Page 55 of Play the Last Track

Fuck.

“Stop it.” My voice is breathless, weightless, even though I mean the command to come out strong.

“Are you turned on?” I can hear the smile in his voice. His hand slides back up and rests on the small of my back again, creating enough warmth that I feel as though he might singe a hole in the dress.

“Whatever you’re doing, it’s not funny,” I hiss as I pull back from him. His smile falls just a little, and his brows start to pull together.

“Katie,” he begins, bringing his face so close to mine, I can’t do anything but stare directly into his eyes. “I’m not sure I want to be your friend.”

My heart stops beating in my chest. My mouth goes dry, and I feel my stomach twist. Instead of asking him what he means or why, or trying to have the proper, adult conversation about why Iwon’t get into anything more with him, I divert and distract. “You want to be enemies instead?”

“No—”

“Because we can be enemies, but I think the fighting and the snarky comments and the hatred give the opposite message to what Hollie has been trying to achieve. And, I would win all the arguments. Obviously.”

It works, and Flynn rears back. “Why do you get to win?”

“Because I’m always right.”

“That’s so not true.”

I shrug. “These are my terms. If you’re serious and you want to be—”

Flynn cuts me off by kissing me.

Well.

That is one way to shut me up, yes.

His lips move against mine, and I sink into him. The hands that I’d hesitantly placed on his shoulders relax and start creeping toward his hair. My arms encircle his neck, and I pull him in, erasing any space between our bodies, his touching mine everywhere.

God, I love the way he kisses me.

My eyes flutter and I see, in my periphery, a flash go off. A camera flash. I jerk backward, and my head spins, trying to find the culprit. Flynn frowns, finding the guy at the same time as I do. He gives us a nod and a thumbs up, then walks off. I cringe. It was a setup.

I step back, out of Flynn’s arms.

“I think I’m ready to go.” I look around. There are still people everywhere. Dancing, sitting at tables talking, crowding the bar. I don’t even know what time it is because Flynn has my phone. “Can we go?”

“We can. If you want,” he says gently, stepping back into my space and circling me with his arms again. “But I want to finish this conversation first.”

“Why did you kiss me?” I ask.

“Because I wanted to.”

“Not because you knew there was going to be a camera and Hollie had told you that you had to?”

“Fuck no.” He lifts a hand, brushing his thumb against my lip, and then tucks a loose piece of hair behind my ear.

“I can’t be … I don’t want to be in a relationship.” I lie through my teeth. What I should have said is that I don’t want to be in another relationship like the one I was in. One where I had to fight for attention, and went to sleep each night alone, worrying where my partner was. Where I forgave unforgivable things because I truly believed that’s all I deserved. Where, after four years, I completely lost who I was, and now I’m drowning just trying to figure it out.

Flynn isn’t Grant. Deep down, I know that.

But I can’t take the risk. Maybe Italy was nothing. Maybe it was just harmless flirting. Maybe he would be different in a relationship.

I don’t wantmaybe,though.

I want … no, I need more.