Page 29 of As a Last Resort

I splashed cold water on my face and looked at myself in the mirror.

I was a little pale. I didn’t even mind seeing Tom and Vanessa so much, although seeing them walk through the front door tilted my reality a degree.

What bothered me were the assumptions I was still pining away and distraught over something that happened so long ago.

I wouldn’t deny it was a tragic story—my best friend for over eighteen years walking in with the woman who I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with—but people move on. I had.

Looking in the mirror, the conversations came crashing back and played over in my head.

It just happened… We didn’t mean to hurt you…

We never meant for it to happen like this…

Dude, you know I would never betray you like this if she weren’t the one…

The excuses went on and on until I was the bad guy standing in the way of soulmates.

Because God forbid I be pissed that my best friend swooped in and stole the future mother of my children.

That he used every argument or discussion that I told him about as ammunition to get on her good side.

Every preference I told him he used to his advantage and swept her off her feet.

Unintentionally, of course.

I took a swig from the sink. I walked out a minute later and leaned up next to the women’s restroom door.

“Earth to Austin. Didn’t you hear me?” Sam stood in front of me. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” She placed the back of her hand on my forehead. Her skin was warm and her breath smelled like cherries.

“Kind of accurate.”

“Maybe you should do a shot of J?ger,” she whispered as she leaned in and cupped my face.

I couldn’t help but laugh at how intense she was, like she had just found the cure to cancer.

She was more vibrant tonight than I’d ever seen her and it was quite entertaining.

Probably had nothing to do with her being four vodka tonics deep.

“No one does shots of J?ger anymore,” I whispered back.

“Well, don’t look now, but there’s a lady friend staring daggers at you at the moment.”

“Does she have black hair? Small frame?”

“Affirmative.”

“We’ve been spotted. We really should go. I’ll explain later.” I grabbed her hand and turned her toward the back door.

“Weirdo stalker?”

“Ex-fiancée.” I tried to pull her down the hallway but she pulled back.

“Wait, that’s Vanessa? I didn’t even recognize her.” She paused. “She’s with Tom McCormick.”

“Yep.”

She stopped in her tracks and her eyes went wide. “Wasn’t that your best friend from high school?”

“The one and only.”

I watched the realization dawn over her face, replaced by disbelief and anger. “You’re kidding me.”

“I wish I was.”

“What a piece of crap,” she spat out.

“Which one?”

“Both.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” I answered.

“Huh.” She glanced back to them, then turned to face me with a wickedly playful smile. She grabbed me by my shirt and pulled me to her with her back against the wall. She snuggled close to me and I felt her head tilt up.

I swallowed. “What are you doing?”

“Making her even more jealous,” she whispered into my neck. Her lips felt like a branding iron on my skin. It took everything I had to remain standing up straight instead of melting into a puddle on the floor.

“I don’t think she does the jealous thing.”

“Oh, trust me. Every girl does the jealous thing.”

I cleared my throat. “Trust me , she couldn’t care less.” I braced my hand on the wall behind her head to keep myself from being flush against her.

“The way her eyes are lasering through your back at the moment, I’d beg to differ.”

A shiver shot through my body. Were those teeth on my ear? Good God.

“What are you doing?”

“You already asked me that.”

“Right.”

She chuckled softly and I felt it shoot down my legs.

“I’m telling you this isn’t going to—”

“Shhhh.”

Did she just shush me?

Her lips found their way to mine, brushing just the corner of my mouth. A riot of sensations rocketed through me, a confusing mix of excitement and shock and God, why is it so hot in here?

It had been a really long time since I let anyone this physically close to me. I forgot how warm another human body could be, how soft, and how it could perfectly lean into all those places my body was built for.

“Kiss me,” she breathed into my mouth.

My anxiety flared. I didn’t just go around kissing people to make other people jealous.

That isn’t the kind of guy I am. My eyes dropped to her lips, and I caught her tongue wetting the corner of her mouth.

I didn’t want to kiss her to make anyone jealous.

I wanted to kiss her because if I didn’t, I might break apart into a thousand pieces.

She was sexy. Sexy, and funny, and bossy, and had become such a beautiful pain in my ass.

Apparently, I was taking too long with the conversation in my head because the next thing I knew, her lips were on mine. They were soft and smelled fruity. I stared at her with wide eyes as she pressed her mouth to mine. And I was a statue. Nothing moved—not my lips, not my hands.

I had forgotten how to kiss.

But I couldn’t kiss her back. She didn’t want to kiss me, she was just doing this to make Vanessa jealous and I couldn’t bring myself to play the game. She pulled back, and her eyes dropped to my lips, and her mouth curved up on one side.

Then she bit me.