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She almost,almostsmiled. “I don’t think you’d fit in the chairs.”
I tilted my head, studying her face—the arch of her dark eyebrows, her high cheekbones, and of course, her mouth. The perfect Cupid’s bow on top, the plump and pink lower lip. I itched to push her long bangs away from her eyes, tuck her hair behind her ears, and finally learn the taste of her tongue. “What time do you get off? Can I give you a ride home?”
“We close at six. I don’t need a ride.”
I searched her eyes, finding no hints as to what was going on in her head, so I tried again, grazing her elbow with my fingertips. From her slightest jolt, I knew she felt the same electricity that I did when we touched. Though she had a damn good poker face.
“Will you come golfing?”
She drew her arm out of my grasp. “I’ll pass. See you later, Jason.”
I stared after her for a moment, bemused and discouraged. “Call me if you change your mind.”
With my keys in hand, I was about to head to my car when I reversed course.Ineeded to know for sure that the tension between us wasn’t only because we were complete opposites, andsheneeded to know how I felt about her. Jogging back into the store, I caught Gemma by the waist and tugged her to me, curving my palm against her jaw and softly pressing my lips to hers. At first, she was tentative and still, but when I wrapped my arms around her, taking her weight against me, she relaxed in my hold.
She combed her hands into my hair, her fingernails scraping along my scalp, and it was a straight shot to my dick. I drifted my hand down toward her ass, pressing her against my quickly hardening length, and she let out a tiny moan as she finally parted her lips, allowing me to sweep my tongue into her mouth.
She was my new favorite flavor, and I angled to take the kiss deeper, tongue and breaths melting together. But as suddenly as she gave in was as suddenly as she backed away with a gasp.
She wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. “What the hell was that?”
Shocked at her reaction, I held my hands up. “What? I thought…” I blinked away the haze of lust to focus on the waves of ire rolling off of her. “Don’t you feel anything for me? Because…” I gestured between us with two fingers. “It’s driving me crazy.”
“So?” She hissed her words at me. “You can’t go around just kissing people. You can’t grab someone like that without asking. You can’t do whatever you want! I’d like a choice too, Jason.”
My breath whooshed out of me. “I don’t—” I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I thought you were into it.”
Squeezing her fists at her sides, she walked in a tight circle then blew out a long exhale aimed at the floor. “That’s not…” She huffed out an angry laugh. “Never mind.”
She was right. I didn’t ask if I could kiss her. It didn’t even cross my mind to. I liked her, and I thought she liked me too.
But I was so very,verywrong.
Although the fact that she couldn’t meet my eyes told me there was something more going on.
“Gemma, I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
“This isn’t the place for this conversation,” she murmured, her gaze skipping around the store, probably looking for Alex.
I chanced two steps toward her, and when she didn’t move away, I took another one so I could whisper, “Talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”
She licked her lips, shaking her head almost imperceptibly.
“I’ll leave if you want me to, but please, say something.”
At that, she shifted her focus to me, her eyes rimmed red and glassy. I waited, completely motionless, more still than I’d ever been in my life, until she spoke.
“I was at a party in college, like, third week of school. It was my first college party.” She let out a pitiful laugh and dragged her hand over her face, clearing her eyes. “I went with my roommate, Bronte, because she’d been flirting with this older guy and wanted to hang out. I don’t even really remember much at this point, except for his face.”
I closed my eyes, a pit forming in my stomach. There weren’t many ways this story could end, and I felt like I might throw up. Which made me feel even more like an asshole. If this was how I felt listening to the story, how did she feel living it?
Fuck. I wanted to punch something.
I opened my eyes to find the corner of Gemma’s lip between her teeth, her arms folded like she was cold.
“He was tall and handsome. Wavy blond hair and big arms. He looked kind of like you.”
“Jesus, tell me he didn’t…”
