Page 39 of Next Time We'll Fall

Suddenly, he pulls back, and he just stares at me, his eyes wide and intense.

We’re both panting slightly.

“So, you’re telling me that meant nothing to you?” Rafe’s breath is warm against my cheek.

“What?”

“You know what.”

“Fine, I’ll give it to you. You’re a good kisser, but …”

“But what?”

“But that doesn’t mean anything. That doesn’t mean…”

“Spend the night with me,” he says softly.

“What are you talking about?” I feel like my entire body is going to explode.

“Spend the night with me. And after you spend the night with me, if you still feel nothing, then go ahead. Be on that TV show. I’ll give you my blessing.”

“I don’t know what to say,” I say. “When you say spend the night with you, what do you mean?”

He gives me an impish smile and reaches over and runs his thumb across my lower lip.

My entire body is trembling as I stare at him.

“I don’t understand what’s going on, Rafe.”

“Look, when you were eighteen, you kissed me, and I kissed you back, and I could tell you thought it meant something, and neither one of us was in a position to have it mean anything. But we’re both older now. We can make decisions that are meaningful and true. We’re both real adults now.” He stares at me like there’s something else he wants to say. Like there’s a part of him that wishes we could go back to that night. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking. “I know if you come to my bed, it’s not because of teenage hormones. It’s because …” He pauses. “Well, you know …”

“I know what?”

“It means that an adult you wants and needs me. That’s important to me. I need you so badly and I want to be with you. When I take you hard and fast, I want it to be because we both want it.” My heart pounds at his words because we both know that we both want it. Very badly. I just don’t know what happens afterwards though.

Because I know for a fact once Rafe has been inside of me, I will never be able to give myself to another man. He will ruin mefor life. His lips had already left an imprint on me. I don’t know if I’d ever be able to forget his cock.

Chapter 11

RAFE

I cannot believe I just asked Juniper if she wants to spend the night with me.

I’m not that sort of man, and I know she’s not that sort of woman, and yet I feel her slipping through my fingers. She’s never been mine. I’ve never made a play for her, but now that it’s quite obvious to me that she’s no longer happy being single, I can’t imagine her coupling up with another man.

She stares at me wordlessly as we sit there in the car.

I feel like I’m losing my mind, I feel like I’m going out of control, and I can see a million different expressions running through her mind as well because Juniper has always been transparent in the way that she thinks and feels about life. And I can tell from the expression on her face that she’s extremely taken aback.

“Did you just say what I think you just said?” she says softly, her eyes looking down at my lips and then meeting mine again.

“I think, if I’m correct, then yes.” I know my words don’t make sense, but I feel like I’m losing my mind. I feel like I don’tknow what to say because I don’t know what she’s thinking in this moment.

“Did you just ask me to have a one-night stand with you, Rafe?” Her jaw drops. “Like, seriously?”

“I wouldn’t say a one-night stand.”

“But you just asked me to spend the night with you.”