He pulls me in for a kiss, still wet from the salty tears on my lips.
His tongue flicks over the seam of my lips and I open for him, letting him hold me against his body.
For the briefest moment, I pretend everything’s fine between us.
I let his kiss reassure me in ways I wish it truly could.
I’m just not sure any kiss can bridge the canyon between us tonight.
But God, I want it to.
Desperately.
So I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss my delusions right back, losing myself in the hot sweep of his tongue and the greedy way his hands wind down my back.
Mine, they say.
But only yours for now.That’s what my kiss says back.
I’m frantic, breathing into his mouth in a way that’s inappropriate for a public sidewalk outside a rock star restaurant in a major city, but I don’t care.
And when he pulls away, he rests his forehead on mine.
“Just for a couple days. I’ll be back soon,” he says. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Y-yeah.” I run my hands through his hair. “Fine. See?”
His fingers trace my jaw. I shiver with want.
It’s not fair how good he is at pushing my buttons after a fight.
Even after knowing he doesn’t trust me, his touch melts me like butter.
“I’ll miss you,” he says in a way that makes it clear what he means.
He’ll miss the sex when he’s permanently horny.
That has to be it, I tell myself.
My heart throbs harder, torn between desire and disappointment.
“I’ll miss you too,” I whisper.
I mean something totally different when I say it back.
Oh, if this walking contradiction only knew.
Ares flopsdown with his head in my lap for the short flight back to Portland.
I stroke his long ears absently as his weight slowly makes my thighs go numb.
Ethan insisted I use the private jet.
For Ares’ sake, I couldn’t turn him down, even if I’ve never felt this out of place in my life on this fancy plane alone.
Flying away from Ethan is one of the hardest things ever.
As the plane takes off, the engine force vibrating my stomach, I bite my lip and punch a few words into Google on my phone.
