Page 27 of Sweet Hate (If You Dare #1)

HAVEN

I wasn’t expecting to start my day grinding into Axel’s hard cock while we dirty danced around the bakery.

This is new, but I don’t hate it.

If anything, it’s the total opposite. I probably loved it a little too much.

And , he drove out of town to buy me my favorite coffee this morning, when he literally lives right upstairs. He’s being hot, cute and thoughtful. I’m melting faster than a snowman in summer here.

If you told me last week that the grumpy fireman would be singing and dirty dancing with me today, I’d have said you need your head examined. But I love this silly side of him reappearing.

Course, I’d have probably dropped dead on the spot if you told me we’d have also had phone sex by now.

The way he sounded when he groaned out my name, so desperate. He sounded like he needed me. Just the memory has butterflies running riot inside me—well that and the way his tongue snaked out to lick coffee off the corner of his mouth.

He grins down at me, almost as if he can tell what I’m thinking.

Was an orgasm all my grumpy fireman needed to shake off his shitty attitude?

I’ll take one for the team and do it again if this is the effect it has on him.

Uhhhhh, friendzone Haven, friendzone. Nothing’s changed.

Ok, that sounds stupid. I mean, something changed.

I’ve got a photo of his cum-covered abs saved on my phone for God’s sake. Something I initiated with my own little creative photo texting. Gold star, A for effort, Haven.

So now what?

I’m supposed to be keeping things friendly and professional. Not to say that things were friendly before yesterday, but they were mostly professional.

Now, I can’t tear my eyes away from his sexy stubbled jaw while he tips it back to drink his coffee. It’s doing things to me.

I’m torn. Part of me wants to lick his abs and ride him until he makes me scream harder than he did last night, but another part of me wants to reclaim the friendship we had before sex complicated the equation and messed things up for us.

I should stay away from him and his wickedly tempting games.

I’m literally standing in the ashes of a bakery that needs me to keep myself in check and leave him to finish the job. Anything else could delay putting everything in jeopardy. The repairs are already going to be a massive drain on Grams’s finances, especially with her refusing to accept my money.

So why are his searching blue eyes pinning me to the spot?

And why is my heart racing from the look on his face right now?

I need to back away. Far away, preferably no longer within touching distance.

“Truth or dare? ”

Oh no, no, no. I know how that goes. Those words seem to have the uncanny ability to make me throw caution to the wind and go wild.

Wild is exactly what I don’t need to be right now.

“Shouldn’t we be getting to work?” I squeak out, my voice betraying my nerves as I slide my coffee onto the nearest table before my shaky hands spill it all over the floor.

“We will, but first, truth or dare?” his lips kick up in a wicked smirk that sends my heart rate soaring into the stratosphere at this point.

Dammit, no.

Don’t do it, Haven Blake.

“Dare.” I blurt it out before I can stop myself, slamming my hands over my mouth as if that will stop it after the fact.

That horse has well and truly bolted now, girl.

I’m an absolute idiot. I should have said truth . When he undoubtedly asked if I enjoyed last night, I could’ve turned around and said that it was fun before walking away. It wouldn’t be a lie, but there would be no real risk of me jumping his bones either.

We’ve all seen where dare leads.

The man is a walking, talking sexy devil just daring me to break every rule in the damn book.

He sets his own coffee down and tips my chin back up to look at him. That wicked smirk has widened into a sinful-looking grin, making him look infinitely hotter than before. No easy feat considering he’s flippin’ gorgeous on a bad day.

His thumb strokes my cheek while his smoldering eyes search mine for a beat, before his hand falls away and he says the words I both so desperately want and dread to hear.

“I dare you to kiss me.”

I stop breathing and back up a few steps, chewing my lip in silence. Axel doesn’t move, leaving the ball in my court.

Warring indecision courses through me. Horny Haven is ready to go all in, bakery be damned, but this bitch got us into trouble in the first place.

