Page 11 of The Moments You Were Mine

“Seriously, Fallon, why are you here alone? Where is everyone?”

“It’s JJ’s birthday, so they’re celebrating with him,” she replied with a careless shrug that couldn’t hide a flash of hurt before she shoved it away.

“What did he do to you?” I demanded, barely leashing a raging desire to find JJ and plant a fist in his face.

Fallon’s eyes widened, but she didn’t respond. Instead, she finished my beer and almost slid off the damn stool again. I had to touch her, had to dig my fingers into skin exposed by her crop top to keep her upright, and hell if it didn’t burn all over again.

She set her hands on my shoulders, leaning forward so our mouths were mere inches apart. “He broke up with me.”

“Good.”

Stunned, she jerked back. I told myself it was relief and not disappointment that coursed through me when her hands left my body.

“What the hell, Parker?”

“Don’t act surprised. I’ve been clear about my feelings for JJ all along.”

“Jealousy doesn’t suit you,” she tossed back.

“Not jealousy, Ducky. Simple facts. He’s a loser who isn’t good enough to kiss your toes, let alone your lips.”

Her gaze dropped to my mouth, and she leaned back in, voice turning low and sultry. “Are you good enough, Parker?”

My entire body tightened. She was too beautiful for her own good. For my good. But I hadn’t become a SEAL without learning how to deny myself the things my body craved. So I used a single finger to push her back out of my space.

“Why did he break up with you?”

“I wouldn’t sleep with him.”

Shock rumbled through me. I’d blocked out thoughts of their bodies twined whenever I’d seen his hand or mouth on her. But she was twenty-one years old, and I wasn’t naïve enough to think they hadn’t done a hell of a lot more than kiss, even if it had mademe want to break his fingers every time I’d witnessed him touching her.

“If that’s why he broke up with you, then it only proves my point. He doesn’t deserve you.”

“How long have you ever gone before closing the deal with someone you were dating?” she demanded with an arched brow.

“I don’t date.”

She rolled her eyes. “Puh-lease. Don’t give me that line. What about Sabine in high school?”

“First and last official girlfriend. I told her I didn’t want anything serious, that I wouldn’t drag anyone into my SEAL career with me, but she didn’t believe me, so I broke it off before our senior year.”

She scoffed. “You’ve had sex in the thirteen years since then, shithead.”

“I didn’t say I hadn’t.”

“So, no dates. Just pick someone up”—she waved a hand around the bar—“and give them one night. One night, and then you’re out.” Her words slurred more, and I was glad I’d stopped the bartender from bringing her another shot.

I shrugged.

I wasn’t ashamed of the way I conducted myself. Sex was just another way of releasing tension. If you kept the valve clamped too tight, you exploded. And there were plenty of women who needed the same release without the tangled web of a relationship.

“Fine,” she said. “I’ll take it.”

She slid her lips onto mine before I’d processed what she intended.

A bomb went off in my head. Explosions of lust. Raw need and hunger. And below it, something worse. Something deeper. Something that shoved a club in the air, claimingMine.And for several long seconds, I deepened the kiss. Exploring. Demanding. Seeking.

Reveling in the sweet taste of her.