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Nothing could have prepared me for how her lips parted when my mouth fused to hers. Kissing her was the last thing I had intended, but this wasn’t just a kiss. It was the activation of an incendiary device.
The rush of her tongue dueling with mine coupled with the rich taste of coffee and sweetness went right to my head. Her cup hit the ground and so did mine. I ignored the splash against my legs as her arms came around me. The press of her breasts through the shirt was a torment.
I fisted that braid, tugging her head back so she would open further. She matched my hunger with her own, the scrape of her nails against my scalp lighting me up.
Dimly, a sound registered. A crack of a branch or a twig. Voices in the distance. A bird song. I was drunk on the taste of her and when I finally dragged my head up, she bit my lip and scraped her teeth over it.
Nose to nose, we stared at each other, panting. The mingling of our breath was a tease. Her lips glistened, her face was flushed, and her pupils huge.
“Don’t go out with him,” I said. “Please.”
She braced her hands on my shoulders and when she tugged a little, I released her hair and then set her on her feet.
Nothing about that kiss had been expected. Not my reaction. Not hers. She touched two fingers to her lips then glanced up at me. “I’ll think about it.” Her voice came out all husky and tense, but it was so much better than a no.
“Thank you.”
“Is that all… Mr. Malone?”
Right. Back to our corners. “Quite, Miss Crosse.”
With that, she turned and walked away. The sway to her hips was there, but it wasn’t an invitation and she didn’t look back. Once she was out of sight, I tilted my head back and stared up at the sky.
Bad idea, Ramsey, I told myself. Terrible idea.
At the same time, all I could feel was the way her lips moved with mine and how fucking sweet she tasted.
Epically bad idea.
Twenty
KC
Autumn blew in with an unseasonable snowstorm that caughteveryoneoff guard. I’d slowly been working my way back up to running more regularly—except I varied the times I went out to keep Lachlan from following. I would prefer to hit the trails first thing in the morning, but he’d been lingering near the trailhead so… I switched to after classes. When he figured that out, I went back to mornings.
Thankfully, the doctor gave me the all clear. They’d been overly cautious in my opinion, but they didn’t want to risk anything. I was just glad to be freed from restrictions. The ramp up to running daily couldn’t come soon enough. The Douchebags Three were making me crazy.
Running let me put my thoughts in order. The cold air nipped at my face as I followed the trail. I hadn’t bothered with music today, I didn’t think it would get through the chatter in my head. Or maybe it was my awareness of being watched.
Because they were all watching me.
All. Of. Them.
Lachlan seemed determined to stalk me into submission. The fact he’d tracked me down at a club in Los Angeles, and then to my suite, just to kiss me confused the hell out of me. What did he want? The possessiveness wasn’t lost on me. ‘Course, his fight with RJ was like a reflection from the previous year.
I didn’t think it had anything to do with me. RJ just provoked Lachlan. Course, so did Dix. RJ being there was another issue altogether. He’d invited me out on a date, but it was for some kind of escape room thing, and that was definitely not my favorite activity. Course, the riddle invite was kind of cute.
Then there was Captain Douchebag, as Dix dubbed him. He kissed the hell out of me. Thisafterhe asked me to not date RJ. He even saidplease. I legit had no idea what to do with any of itorthem. The next time I saw him after the kiss, he acted like nothing happened.
To be frank, neither of them had apologized for the bullshit from last year. Maybe they’d forgotten, but I hadn’t. Speaking of bullshit from last year…
Where Ramsey and Lachlan made me crazy, Jonas just flat out confused me. Mostly because unlike the other two, I’d begun to like Jonas. He’d been great as a roommate. It made me nervous when he was so nice.
Unlike the previous year, he actually spoke to me rather than just stare like he wanted to know what was inside my brain. We had developed a kind of routine, and he never wandered into the bathroom when I was in there.
Weird that I found that a perk. Course, I made a point to not walk in on him either. Respecting each other’s space came easy. He picked up my favorites, I made sure to order his. At least once a week, we ordered in food and Jonas always went to get it.
I introduced him to some of my favorite reality shows. He showed me how to play a couple of his favorite video games. To be fair, I don’t think either of us liked the other’s picks, but we tried.
