Blake holds the door open for me. We walk out onto the crowded sidewalk.
With a hand on the small of my back, he leads me to the side of the building where it’s quieter.
I turn to him, my heart pounding in my chest. I’m still breathing hard from that body shot he licked off me. My skin is hot, and my entire body is buzzing.
That was my first time doing a body shot. It was also one of the hottest things I’ve ever done in my life.
I look up at Blake, feeling a strange mix of arousal and frustration.
I’m still mad at him. But I’m also crazy turned on.
I was pissed when he acted like a jerk to that other guy and made him leave.
But then I was excited. He and I have never argued like that before. Yeah, we’ve playfully argued, like when we’re trying to agree on what episode ofBrooklyn Nine-Nineto watch, but we’ve never gotten mad at each other.
I’ve never seen Blake like that. So pissed. So possessive. So bossy.
The way he ordered me to lie down and open my mouth…
The way he held my gaze as he ran his tongue over my body…
I shiver. My clit was throbbing. Thank god the music was blasting. I was a whimpering, moaning mess. I would have been so embarrassed if anyone had heard me.
And the way he sucked that lime wedge in my mouth…his lips pressed against mine…his tongue gliding over me…his hot breath scattering across my skin.
It wassodirty.
But now that’s over, and we need to talk. He needs to know exactly how I feel about what he did.
“You hurt my feelings, Blake.”
He blinks, and the sharp look in his crystal blue eyes fades. There’s a flash of pain.
“You left me. You turned me on, you gave me the most insane orgasm of my life, and then you left.” I swallow past the ache in my throat. “And when I tried to reach out to you, you blew me off. Do you know how much that sucked?”
He opens his mouth to speak, but I shake my head.
“No, let me get this out.” My eyes burn with unshed tears as the pain of his rejection hits me head-on. “I’ve been going nuts these past few days, wondering what I did wrong to drive you away. We’re best friends, Blake. We’re supposed to talk to each other about anything and everything.”
I sniffle and take a breath.Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry…
“And then you crawl into bed with me and cuddle me in the middle of the night, and I thought that maybe things were okay again. But then I woke up, and you weren’t there, and didn’t bother to text me for a whole day, but then you did, and I…”
My shoulders sink as I let out a shaky breath. “I felt like an afterthought. Like I didn’t matter. I was so confused, but…” I take a second to steady myself. “Now I realize that it was me.I’mthe reason you ran off. You regret what we did, don’t you? You don’t want to teach me sex anymore, and you don’t know how tobreak it to me, so you thought that if you just slow-faded out of my life, I’d get the message, and…”
I trail off when I register the panic in his eyes. “Briar, no. That’s not it all. None of this is your fault. It’s all me. I’m the asshole. I’m the one in the wrong. Not you.”
I stare at him, surprised.
He closes his eyes and takes a breath before looking at me, his gaze pleading.
He steps closer to me. “Briar, you matter so much to me. You’re not an afterthought. Not even close. You’re on my mind. Always.” His gaze turns fiery. “All the fucking time,” he growls.
The air is charged. It feels like an invisible electrical current is running between us.
“I don’t regret what we did. I’ve been thinking about it nonstop. I’ve been thinking aboutyounonstop.”
I stand there, stunned. “You have?”
