Page 117 of Play Dirty

Not hesitant. Not unsure.

Just— waiting.

“You don’t have to,” I said softly.

“I know,” he said.

Then he stepped forward anyway, and took my face in his hands. His thumbs brushed lightly along my jaw before he kissed me.

And everything stopped.

Not because it was softer — because it wasn’t. It was somehow deeper. He kissed me like it meant something. Like it wasn’t just happening in the moment.

Our mouths moved slowly, deliberately. Letting the heat between us linger.

When he pulled back, I felt it.

All of it.

Ares.

Grayson.

Sebastian.

All around me.

“It’s just kissing,” someone said.

It wasn’t.

Not even close.

The heat pressed in harder, as sweat poured from my skin. The guys were sweating too. Glistening. Broad chests and strong arms shining magnificently, under the heat.

“I—”

This… this was too much.

Was it?

I stepped back. The three of them, looking at me.

“I need—”

My voice broke, betraying anything I was about to say.

I took another step backward. No one stopped me. No one said anything, and that was the worst part.

They just let me go.

One hand clutched the towel around me, as my other hand found the door. I turned and left. Fast.

The heat vanished the second I stepped out. Cold rushed back in.

But it didn’t matter. I was still burning.

I barely remembered getting upstairs. My door shut behind me. I got changed, and climbed into bed without thinking.