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Anticipation hung heavy in the air, and our breathing synchronized as we leaned closer. I could feel the warmth of his breath on my lips as our faces drew nearer. His large hand cradled the side of my face, his thumb caressing my cheek. My heart raced even faster, and I closed my eyes, savoring the seconds before our lips met.
When they did, electricity coursed through me. The sensation of Arlo’s kiss sent shivers down my spine. His strength and gentleness combined in a way that made my knees go weak. It was a kiss filled with desire and tenderness, and in that moment, I felt more of a connection than any words I could use.
This time, it was him kissing me, lingering a little longer than I had, the tip of his tongue licked at the seam of my lips. I couldn’t help matching the touch, swaying closer, and sighing as our tongues tangled lazily, as if we had nothing to hurry for. It was everything I wanted… all that I needed. He kissed me. He reached behind me, pulled the tie, and let my hair loose, carding his fingers through the curls as he tilted his head to deepen the taste. I wanted to touch him, but I was off-balance, the only thing holding me upright were my palms flat on the wall, and instead, I let him guide the embrace that I’d initiated. He tugged me closer, so I could steady myself, and I let him hold my weight as I melted into him. With one of Arlo’s hands firmly anchored in my hair, I felt the touch of the other on my shoulder, my arm, then my waist, but he didn’t pull me in to grind against me. He wasn’t taking anything, he was giving me himself, and I needed it more than air.
We parted and stared at each other. In that brief, intense moment, I’d seen the feelings I had for him reciprocated. It was a connection, and something that meant we could have more. It meant both of us taking a step into the unknown, the possibility of heartbreak if things didn’t work out. I could lose my best friend.
I could lose Arlo.
“Wow,” he murmured, and twisted some curls around his finger, burying his face in my neck and not moving.
“I thought it was just me,” I confessed in a whisper.
The silence that followed felt like an eternity, but then, a smile tugged at the corners of Arlo’s lips.
“I want this.” The world stopped as his words sank in, the heavy weight of uncertainty lifting from my shoulders.
“Please don’t date anyone else,” I urged.
He chuckled, then turned us so I had my back against the wall, and he was caging me there. He kissed me again, crowded me, slid his hands down my spine, maddeningly slow, and then, he gripped my ass and lifted me, my legs wrapped around him. He held me so strong and steady, the kisses more frantic. I could feel his cock hard against me, and I wanted that, I wantedhim. Someone groaned; me? He released me enough that he could awkwardly slip a hand into my sweats, smoothing his fingertips along my cock, and stifling my moan of want with another kiss. I tried to reach him, I wanted my hands on him, but he laughed and twisted away.
“I want to see you come,” he whispered. “Lose control. I’ve got you. I’m here.” It could have been minutes, but maybe only seconds, and I was coming into his hand, my whole weight resting between the wall and him. He thrust up against me, deepening the kisses, until he stiffened, and the kisses gentled. I’d never had a lover who held me so tight, who never let me fall, and I wanted more. I wanted him inside me. I wanted inside him. Hell, we hadn’t even had that conversation, but I was vers, and I needed to know what?—
“Why did we wait so long?” he asked, interrupting my train of thought.
“I don’t know.”
“I wasn’t going to date Winston,” he murmured.
“Wilton,” I corrected.
He chuckled. “Yeah, I mean, karaoke, am I right?”
We grinned at each other, but before I could take his hand and tug him into my room, he let me down, straightened my shirt, and held up his hand. “I need a shower.”
I smiled because I thought, maybe, he was suggestingwehad a shower, but then, he pressed a kiss to my nose.
“We’ll talk in the morning,” he said.
“Do you want to…” have a shower with me, sleep in my bed with me?
“Night, Jax,” he said with another kiss.
“Okay, night.” I felt confused, but was still riding the high of what we’d done. Arlo wanted me. I wanted Arlo. It was simple.
But he left me in the hallway, going into the spare room and shutting the door.
Hope flared in my chest that, at least, we’d talk tomorrow.
But, when I woke up in the morning with a heart full of possibilities, he was gone.
ChapterSixteen
Arlo
It’sfunny how something so perfect can turn a man into a complete coward. That kiss had been something out of a dream, the kind that lingered in your mind long after it was over. Holding Jax against the wall, supporting the weight of him, having his trust, getting my hands on him at last, and tasting his kisses. I was baffled why my brain told me I needed to leave.
Maybe it was self-preservation, maybe I saw how tired he was, maybe I’d taken advantage of a man who was kind of exhausted and messed up all at the same time.
