home, it’s mine, but it won’t be for long. I allow myself to live in the little bubble, the illusion where it is our home and that this is real.
Which is dangerous.
I do not need to think about that. I don’t need to pretend. But it’s where I am, and in a few weeks, it will all be a memory. I’ll think about it, I’ll remember it, and I might even cry about it, but I will be able to move forward.
At least that’s what I tell myself.
My stomach twists.Let’s go home. Together, as if we’re one, but I know we aren’t and we never will be. He reaches out, extending his index finger, and touches the tip of my nose. His smile is soft as he looks down at me. His gaze searches mine, but he doesn’t say anything immediately.