Page 63 of The Love Playbook

Fireworks explode inside my chest when a feral growl rumbles in the back of his throat as he kisses me even harder.

My arms fall limp at my side like noodles, and my knees grow weak. Much more, and I’ll be nothing but a puddle of Jell-O he’ll have to scoop off the floor.

Beside us someone clears their throat, but it’s as if I’m hearing it through a dream. Nothing can penetrate the headiness of this kiss or the heat of this moment. No one can stop the fire building in my chest like an inferno, or the throbbing ache of need traveling south.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I hear the sound again, only this time, Chris slows the kiss.

I should recognize this for what it is?the beginning of the end of kisses to end all kisses?but I don’t. I’m too wrapped up in the moment. Too intent on milking this for all its worth. So, when Chris pulls away, it’s like a bucket of ice water being thrown over me, startling and uncomfortable, and I blink, a whimper passing my lips I’m not proud of.

I stare at him, my pulse trying and failing to come back down to earth when I sense a presence beside me and glance over to see Brynn, grinning from ear to ear. “I was just making sure you were okay, but it looks like you’re great.” She winks, and I instantly revoke her best-friend card. “Don’t mind me. I was just leaving,” she says, and then she turns, leaving me there with cheeks burning, and my body wanting things it shouldn’t.

I glance back up at the man towering over me, even though it’s the last thing I want to do. I can’t believe I lost control. That I let him get the upper hand.

But when our eyes lock, the smug smile I’m expecting is absent. Instead, there’s a crease in his brow, a look in his eyes I can’t read, and the full lips that just wrecked my mouth are smashed into a thin line.

I open my mouth to speak, but he beats me to it, his deep baritone filling the silence. “If you’re going to spend the rest of the night talking with him, then I’m going to be right up here.” He taps a finger lightly over my temple, and I shiver. “Every. Fucking. Second.”

Desire unfurls in my stomach like a flower in bloom, and I hate myself for it.

“You’re an asshole,” I hiss, and then I turn around and leave.

Chapter 14

CHARLOTTE

Ilie back in my bed as I contemplate heading to the dining hall for breakfast when my phone rings. Reaching out, I snatch it up, answer, and press it to my ear. “Hello?”

“Well, hello there, you naughty, naughty girl,” Brynn says, and I can practically hear her grin over the line. “How’d you sleep last night?”

“Like a baby,” I lie. I slept like shit. Mostly because I kept replaying the Kiss. The one where Chris caged me in and declared war with my mouth.Notthe one that followed an hour later with Danger. That kiss paled in comparison. Sadly, Danger’s kissing skills don’t live up to his name, nor do they hold a candle to Chris’s, a fact I now know firsthand and am more than a little bitter about.

“No sex dreams about a certain blond-haired blue-eyed footballer?”

“You mean nightmares?”

Brynn’s answering chuckle tells me she’s not fooled. “Come on, Char. Even you have to admit that was the hottest kiss you’ve ever had in your life. All I had to do was follow the trail of steam coming down the hall. It led me straight to you.”

I ignore her steam comment and instead say, “It was . . . unexpected.”

Mostly because itwasthe best fucking kiss of my life.

“So, what about Danger? Do you think you’ll see him again?”

“Eh, probably not.” I sit up in bed and fling my blankets off, then head to my dresser and pull out a pair of leggings, sliding them on. I’m still wearing the hoodie Danger gave me last night when I complained about being cold. I contemplate changing it before deciding to leave it on. “He might not be the best kisser, but his hoodie is damn comfortable.”

“So the spark isn’t there?” Brynn asks.

“Nope.”

Thanks to fucking Chris and that damned kiss.

Annoyed, I place Brynn on speaker while I run a brush through my hair.

“And you’re sure there’s nothing there between you and Chris? Because the kiss I witnessed says otherwise.”

“Nothing,” I spit out as I mess with my bangs until they perfectly frame my face.

“What prompted him to kiss you anyway?”