“But why?” She was crying now in earnest, not the wimpy tears some girls used to manipulate guys, but real, honest-to-goodness ugly crying, sobs wrenching from her chest and shaking her whole body. “Why do you want to stay away from me? You’re my best friend. Or you were.”
“Because I’m not that guy anymore. I’m not the Leo who always did the right thing. I’m not the Leo who stood up to bullies with you. I’m a different person now, Mia. I’m not good for you. I’m a fucking mess. And every time I look at you, all I can think of is how goddamn much I want to kiss you. More than that. I don’t want to stop at just kissing you, Mia. I want my hands all over you. Right now, standing here, I want to bend you over this bench, strip you down—” I broke off, snarling a curse. “I’d ruin you. I’d make you different, and that would kill me.”
“But Leo—” She grabbed for my arm, her grip stronger than I expected. “You wouldn’t. You couldn’t change me if I don’t want you to. I’m not some little girl you can corrupt, you know? I’m only three touchdowns younger than you.”
I half-groaned, half-laughed at our old joke about the twenty-one days that separated our birth dates. “You think I don’t know that? You think I haven’t noticed that you’re grown up?” With just the tip of my index finger, I traced the line of her cheekbone. Her eyelids fell shut and she shivered, and God, I wanted to make her look like that again. And again. My dick was so hard under the zipper of my jeans that it ached.
“Leo.” She breathed out my name, opening her eyes just a little as she drew closer to me. Her tits pushed against my chest, softness sinking into my hard planes, and instinctively my arms went around her. I angled my body so that my pulsing erection lined up to the heat between her legs. I expected her to pull back, but she didn’t. If anything, she plastered herself closer to me.
Looking down into her face, where I expected to see doubt and fear and confusion, I only saw trust and eagerness and desire. Her lips parted slightly, and I couldn’t help myself. I dipped my mouth down, taking once again what had been tempting me for weeks.
Quinn opened for me right away, and then my tongue was in her mouth, exploring, teasing and tasting. She was an intoxicating mix of mint and pure Quinn, and I wanted to lap her up. She moaned deep in her throat, and some frantic, insane part of my mind began scrambling, trying to come up with an idea of where we could go. A place where no one would find us and I could keep touching her, possibly forever.
“Mia.” I slid my fingers through her hair. “God, you’re so beautiful. I’ve been dying to touch you.” I ran my hands down her back, gripping her firm, round ass. She made a small noise of surprise, but she didn’t squirm away, so I lifted her up. Her legs wound around me, and she rested her arms on my shoulders, never breaking her mouth away from mine. I realized with surprise that she’d taken control of the kiss. Her tongue stroked the inside of my cheek before circling my tongue, sparring with me in an erotic dance I never dreamed she knew.
I moved my hips against her, and she arched her back, grinding into me. I wondered if she knew quite what she was doing. Maybe she didn’t; maybe she was just as innocent as I suspected, but damn if her body didn’t know what it wanted. And it wanted me. I thought about breaking away from the kiss, just to watch her face, but I was afraid that might distract her. That wouldn’t be a good thing, because when she moved, her center was stroking against my dick, and holy fuck, it felt good.
Growling low, I dug my fingers into her ass, just as Quinn canted her hips, changing her position enough that I was pretty sure the head of my cock, straining against denim, was hitting her clit through her jeans. She sucked in a breath, ripped her mouth away from me, and dropped her head back, pushing into me with everything she had.
“Leeeeeo.” My name was almost a wail on her lips, and then her mouth dropped open and she panted. Her hands were vices on my arms, but I didn’t care if I ended up with ten bruises in the shape of Quinn’s fingers. I’d happily carry those marks, because as I watched her expression morph from surprise to absolute, mind-blown pleasure, it was the sexiest, most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I wanted to make her come every day for the rest of our lives, just to see her face when it happened.
Eventually she sagged against me, her breathing still fast, and I held her tight.
“Mia.” I covered her cheeks with kisses. “God, Mia. That was the most incredible thing.”
She dropped her forehead onto my shoulder, burying her face into the crook of my neck. Her breath fanned over my damp skin. “I can’t believe—oh, my God, Leo. I’m so embarrassed.”
“Why would you be embarrassed?” I pulled back, gently nudging her head up. “Mia, I’m not kidding. I am so fucking turned on right now.” I managed a laugh. “Well, I was turned on before, but damn, that was hot.” I brushed her hair back so I could see her eyes. “Hey. Mia, it’s just us. You and me. When have you ever worried about doing something in front of me?”
She flushed pink, and I cupped her face in my hand. “No matter what, this is you and me, and I don’t want you to ever be embarrassed. Okay? Having you rub against me and find out what feels good was like ...” I cast my eyes up to the black and starry sky. “I don’t know the words to tell you. Better than anything I ever dreamed.” I kissed her, fast and hard, and then murmured against her lips. “And believe me, Mia, I’ve had plenty of dreams about you.” I glanced around us. “Only they don’t happen outside on a playground.”
She swallowed hard, blinking. “Oh, really? So where do we ... in your dreams, where are we?”
I pretended to think, though I knew the answers right away. “In one we were on the beach, and you were wearing that bathing suit—the one with the fringe on the boobs?”
A smile curved her lips, although I knew she was fighting it. “God, Leo. It was like two years ago when I wore that one.”
I managed a shrug. “Well, it was so sexy, it stuck in my subconscious. It tied in the back with strings, and I wanted to untie them. In my dream, I did.”
“I can’t believe you really dreamed about us on the beach.” She shook her head.
“And in my bed. The ones in my bed, those were fucking hot.” My dick swelled a little more, reminding me that even though Quinn had come, I hadn’t. If she’d been any other girl, I might’ve been tempted to ask her to give me a hand there—literally—but I had a feeling that suggesting she help me to orgasm here at the playground might be a little too much for tonight. I did my best to focus on something else.
“If you were dreaming about me ... why didn’t you do anything about it? Why didn’t youtellme, Leo?”
I blew out a sigh and loosened my hold on her, letting her body slide down mine until her feet hit the soft ground below. “Mia, I was trying to protect you. What I said before ... it’s still true. Iama mess. I’m not who I used to be, and I’m scared shitless of disappointing you. Again.”
“Again?” Her eyebrows knit together.
“Every time I don’t stand up for Nate, every time you see me hanging out with the guys on the football team, every time I flirt with a cheerleader, it’s so clear I’m disappointing you. It’s like you have this giant set of expectations for me, and when I let you down, it kills me a little. I couldn’t stand the thought of letting you get close enough to see what a fuck-up I really am.”
“You’re not.” Her voice was fierce, a patented Quinn-the-protector tone. “Leo, you just—you’re popular. I get that. And when you play football, it’s amazing what you do out there. It’s only natural that you’d be friends with all the football team and the—the cheerleaders.” She barely managed to eek out the word without making a face, and I bit back a grin. “That doesn’t make you a mess.”
“You don’t know everything about me, Mia.” I thought of the nights I’d drunk myself to oblivion and the nameless girls I’d hooked up with, not to mention the times I’d stood by, silent, when the other guys had ganged up on the less-popular, the weaker links. She wouldn’t like that. “What if you hate who I am? What if I can’t be good enough for you?”
“Why would you think you couldn’t? I’ve always loved you for who you are, Leo.” She framed my face. “Don’t you trust me?”
“With everything I have.” I skimmed my hands up her back, loving the solid warmth of her. “But I don’t know what I’d do if I let you down.”
