AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I heaved the bags up to my apartment and freshened up to head back out to The Tap, but the vibration of my cell stopped me in my tracks. I smiled at Peyton’s pseudonym.
Blondie: Surprise.
A rustleoutside my apartment caught my attention and my heart slammed against my chest. My legs ate up the distance to the door, and I yanked it open.
“Hi.” Peyton stood there looking like sin and temptation wrapped up in a blonde and blue-eyed package. “I know we agreed to see each other tomorrow, but everyone’s out again. I was sitting in that house all alone, and—”
I grabbed her hand and pulled her inside and pushed her up against the door. “You’re here,” I breathed, running my nose along her jaw, ghosting my mouth over her soft pink lips.
“I’m here.” She grinned. “Is it okay? I mean, I didn’t know—”
“It’s more than okay.”
The fact she’d had the balls to come here unannounced after the last time… well, it was more than I deserved.
“Were you going out?” Peyton’s brow knitted as she took in my jeans and sweater. “You look…” She swallowed.
“I was heading to The Tap.”
“Oh.” Disappointment flickered in her gaze. “I didn’t—”
“Relax,” I whispered the word against the corner of her mouth. “I’d much rather be here with you.”
Her hands curled into my sweater and she inhaled a shaky breath. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Are you hungry?”
Shit. Wrong question. Her pupils dilated, heat spilling up her neck and into her cheeks.
“For food.” I nipped her jaw, unable to resist the urge to kiss her. Our mouths fitted like two pieces of a puzzle, the slide of our tongues sending a bolt of lust straight through me.
Fuck, this girl.
This beautiful brave girl.
“Xander,” she purred, clutching my sweater between trembling fingers. “I want—”
“Ssh,” I whispered, kissing away her pleas. She was right. It didn’t matter if I had her now; or tomorrow, once she turned eighteen. But it assuaged some of the deep-seated guilt I felt at even being here, kissing a girl ten years my junior.
I knew her age didn’t change the young woman inside though. It didn’t undermine what she’d been through, what she’d survived. It didn’t change the fact that she had experienced more than most adults.
But it would matter to everyone else. It would affect the way people saw us.
Saw her.
My hands slid into Peyton’s hair, and I reveled in how soft it felt against my fingers. I had imagined it splayed out on my pillow more than once. God, I wanted her. But I had to be the adult here.
I was the adult.
Forcing myself to break the kiss, I took her hand and smiled. “Come on. Let me dazzle you with my cooking skills.”
“I thought you didn’t cook?” Her brow rose with amusement.
“Ah, you got me there. But I just stocked the refrigerator. I’m sure there’s something I can rustle up.”
“Do you have eggs?” she asked, and I nodded. “Okay, you grab the pan and some oil. I’ll need a bowl and fork too.”
“Peyton, you don’t have to—”
