Page 31 of After Midnight

“Well?” She crosses her arms, her defined shoulder muscles catching the light from the city at her back. “Your turn.”

Ugh, shit.

Can’t back out now.

“If I get hurt,” I say as I push off on my board, “you’ll take care of me, right?”

Her lips pull up on one side, and she pops a hip as she watches me.

I’ve landed kickflips before, but not with consistency, and definitely not with a terrifyingly hot woman watching me. Hopefully I don’t bust my ass.

I bounce on the board a bit, softening my knees and getting my feet angled right. Then I pop the board, like Remi did, but it spins a bit too slow, and I come down crooked, one foot landing on the board while the other nearly misses, barely catching the edge. I windmill my arms, about to eat shit and prove just how terrible I am at this.

Then, somehow, I catch myself. It’s a goddamn miracle.

“Yes!” I pump both hands into the air, and behind me, Remi laughs, giving me a round of applause.

“Not bad, drummer boy,” she says as I coast back around to where she’s standing, one foot on her board, the other planted on the concrete. “The landing could use some work though.”

I stop next to her, close enough that I can see her long black eyelashes and the thin smudge of eyeliner under one eye. “You offering to teach me?”

“Mm, didn’t say that.” She reaches out then, slowly gripping the strings of my hoodie in one hand and giving them a gentle tug, making me take a step toward her. “But maybe you could convince me.”

She tips her head back, looking up at me, the city lights catching the hoops she wears in her ears as her hair slips over her shoulders. And I barely have time to react before she’s rising up onto her toes, pulling me in, and pressing her lips to mine.

I catch my breath. For a second, I think I must’ve fallen off my board and cracked my head, because there’s no way this is happening, that Remi is kissing me. I must be either dying or dead, right? Maybe my body is actually lying on the rooftop, unresponsive, and this is my version of heaven.

But then her other hand wraps around the back of my neck, and I taste lemon on her lips as she moves them against mine.

My dick twitches, and I realize that no, I’m not dead. And yes, Remi is fucking kissing me right now.

So I wrap my hands around her waist, and I kiss her back.

chapter 14

Remi

SEBASTIAN’S HANDS ARE WARM AND calloused against my skin where my tank top is pulled up, and the feel of them on my waist makes me press closer to him, wanting more. I deepen the kiss, letting my tongue glide along his bottom lip, then slip it into his mouth, where it tangles with his.

And fuck, he’s a great kisser.

His tongue plays with mine, and then he pulls away just enough to take my bottom lip between his teeth, making my breath hitch as he bites down gently. I let out a sound between a whine and a moan, and he releases my lip and smiles down at me in the dark.

Then he’s backing me up, guiding me along with him, until my low back gently bumps into the concrete barrier encircling the rooftop. He presses me against it, hands still on my waist, and regards me with those dark eyes, which look almost black in the low light.

As I look up at him, I get the feeling I’m being reckless, like he’s the sea and I just dove from a cliff and am plummeting down with no way to stop my fall, even if there are rocks and pain at the bottom. But right now, I really don’t want to. I want to crash into the sea and let it sweep me away, let it consume me.

Sebastian releases one hand from around my waist and lifts it to my cheek, where he brushes a strand of hair away, tucking it softly behind my ear.

“I’d really like to do that again,” he says, the boyish playfulness gone from his voice, replaced now by a huskiness that makes my pussy flutter with heat.

I wet my lips with my tongue. “Then do it.”

He draws a breath. The hand that was resting so gently along my cheek now wraps around the back of my neck, fingers tangling in my hair, and Sebastian crushes his lips down onto mine. He kisses me hard and fast, like we’re both drowning and can only find air in each other. My hands scrabble at his hoodie, grasping at the bulky material, gripping it and refusing to let go.

With one knee, he presses my thighs apart, and I gasp into his mouth as he brings his leg up, putting a bit of pressure right where I want it.

Holy fuck.