And until the only thing she remembered was us.
My hands moved to the back of her head, pressing Mae against me, leveraging the closeness of our bodies to deepen the kiss. She tilted her head, giving me full access, one I took advantage of, ensuring every moment would be a memorable one.
If we were a cartoon, stars and hearts would surround us, the moment exactly as I dreamt it would be… and more. I could kiss Mae all night.
We fit perfectly together.
Too perfectly.
I pulled away. Not because I wanted to, but because this was getting all too real.
“If I don’t stop now, Mae,” I murmured, wondering if she could hear the shakiness in my voice, “I’m not gonna be able to.”
She stepped back, our arms falling away.
I was struggling to breathe, regretting ending the kiss. But I hadn’t been lying. That kiss had escalated to something more so fucking quickly.
“What have we done?”
I hated how stricken she looked, as if Mae already regretted it.
“I’m pretty sure we kissed.”
Her smile was back, thank God. “Really? Is that what that’s called?”
I smiled back, hoping to reassure her we could be… us. Mae and Beck. That it wasn’t the end of anything, but maybe the start of one.
“I don’t know… I can’t believe we did that.”
“Do you regret it?”
She blinked. “No. I mean, I don’t know.” Mae let out a breath. “I think I should go to bed.”
I wanted to disagree, but rushing something as complicated as… that wasn’t a great idea.
“Agreed.”
“Alright then. Good night,” she said, taking another step back.
As much as neither of us wanted this to be awkward, there was no escaping the fact that it was awkward as hell. “Good night, Mae,” I said, trying to keep my tone light. Casual.
I stepped away from the door frame, winked like I might have done even without the kiss, as we closed the doors at the same time.
But I didn’t move from that spot. Instead I stared at it, seeing us as if I were watching a movie with Mae and me as the main characters.
That was… incredible. Earth-shattering. Perfect.
If I had any doubts, they weren’t about our chemistry. Mae deserved more than Mathieu, and I was certainly a step above that French asshole, but I was nowhere close to perfect for her.
I was a loaded gun with no safety, just waiting for the wrong moment to go off. The smart move would be to walk away now, before either of us got hurt. But standing there, heart pounding like a fucking drum in my ears, all I wanted was to tear that door back open and finish what we started.
22
MAE
Knocking on Beck’s door after a night of very little sleep was not something I relished doing. But it was five after eight, and he hadn’t made a peep yet this morning. Probably because he was as mortified and utterly confused as me.
We hadn’t just kissed.