Sensible Haven knows this is a bad move. An unbelievably bad move.

I can explain yesterday's kiss easily enough. I was rescuing him from a viper in the bar, so that was a justifiable course of action.

Last night was, erm, a tiny error in judgment. A momentary lapse after a few drinks and that mind-blowing kiss. Easily done right?

Doing this today, sober, and without a phone to hide behind is wildly different.

Infinitely more dangerous.

I try to calm the butterflies warring inside me while I study him.

He’s not quite as chill as his lazy grin makes out.

On closer inspection, I can see how stiffly he’s holding himself.

His hands are in his pockets but his arms are rigid and tense, the veins visible as they snake around his forearms. There’s a nerve ticking in his jaw too, anxious energy thrumming off him in waves. All of it contradicts his casual pose.

Bollocks, in all our years of friendship, I’m not sure I remember ever seeing him even remotely nervous. Nothing phased him, ever .

There’s no way I’m going to be able to deny Axel if the dare is enough to make him react like this.

I take a step toward him, his eyes widening a fraction as he tracks my movement without so much as moving a finger.

Another step.

Am I doing this?

Risking everything for one more kiss?

One more step.

The tension bleeds from his body, his arms relaxing to his sides.

Last one .

Directly in front of him now, I grip the edges of his soft leather jacket. Standing on my tiptoes, I tilt my chin up toward him and tug, pulling him closer. He lowers his head and waits, standing practically nose to nose. He makes no move to kiss me first, neither of us seemingly breathing.

Here goes nothing.

I press my lips to his for the second time in two days, and again, sparks fly through me.

I stroke my tongue against the seam of his lips, and he immediately opens up.

His arms circle my body, one hand falling to my butt before he picks me up and straightens to his full height, my legs automatically wrapping around his waist.

He groans into my mouth, taking full control of the kiss as he strides across the room and pushes me up against the wall.

His tongue assaults mine while his hips pin me in place.

There’s no mistaking his erection pressing into me.

I stroke his stubbled jaw, before sinking my fingers into the long, dark hair on top of his head.

I grip it tight, making another growl rumble from deep inside his chest.

He bites at my lip in response, while his hand collars my neck and tightens.

Damn, I love the feel of his strong hand wrapped around my throat.

I want him to tighten it, to leave his marks there.

A moan slips out as intense need crashes through me.

I grind against his hard cock but I need more friction.

I need everything . Why the hell did I have to wear this stupid pair of pants today.

The silky material has me sliding all over his dick, but not in the satisfying way I want to be.

If he wasn’t holding me so tight, I’d probably fly off him.

We keep kissing frantically, his hips thrusting harder against me while his hand glides down my neck to slide under my top. He grazes my breast and I break our kiss on a moan.

Axel groans, his thrusts erratic, while his fingers tug at my nipple. He kisses me again, hard, stealing my breath.

“No. Not like this. We need to stop Sprinks. ”

His hand falls away, leaning his forehead against mine, as we both struggle to catch our breath.

Killing it at decision making, Haven.

Considering I’m clinging to him like a koala, with his rock hard cock pinning me to the wall, I would say dare was a really bad decision.

Or a good one, it depends which Haven you’re asking.

There’s no way of running out of here to avoid this situation now, even if I wanted to.

Although, right now, my thoughts are more on riding then running if I’m brutally honest.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that,” he grinds out staring into my eyes, his expression wild and shocked. “Haven I…shit. Well, I…” He looks adorable, his brow furrowed in frustration as he trips over his words.

“Hey, big guy, you might wanna put me down before we talk?” I stroke the white lock off his forehead and watch his eyes widen in realization before a smirk spreads across his face again.

“I don’t know, I think I like you right here.

It’s not everyday I almost come in my pants from dry humping you know.

” he chuckles, thrusting his dick against me, before easing back from the wall, still keeping me locked around his hips.

