Page 42 of Heartsmashed
“I’m just gonna…” He leaned in, and the second his lips met mine, everything in me went completely still.
Fuck.This wasn’t part of the plan.
But God his lips were soft and warm and?—
Fuck the plan.
I kissed him back. Slow at first, my hand coming up to the nape of his neck, fingers threading into his damp hair as I pulled him to me, closing the distance he’d left between us as his hand gripped my arm like he needed something steady to hold on to.
My back hit the edge of the tub as I teased at the seam of his lips with my tongue, and when his mouth parted, I angled my head and went for it.
The second the kiss deepened, a rush of hunger shot through me, so fast and sudden that it took me off guard. I curled the hand I had on his waist around him, holding him tight against me, giving me confirmation that he was feeling this everywhere too.
He tasted so sweet, strawberry still lingering on his tongue as it swept against mine. Our breathing was uneven as the water lapped around us and we got caught up in the kiss. I moved my hand from the back of his neck to cup his jaw, angling in for a deeper taste of him. Moving slow, dragging it out because I didn’t want this to end.
Or have to think about what it meant. Or, more likely, what it didn’t.
Sawyer’s fingers trailed up my arms to my chest, making me shiver.
“Beckett…” His voice sounded more than a little wrecked, and when I pulled back just enough to look at him, my chest physically ached.
He was so damn beautiful—lips swollen and parted, his pupils huge and unfocused as he tried to catch his breath.
“Wow,” he said so quietly I almost missed it. “That was?—”
“Yeah,” I finished for him. It was rare I couldn’t reach for the words I needed, but kissing Sawyer had left my brain a little scrambled.
Interesting.
“I, um. Damn. You’re even good at that.” He let out a shaky laugh and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I should…should probably go shower. Before I…we…” He didn’t finish that sentence, only stared at me like he was trying to decide the best course of action here.
I knew what our bodies both wanted, could feel how hard he was against me.
I watched him, not stopping him, not pushing. Just letting him have the space to figure out what he wanted to do next.
He wasn’t ready. And as hot as the kiss had been, and as much as it confirmed what I already knew about my growing desire, it wasn’t the right time.
“Yeah,” I said finally. “Probably a good idea.”
Sawyer nodded, like my answer confirmed his thoughts, and let his hands fall away from me. He turned and stepped out of the hot tub, grabbed his towel, and wrapped it low around his hips before I could see the proof of his erection.
Then, for a long moment, he just stood there. Like he might say something else, or hell, like he might come back.
But then he shook his head and went inside, the door sliding shut behind him.
I sat there for a long time after he left, the water bubbling up around me and my lips still tingling from the kiss.
And all I could think was, when would it happen again?
13
SAWYER
THE SHOWER HAD not done a damn thing to stop the freak-out. If anything, it sent me spiraling even more.
If I stayed in there too long, he’d know I’d gotten myself off to him while standing under the hot spray and thinking about that hot-as-fuck kiss. I’d had to. Just to take the edge off.
Butif I had showered too quickly, there would’ve been the chance neither of us cooled off enough to stop it from happening again, and around and around we’d go.
