“Steady,” he whispered, hand on my elbow as I drew my arm back, pool cue lining up with the ball. “And shoot.”
This time, I sunk the ball. I laughed a little, proud and happy and oh so aware of Lucas’s body still wrapped around mine. The noise of our surroundings washed away by the gentleness of hisbreathing at my ear as he laughed with me. And when I turned my head, he immediately pressed his mouth to mine.
I didn’t have to hesitate. One of my hands came up to rest against the side of his face, my fingers gently stroking. This kiss was softer than the ones we’d shared so far, but not any less passionate. More so even, in the way I knew that it was a precursor to what he was going to ask me.
But I loved this so much. Lucas’s kisses were addictively mind-numbing.
“Can I take that as a yes?” he asked as he pulled away, breathing ragged.
“What?” I asked, recovering my own breath and sense.
He pressed his forehead against mine. “You know what I’m talking about. Does this mean I can take it as a yes?”
Oh, that’s what he was referring to. His earlier “solution” of us keeping things quiet and exclusive. If I’d been the June Price who wasn’t willing to admit her own greed and desires, I might’ve said yes when he looked at me that way.
“No,” I answered resolutely, my hand sliding into his hair. I brushed my lips against his. “That’s not what it means at all.”
17
~
Ronan
They made a nice picture together, sitting side by side.
June said something that made Oren laugh quietly, and he leaned in just a few inches closer. Sneaky bastard. Out of everyone, he’d been the last one I would’ve expected to have been having an affair with a student. But watching them now and observing their body language, I wondered how foolish I’d been to miss it all along.
Lucas, for all his restraint and discipline, always struck me as the type of man who’d just snap one day beneath all the pressure of perfection and do something unexpectedly brazen. Even so, having sex in the varsity boathouse was so far beyond the scope of what I thought the grouch was capable of that I’d actually found myself impressed. Repression was a bitch.
But Oren was evidently the real dark horse of the group. He’d even selected the study carrel near the back section, where, unless someone was intentionally seeking the two of them out, they wouldn’t be spotted behind the heavy shelves cocooning the little gathering in secrecy.
I almost turned away and let them continue their study session in peace. But where was the fun in that?
“Good evening, you two,” I greeted, ignoring the annoyed look Oren threw my way. June was beaming at me and that was the most important detail here. “Burning the midnight oil?”
“It’s not that late,” Oren muttered.
“It’s called an idiomatic expression,” I countered, leaning over the dividing panel with an elbow resting on top. “They’re enjoyable for people with imagination. Or humor. You’ve been her new student advisor for a week and already lost them both.”
June laughed at the comment, and that sound seemed to defuse whatever brimming irritation Oren might’ve funneled into a retort. It was clear he was absolutely smitten with her. As was Lucas. Suckers, both of them.
“I was looking for you,” I announced, stating the obvious. June looked at me expectantly, and I took a moment to appreciate the look on her face as she waited. The slight widening of her eyes, the way the soft lighting emphasized the green of them. It was almost as enchanting an expression as the one I was sure she’d make when she heard the news.
“I have it on good authority that a very passionate redhead has landed a much sought-after interview with Muller & Co. after her lunch with William Johnson. And by “good authority”, I mean my contact on the board.” I couldn’t stop the smile those words brought to my face. “Congratulations, June.”
I was right. The radiant grin that lit up her expression was worth the wait. She jumped up from her seat and threw her arms around my shoulders, having to stand on the very tips of her toes to reach. The library was deserted, so I didn’t have to hold back from returning the hug. In fact, perhaps the lack of witnesses was what spurred on my own temerity because I buried my face in her neck, the floral-fresh scent of her curls filling my nostrils.
“Well, I suppose I should probably call it a night.”
Oren’s awkward near-departure caused us to break apart. Oh yes, I’d forgotten. There was indeed a witness, complicit in this foolishness as he was. But then June did something that I wouldnever have been able to predict either. She took his hand while holding onto mine.
“Don’t leave,” she said quietly. Her gaze travelled from him to me and back again, the air between us shifting under whatever it was she was planning. “I want you to stay, Oren. I want both of you to stay.”
My understanding of this proposition came from my familiarity with what June Price looked like when she was turned on. The flush in her cheeks that spread down her neck, the very specific glint of her eyes, the tension in her limbs as she gave into her desire, the way her breathing changed. Small tells, all of them.
But I had them committed to memory. I had them playing in the back of my mind even before I ever had any part of my body inside of hers. Small tells, small prizes, every one of them. Fuck it, I was just as big of a sucker as Lucas or Oren.
Speaking of Oren, it took him a little longer to figure it out, but when it did, he made it so much more obvious. Amateur.
