Page 75 of First in Line

“I did,” she concedes.

“Then come with me next month.”

She squints at me. “To the motorsport convention your team is sending you to?”

“I only have to be there for a couple of days. But we could stay a whole week. We can see a couple of shows, gamble the little money we have, spend the rest on lap dances in strip clubs…”

She pushes against my shoulder with a shocked giggle. “Jackson Reyes, what would your mom say?!”

“We can even take a day trip to see the Grand Canyon,” I continue, knowing this will win her over.

Her scowl slowly turns into a pout before she says, “I’ve always wanted to see it.”

“I know.”

“I can’t believe you’re trying to buy my forgiveness,” she says after a few beats.

“Is it working?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

I settle myself on top of her, with my hips in the cradle of her thighs. When she doesn’t fight it, I lean in to press my lips on the side of her throat. “Do you forgive me for forgetting, princess?” I rasp.

“I willmaybeforgive you when we’re in Las Vegas. Maybe.”

I chuckle. “Anything I can do to speed up the process?”

“I’m not sure. What do you have in mind?”

I tug at the strap of her nightgown and kiss the curve of her shoulder. “Well, I haven’t had my dinner yet, so I’m starved for a taste.”

“That’s a good start,” she approves. “Then what?”

“Then I was thinking I could fuck you until you forget why you’re mad at me.”

“It might take a while.”

“Oh, I’ll fuck you the whole night if that’s what it takes.”

“The whole night?” she skeptically asks.

“I’m an athlete, Evie. I can last the whole night.”

“Well, I scoop ice cream for a living, so I definitely can’t. But let’s testmylimits, shall we?”

Seeing her smile like this makes something twinge in my heart. The fact that I messed up so badly tonight, yet she’s already forgiven me, is so much more than I deserve.

“Evie, I—I really am sorry for tonight. I promise I won’t ever miss an anniversary ever again.”

She nods, but something in the way she looks at me tells me she doesn’t believe I mean it. Or that I won’t mess up again, eventually.

And for once, I’ll do my best to prove her wrong.

She’s already too good for me as it is. I need to step up my game.

Our kiss last time started slow and tender. A rediscovery of one another, of what it feels like to be alive. It got out of hand gradually, until I was knuckle-deep inside her, extracting those sweet, ecstatic moans.

This, however, is carnal, raw, and desperate from the moment my lips collide with hers. There’s nothing measured to it, not in the way my tongue breaches her lips, or the way her fingers cling to my scalp to pull me closer. For the first time since I decided to keep my hair this short, I regret not having more length to it. I know she’d tug and pull at the thick, dense curls otherwise. My own hands hold her right there, one still on her jaw, one on her ass, cradling her into me.