Page 5 of One Night Rebellion (Bellehaven Hotties #10)

A ddie

It’s stupid. It’s the dumbest damn thing I’ve ever done, and I’ve done plenty of dumb things. But this thing with JT feels like a boulder rolling downhill. Inevitable. Dangerous. Damaging. Unpredictable. Is any of that stopping me? Nope.

My hands are shaking a little as I lock the doors to the bar and head toward the parking lot.

He’s there, leaning back against the door of the Mustang, arms crossed over his chest, the sleeves of his T-shirt stretched tight over biceps that are beyond impressive.

It hits me then just how much he’s changed—physically.

When he was younger, JT had that typical basketball player physique.

Long, lean, definitely in shape but with no bulk.

Now, without racing up and down the court constantly, he’s filled out some—his chest and shoulders a lot broader than they used to be, and his thighs? Well, that’s dangerous territory.

“I thought you might sneak out on me,” he says as I approach.

“I thought about it,” I admit. And I had. A dozen times. And each and every time I talked myself out of it because I know that my curiosity, my need to figure out this pull between us, will not just go away.

“You wanna go for a ride?”

“Are you gonna drive fast?” I ask him.

“Do you want me to?”

“It’s a Mustang,” I reply, the “duh” in my tone unmistakable.

He just grins and opens the door for me. I sink into the seat and try not to whimper as I finally get off my feet. One day, I will not be tending bar, waiting tables, or doing any work that will require me to stand on my feet all night long in uncomfortable shoes.

“You okay?”

I glance over at him and he’s watching me with concern. “Just feels good to sit down. Been a long night.”

He nods. “Where do you want to go?”

“Willowbrook?”

At one point in time, it was supposed to be a fancy subdivision overlooking the river.

But pandemics and real estate developments don’t exactly go great together.

The developers hadn’t been able to get the materials to complete the houses and, eventually, the money ran out.

Now it’s just a series of roads flanking a bunch of empty lots.

“If my dad sees us up there—hell, if your dad sees us up there—we’re in for a world of trouble.”

“We’re adults, JT. We’re allowed to sit in a car and have a conversation,” I point out.

He puts the car in gear, the engine rumbling as he eases out of the parking lot. “Is that what we’re going to Willowbrook for? Conversation?”

God, I hope not.

—-

The car is parked at one of the end lots, looking out over the bluff.

Across the river, I can see the glow of lights from Lexington.

We haven’t said much. But then there’s not really a lot to say.

We’re both weighing, measuring, trying to figure out if what we’re about to do is going to be worth it.

But it’s a Schrodinger’s cat moment. We won’t know if it’s worth it until we actually do it, and once we do, there’s no going back.

“Addie?”

I turn to look at him. “Hmm?”

“Have you changed your mind?”

“About letting you kiss me?”

“Yeah.”

Shaking my head, I kind of laugh. “No. I’ve not changed my mind. I’m not sure my mind was ever involved in any of this… Have you changed yours?”

He doesn’t answer, but I can feel the weight of his stare.

And when he leans in, my breath catches.

This feels important. It feels like I’m standing on the edge of what could be the best thing ever or possibly the biggest mistake of my life.

But either way, I’m helpless to do anything besides just let it happen.

When he raises his hand and cups my cheek, his thumb stroking along my lower lip, I feel a shudder race through me. But then he leans in closer, his lips just a breath from mine. And it feels like static. It feels like that charge in the air just before lightning strikes.

At first, it’s just a brush of his lips against mine.

But like anything else that’s addictive, I need more.

That one little taste just isn’t enough.

So I slide my hands over his chest to his shoulders, then hook them behind his neck, holding him close.

I’ve pressed myself up against him like a cat.

And everywhere we touch, even through all the layers of our clothes, feels like a fire burning between us.

This isn’t a crush. This isn’t the childish infatuation I always felt for my brother’s best friend.

This is something I hadn’t expected, something that I don’t know what to do with.

Part of me wants to pull back from such a complication.

But there’s another part of me that wants to just fall into that chaos.

But there’s no time to really think about that, no time to stop and figure it out.

The kiss deepens, his mouth presses more firmly against mine.

His tongue glides gently along my lower lip and my whole body goes liquid with it.

JT isn’t the boy I had a crush on. Boys don’t kiss like that.

He’s a man who knows exactly what he wants. And for the moment… that’s me.

Just enjoy it while you can.

That seductive whisper in my brain just obliterates any hesitation. The kiss takes on a life of its own, morphing from one thing to the next. Soft and sweet. Hard and hungry. Demanding and powerful. It’s everything all at once. And all I can do is just hang on.

—-

It’s nearly three in the morning when I get back to my apartment. I unlock the door and slip inside, trying not to wake up my roommate. I sink down onto the couch and the reality of everything that happened just descends.

“You’re home late. The bar closed hours ago.”

I turn to the left and see Karly standing in the doorway of her bedroom. “I’m in so much trouble.”

“Money or men?”

“Man. Just one. But holy fucking hell,” I whisper.

She lifts one eyebrow at that. “Well, now I need the details. Who is this mystery man?”

“Not a mystery.” If there is one person in the entire world who knows about my enduring crush on JT, it’s Karly. “JT.”

Her jaw drops. “JT? You’ve been out till three in the morning with JT?”

“We went to Willowbrook.” That’s essentially a confession. No one goes to Willowbrook just to talk, after all.

But Karly surprises me. There’s no squealing, no gloating about fulfilling lifelong fantasies. All I’m getting from her is quiet concern.

“He can break your heart… He did before. And he never even knew it. How does this possibly work, Addie? Are you gonna tell him you’ve been in love with him for your whole fucking life?”

“I wasn’t in love with him. I had a crush on him—which is perfectly normal.

” Even as I say it, I can hear the defensiveness creeping into my voice.

It was way more than a crush. I’ve spent my whole life comparing every boy, every guy, and every man I’ve ever flirted with, talked to, or gone out with to JT.

And every time they came up short. “We’re just testing the waters…

this is… it’s different. We’re both fully grown and capable of making our own decisions. ”

Karly is quiet for a minute, just watching me with that expression that is completely unreadable. She got that from her grandfather. You never know what the hell Ranger is thinking.

After a minute, she walks toward the kitchen.

I hear the freezer door open and close, her rattling around in the drawer.

Then she’s coming back into the living room with a pint of ice cream and two spoons.

For as long as we’ve been friends, ice cream has been a big part of our problem-solving pattern.

“Are you in over your head?”

I start to deny it, but that’s a lie I can’t even tell myself. So I just nod. “Probably.”

“It’s good that you know it. But don’t you let him find out,” she insists, gesturing with her spoon. Around a mouthful of rocky road, she continues, “If there is any karma in this world, he will fall for you so fast and so hard he can’t even tell down from up.”

I take a bite of ice cream to avoid responding. I’m not that lucky. I have never been that lucky.