Page 46 of Double Puck

I'm laughing so hard I'm practically sliding off the counter. "You're being ridiculous."

"Ridiculous? I'm being reasonable. There's a difference."

I’m not even sure what’s happening anymore. Or why I’m laughing so hard I can barely see.

The laughter slowly fades as his voice lowers, face softening as he abandons his scowl and moves closer, his hands now braced against the counter beside me.

“So tell me, Darce,” Beck says, his voice quieter now. “Do you always date men your parents like?”

My laugh comes out thin. “That’s a very dangerous question to ask while you’re standing between my legs.”

“Well, it's true, isn't it?” Beck says, low and certain. “You've been living this life for years. You do what's expected of you. You make the right choices all the time. Don't you ever just get… bored? Like you just want to do something to see what happens?"

I glance down at him, at his stupidly perfect face tilted up toward me.

“I’ve never been allowed to think about it," I say. "Because going outside the lines… in my world… It’s not an option.”

His hands stay braced on either side of me, his body blocking me in.

“What if I gave you a choice?”

My lungs forget how air works.

“What do you mean?”

“Well… do your parents always get to decide who you date?"

“Historically, yes.”

His gaze drops from my eyes to my mouth, and my thighs press together on instinct, heat pooling low in my stomach.

“And what would happen if you chose someone they didn’t?”

My gaze drops to his mouth. “You mean someone like you?”

"Exactly."

Beck leans in, so slowly I could stop him if I wanted to.

But for some reason, tonight, I don't.

I close the gap entirely, tilting forward as his lips brush mine, soft and tentative at first, like he’s giving me a chance to change my mind.

All it does is make me crave more.

My hands grip his shirt to hold him there as he deepens the kiss with his tongue sliding across mine. It’s warm, endlessly addictive, pulling me under like the tide and leaving no room for oxygen.

He tastes like everything I didn’t know I was starving for until right now.

Beck Morrison is wild, careless, and the person I'm supposed to be removing from my life. But the more time I spend with him, the more he's also the man making me feel more free than I've ever felt before.

Chapter 8

Beck

Dr. Poppy Sinclair's office doesn't look like what I thought a therapist's office would be.

There's no leather couch, no framed diploma on the wall, and there's no box of tissues positioned at crying distance.