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I move toward the sink, catching sight of my flushed skin and sweat-lined forehead in the mirror.

“What the fuck, River?” I whisper-hiss at my reflection.

What the fuck indeed.

I want to regret what just happened.

I don’t.

If anything, I’m counting down the seconds until I can feel her against me again. Only this time, I won’t be stopping until I’m buried so far inside of her that she doesn’t know where she ends and I begin.

I’ve known for months that Charlotte O’Malley has the ability to bring me to my knees. It’s one of the reasons I tried putting distance between us. Because I knew that if I didn’t, I was going to be in big fucking trouble. And right here, despite everything I’ve done to try to stop it, she proved just how much power she actually holds over me.

I don’t stand a chance.

I don’t think I ever did.

Chapter Four

Charlotte

River: I can’t stop thinking about that kiss, Red.

Red... It’s something he started calling me the night we met, and even though I pretend to hate it, secretly, I love it. I think more than anything, I just love that he thought enough of me to give me a nickname at all.

I glance up to find him watching me from across the room where he’s lounging casually on the couch, his legs stretched out in front of him.

I fight against the smile that tugs at my lips, my gaze darting to Lyric, who is so entranced by Kai that I could probably start singing at the top of my lungs and she wouldn’t notice. Maisie, on the other hand, who surprised us by coming with Kai, is not so easily distracted. Imagine my shock when I finally emerged from the bathroom to find her standing in the living room.

Me: Me neither.

I quickly press send, watching him glance down at his phone.

“Who are you talking to?” Maisie is quick to ask. As I said, not so easily distracted. And given that she’s sitting right next to me, there’s little I can hide from her.

“No one.” I’m careful to keep my voice low.

I don’t know what happened tonight.

It was like one second River was acting like we were complete strangers, and the next, he was pinning me to the bathroom doorand kissing me like I was the very air his lungs needed in order to stay alive.

I can still feel the effects of his touch on my body. Of his lips on mine. Of his finger pressing inside of me. The way he curled the tip... I nearly came apart. It was everything I had spent the last few months dreaming about and yet not nearly enough. I wanted so much more. I just didn’t want it with his entire family down the hall.

“Given the smile you’re fighting, I would venture to say it’s not no one.” Maisie snorts, glancing at my phone when it vibrates in my lap. “I thought you weren’t talking to Conner anymore?” She hitches a perfectly shaped brow at me.

I, of course, have River’s name as Conner in my contacts because if one of the girls happened to see a message come in on my phone, it was the only way I knew to fully sell the lie.

“It’s complicated,” I say in a hushed voice, reading the message.

River: We should talk about it.

“Complicated how? He strung you along for months and the last I heard, had ghosted you completely. Don’t tell me he texted you some half-assed apology and now everything is forgiven.”

“Wait, what’s happening?” Maisie’s inability to keep her voice down cues Lyric in on our conversation. Guess she wasn’tthatdistracted after all.

“She’s talking to Conner again,” Maisie tells Lyric like it’s some ground-breaking news.

“Since when?” Lyric sits up a little straighter.