He walks to the nearest chair and kicks it away from the table before sitting down with me straddling his lap. Déjà vu hits me hard. No less than twenty-four hours later and here I am, sitting on top of his dick again.

“Haven, I feel like I’ve cocked this up already. It wasn’t my intention to almost fuck you against the wall just now, but I do want to talk about it.” Pausing, he sucks in a breath. “I’m not alone in this attraction, right?”

He tilts his head, studying my face waiting for me to respond. I mean, you’d have to be blind to not see how much I fancy the pants off him. I nod, not entirely sure where he’s going with this. Where do I want it to be going ?

“I can’t say I’ve been a saint since you left,” he swallows, a sharp pang of jealousy stabs me.

That’s not entirely what I was expecting him to lead with.

And I probably shouldn’t feel this way, I didn’t wait around either, but I don’t want the reminder of him playing hide the sausage with anyone else.

I don’t notice I’m chewing my lip until he tugs it out before continuing. “But I can safely say that no one has rocked my world like you do, Sprinks.”

Wait, what? My jaw drops open in shock but before I can respond, he continues.

“I’m not proposing a relationship—we can’t commit to that for different reasons, and that’s totally cool.

But how would you feel about maybe just hanging out?

A friends,” He lightly pecks my lips, “With,” Another peck.

“Benefits,” a third brush of his lips against mine to punctuate that word. “Situation?”

His eyes roam my face, likely assessing my reaction, but I try to keep it blank as I process his question.

Everything in me wants to yell yes, and carry on where we just left off, but I need to think rationally for a minute.

This isn’t any different from what we did before. We never labeled it, but essentially, it’s the same.

How would it end any differently?

The first time around cost me the most important person in my life. This dangerous game we’re playing now when we’ve barely even recovered a sliver of that relationship feels like an incredibly stupid idea.

No matter how much I want a repeat of last night. In person.

But the alternative is just as scary. If I say no, we’ll likely crash straight back into that weird hostile tension, or worse still—silence.

I don’t have to worry about him not finishing the bakery.

Whatever happens between us, I trust him implicitly to stand by his word.

But the atmosphere would be bloody awful.

He has no idea that I’m considering staying in Sweet Haven to take over the bakery from Grams. That’s another conversation we need to have before I agree to this.

Shit, before I agree to this?

Apparently, my mind is half made up even after listing all the cons.

He silently waits, his thumbs brushing slow circles on the bare skin at my waist, making me shiver as goosebumps break out.

Wishing I had a crystal ball, stuck between a cock and a hard place, pun absolutely intended, I want nothing more than to throw my arms around his neck and lose myself in his kisses.

But I also want my best friend back. I thought I’d made peace with coming back and Axel not having such an integral role in my life, but I don’t think I am okay with that at all.

Can we fix our friendship if we don’t muddle it with sex?

I reach up to cradle his face and trace a scar that slices through his left eyebrow. How did he get this? His eyes close as he leans into my touch, and that subtle move flays my heart wide open. Why does he have to be so cute?

He’s slowly winning me over with the three c’s. Coffee, kisses and cock. No wait, ones a K. He’s making me forget the whole damn alphabet.

I brush my other hand through his hair, pushing it off his face, and he opens his eyes, his piercing blue gaze spearing me with its intensity.

I open my mouth to say something, but words won’t come out.

Taking a deep breath, I bring my hand back down to cradle his jaw, my thumbs inadvertently stroking his cheeks. I can’t seem to stop touching him now that I feel like I have permission to.

But I’m not sure I’ll survive this blowing up a second time, no matter how casual we keep it.

I brush his lips with mine briefly just in case it’s the last time I can get this close. I drop my hands from his face, breaking his hold on my hips as I stand.

“Let me have until tomorrow to think about it?”

I should walk away. It’s the safest move. But every instinct in me screams it’s the wrong one.

I need to think about it. Be smart.

But hey, why start making smart choices now?