Page 83 of The Has-Been

And it sure as hell isn’t passionate—or savoring, a bridge for all the time we haven’t had this.

No.

No. I’m not that kind of man.

This kiss—it is hard and hungry.

It lingers on desperation, tinged with longing…so much longing.

I continue moving my lips over hers, demanding a response. I know her own heart has to be burning with the same fire.

For a brief second, my heart jumps, thinking she’s about to push me away.

But then she kisses me back with a famine that is anything but calm—or steady. Her lips are solid and searching, like she’s desperate to find the reply she’s been looking for.

And I’m desperate to answer it.

I slow down, moving unhurriedly, savoring each movement. Her lips part as she tries to take a breath. I pull back, just enough to allow her to breathe before I’m right back—not ready to separate from her, my tongue claiming its home in her mouth.

God, she tastes like heaven—like fucking home.

My hands leave her hair, trailing down the small of her back before settling on her waist. A raspy pant chokes from her as I lift her up, her legs instinctively wrapping around me as I press her against my Jeep, careful the back of her head doesn’t thump against the glass. Aubrey deepens the kiss as I grind myself over her. She moans, breaking our kiss so she can tilt her head back as I slowly grasp the swell of her breast.

Her needy eyes glare into my own, the brown of her eyes darkening even in the daylight.

She reaches out a hand, pressing her palm firmly against my chest, as if she wants to feel my every groove through the fabric of my shirt. Her touch trails lower and lower, until it’s toying with the buckle of my jeans, then lower still. My heart beats frantically in my chest, and I’m seriously worried I might come in my pants if she continues touching and toying with me. I’m that starved for her touch.

Just as she’s about to trace her thin fingers over the outline of my erection⁠—

A car horn blows.

I flinch, dropping Aubrey carefully to her feet as I suddenly remember we are in the middle of a parking lot.

When I find Aubrey’s eyes again, I wish I could stay in this moment. Take a photograph and return to it whenever I want.

Something permanent, something frozen in time. So that I might never lose it.

I lean forward, knowing this is the actual test to see if the passion-stricken need has surpassed, now that she’s had a chance to second-guess everything.

But she doesn’t move.

And this kiss—it is slow, thoughtful.

I brush my lips over hers once, twice, the heat returning, and I have to force myself to pull away.

“Liam?” she questions as I lean away.

“Can we order another burger?” She says, skipping from my Jeep and heading back inside the restaurant. I stand outside of my car for a few more seconds until she looks back, waving me back inside.

I can’t remember the last time I smiled so widely. Can’t remember the last time I craved something other than her.

Aubrey Vaughn is my true addiction, the vice I cannot sedate.

The sobriety I just broke.

I follow her in. Admittedly, I would follow her anywhere, even back to another heartbreak.

But I fear that is what’s waiting for me at the end of this road. Aubrey Vaughn is still keeping me at arm’s length.