Page 15

Chapter 15

Zack

I’m too close. Too fucking close. This is the cruel game I’ve been playing all night—and I’m not the only one.

I chalk it up to the rules she set. Maybe there’s not much at risk, since this has an expiration date? No chance to get caught up?

Fuck. I don’t know.

What I do know is Emilie is a magnet, pulling me to her, which explains how I ended up in a dark hallway. Whoever she was talking to at the bar was about to follow her in and that wasn’t going to work for me.

I’m practically breathing her in—citrus and vanilla. Her eyes reflect the lights on the ceiling; they’re like dark honey with emeralds encroaching on the edges. That’s how close I am.

“What are you doing?” Her voice is breathy and shallow. I feel her swallow, my finger still underneath her chin.

I move in, my lips grazing her cheek before I whisper in her ear, “Someone was about to follow you in.” My eyes look to the side, giving her a clue.

For a second, it feels like her back arches and her hips move forward, maybe by half an inch but it feels much more than that.

Emilie darts her eyes to the guy who was at the bar, who is currently standing around like he has his dick in his hand.

He thought he was going to pop in here with her? Not tonight, my guy. Game over .

“Colton is harmless,” she murmurs in my ear as I’m dipped down, still leaning into her.

I move my face back enough to take hers in. “Old boyfriend?” I might come off as a jealous prick, and that’s really saying something for a fake boyfriend, but I don’t give a fuck.

Emilie’s body moves with a snicker. “Jealous?”

Yes.

“You didn’t answer my question,” I reply, the muscles flexing in my jaw.

Her lips pull into a lopsided smile and she sinks further back into the wall. “Not a boyfriend.” Her eyes are looking into mine like there’s an answer to something she’s been needing. “More like a fuck friend.”

Fuck friend? I didn’t expect her to say that.

“Whenever we crossed paths and were available, we’d hook up. Nothing emotional.” Her voice is matter of fact, like she’s telling me about the weather.

My dick twitches at the thought of her naked. Her skin, creamy and bare. Those perfect tits on full display. The curve of her thighs up and around her ass. I wonder what she looks like when she comes undone?

“Any other fuck friends in this bar? Boyfriends? Anyone else eager to follow you into a dark hallway?”

Emilie shakes her head no. “Well, no one besides you.” She winks, and I swear to god I can’t help the devilish laugh that escapes me. I pull my head back and shake it, desperate to get a grip.

The push and pull. The push of the fabricated nature of this whole thing but the pull of the way she looks at me, how her skin feels touching mine, the way my hands feel as if they belong on her.

“Just me, huh?” I tease, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before grazing her jaw .

Her eyes blink slowly. “Just you,” she answers, quiet enough that I can barely hear her. But I feel her lips move—that’s how close I am.

Our mouths are a sigh apart. A single shift from either of us and they’d be touching. Fuck, I want to kiss her. Maybe I should?

Her chest rises and falls, quicker than before. The result of us, like this.

“Are you going to kiss me?” Emilie asks, catching me off guard.

I almost answer her with a kiss. A resounding yes. But her eyes glance to her right, just for the briefest of seconds. I follow suit and see Colton, still awkwardly standing around.

This changes things.

I lean in, and before our lips could hit, I move my head to the side. “Here’s the thing,” I murmur, my voice low and raspy. “The first time I kiss you won’t be in front of any of your old fuck friends.” I can feel her suck in a breath. “Or when we have friends waiting for us to get back.” I tip my head into hers.

“Is that so?” she asks, her voice shaky in a way you could only hear if you were really listening for it.

“Fucking positive. You only get one first kiss, and I plan to make the most of it.” I barely know what I’m saying but I don’t know if I could ever just kiss her once, in a dark hallway.

“I’m the kind of guy who likes to take his time.”

But because I can’t help myself, my lips graze from her ear lobe down to the crook of her neck, where I plant a soft kiss.

Emilie presses into it.

And I almost give in.