Page 17 of Beautiful Trauma
“You couldn’t keep your eyes off me tonight, Ezra. You say one thing but do another, and it tears me up inside. If you don’t want me, then stop looking at me like you can’t get enough of me. If you do want me, then you should definitely do something about it.”
Pressing me against the closed bathroom stall door, Ezra leaned forward until his lips hovered close to mine. “Alcohol has made you bold tonight, Henry, and you’re playing with fire.”
“Make me burn.”
A growl signaled his surrender, and Ezra captured my mouth with a rough, possessive kiss. His tongue swept inside my mouth like it belonged there: licking, teasing, and mastering mine. I gripped his biceps for support when my knees threatened to buckle. Sensing my struggle, Ezra tightened his grip on my hips and pressed his body harder against mine, making it impossible to miss our erections straining behind our zippers.This!Why the hell were we trying to deny this?
Ezra tore his lips from mine then lowered his head, pressing his nose just below my ear. He inhaled deeply. “You smell so fucking good.” I tipped my head back against the door, exposing more of my neck to him. “I’ve never tried a lemon-flavored cocktail before, but I sure do like the way it tastes on your tongue.”
“It’s a lemon drop,” I said between gasps. “It’s the first cocktail I’ve enjoyed.”
“I could tell how much you liked them,” Ezra said, nibbling and licking a path from my jaw down to the base of my throat. “You’re not used to alcohol, and you drank the first one too fast. That’s why you were wobbly on your feet when you stood up.”
Realization started to cool my feverish brain and body. “Is that why you followed me in here? Were you afraid I was drunk? Were you worried I’d pick the first guy who walked through the door to back into a stall and fuck?”
Ezra lifted his head and stared into my eyes. “We’re not fucking, Henry.” The disappointment in his voice comforted me, and unfortunately, it also spurred me on.
“No?” I asked, pitching my hips forward and rocking my erection against his.
Ezra dropped his hands from my hips and stood back. He closed his eyes, seeking to regain his composure, or maybe he just didn’t want to look at me anymore; either way, it was what I needed to get a grip on myself. I should’ve lied and told him I was fine instead of challenging him the way I had.
The bathroom door opened, and footsteps echoed on the tile floor. “Henry, are you okay?”
How many men were going to seek me out in the bathroom and ask if I was all right? Ezra’s raised brow said he wondered the same thing.
“I’m fine,” I told Geoff. “I’ll be out in just a minute.”
Geoff had been so preoccupied with chatting up Des that he hadn’t mentioned Ezra’s presence across the dining room or how little I contributed to the conversation around me. I was pretty sure he hadn’t been aware I’d left the dining room, and I was positive he didn’t know I’d backed my professor into the stall with me. If Geoff came closer, he would’ve seen two sets of shoes through the gap between the bottom of the stall door and the bathroom floor, or he might’ve heard both of us breathing heavy. Of course, my humiliation was doing a great job of killing my boner.
“Are you sure? I wasn’t aware someone ordered you a second drink.”
“I’m not sick. I promise.”
“Okay, then. I’ll give you some privacy.”
“Thank you.”
Neither Ezra nor I said anything until the bathroom door closed behind Geoff. I had planned to leave the stall as soon as the coast was clear, but Ezra’s scowl kept me rooted to the spot.
“Is that Jessie?” Ezra whispered roughly. “Were you in here making out with me while your boyfriend flirted with the other guy?”
Setting Ezra straight would’ve been the wisest course of action, so I did. Sort of. “That’s none of your damn business, Ezra.” I had no intention of telling him who those two men were.
“It’s every bit my business, Henry. The last thing I need is to have my reputation shredded because I find myself caught up in your juvenile games. Maybe you guys have an open relationship, and I’m not judging anyone, but I’m grateful he interrupted us before I crossed the line.”
“I didn’t ask you to follow me to the bathroom to check on me, Ezra. You chose to do that on your own. You decided to dry my face like you cared and ask what had upset me. You’re the one who wanted me to elaborate, and you’re the one who kissed me.”
“And you’re perfectly innocent in all this, I assume,” Ezra said dryly. “You didn’t back me into the stall and tell me to make you burn?”
“Yes, I did those things, but you could’ve resisted me or refused to accept the challenge. You didn’t, and now you’re pissed at me.”
Ezra released a low, frustrated growl and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m not pissed at you; I’m pissed because I want you.”
My anger deflated. “Yesss.” The word hissed out of me like air leaking from a balloon.
“I can’t allow anything to come of it, Henry.”
Hurt and rejection swelled inside me until I thought I would choke on them. “I understand,” I whispered softly.