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No. Don’t do it.
Just as the thought stops me dead in my tracks, the doorbell rings.
Dixon looks over his shoulder like he’s expecting someone else to answer the door, then groans, “Don’t move.”
I don’t know that I could even if I wanted to.
That was the strangest interaction, and I think I’m losing my mind because I could swear he was going to kiss me. Brandon Dixon. My best friend’s older brother, who I’ve known since I was eighteen. Who I live with. Jesus Christ. I haven’t been in any kind of relationship in years, and now, it’s like every forbidden romance book ever written is falling into my lap. What the hell?
“D,” Dixon calls to me. “The door’s for you.”
I move down the hall and come to a stop when I see Max standing just inside the door. Glaring hard at Dixon, who’s doing his own glaring right back at Max. What the hell?
“Hey, Max.” I nervously smooth my hair behind my ear. The same thing Dixon just did. Both men track the movement, and I’m suddenly extremely uncomfortable. “What are you doing here?”
Max’s eyes drag over my body, and the urge to cover myself wars with the need to be touched by this man.
He pulls a small bouquet of hydrangeas from behind his back and offers them to me. “I bought the house today and wanted to say thank you for your help. I was going to ask you to go out to dinner with me.”
“She already ate dinner,” Dixon answers for me, and the look on Max’s face is less than thrilled.
I fight the urge to scowl back at my roomie. “I did eat dinner already. Dixon and I were going to watch a movie. Want to join us?”
As the words leave my mouth, Dixon walks away, clearly not thrilled at the idea of our guest. “I’m going to order pizza. Let me know if you guys want anything.”
Once he’s out of sight, Max shuts the front door behind himself and steps closer. “Why is my center here?”
“Pretty sure he’s not your center anymore. He’s your sister’s now. And this is his house. His sister is my best friend, and we moved in with Dixon after we graduated.” I take the pretty flowers from his hands and bring them to my nose. They smell heavenly. “Thank you for these. They’re lovely.”
Not satisfied with my answer, he pushes for more. “Why do you live with Brandon Dixon? I thought this was your house.”
A ridiculous laugh bubbles up. I can’t help it. “Max, I don’t know why you’d think that. This is Dix’s house. It’s the perfect house for two point five kids and a Golden Labradoodle. Why would it be my house?”
“I just assumed.” Max reaches out to take my hand, and I step into him, tipping my head back. “I’ve fucking missed you.”
The declaration is my undoing. “I’ve missed you too.”
His hands grab either side of my face and pull my lips to his, forcing me to my toes. A warm wave of want washes over me as he licks at the seam of my lips until I open and suck his tongue into my mouth. Sighing. Relieved. Wanting so much more than this kiss. My hands wrap around his waist, aching to smooth the skin under the soft t-shirt blocking me.
He pulls away and nips my chin, then whispers in my ear, “I’ve been dying to do that all week. Seeing you... being near you every day but not being allowed to touch was fucking excruciating.”
I capture his lips with mine, needing more. “I thought you just weren’t interested.” I gasp, and fist his shirt, desperate. “That we were a onetime thing.”
His fingers slide under the straps of my cami, plucking them like the strings of a guitar. “I’m interested, Daphne.”
A throat clearing makes me jump back before Dixon tells us the pizza is on its way and heads into the other room.
Heat creeps up my cheeks like I’ve just been caught in the act. I guess, in a way, I was. I look up through my lashes at the handsome man in front of me, who definitely had better things to do tonight, and bite down on my lower lip. “Wanna watch a movie?”
Cinder joins the two of us in the hall, winding herself through Max’s legs, trying to decide if he passes the test before she flicks her tail in his direction and walks away with cool indifference.
He glances down at her, then back to me. “Is that what you really want to do tonight?”
“No. But it’s what I need to do first.” I lift up onto my toes and kiss the bottom of his chin.
“Guess I’m watching a movie then.”
