Page 96 of Matchmaking On The Menu

I blink up at him. “Wow,” I manage.

His mouth twitches, like he’s not entirely sure how that’s going to go. “Is that a yes or…”

“Yes,” I cut in, because holy hell...yes.

A flicker of something crosses his face. Satisfaction, maybe. Relief. “Okay,” he says. And then, softer, like it means something more than just logistics. “Okay.”

My stomach flips again. Because this doesn’t feel like the end of the date. It feels like the beginning of something I’m not entirely sure I’m ready for. I shouldn’t go. I should politely decline, tell him that I shouldn’t be getting involved when I have decisions to make. But this is just sex. People have one night stands all the time, right? Even as the thought crosses my mind, I know it’s not true. Not for me anyway. But don’t I owe it to myself to have one night of reckless fun? No responsibilities, no looming decisions. Just a good time with a gorgeous guy who seems to be going through the same thing I am.

Which, of course, means I’m absolutely going to follow him anyway.

19

TEDDY

UNFILTERED

The door barely clicks shut before I’m kissing her, and it hits me all at once, unmistakable and absolute, that something I’ve been holding back is finally breaking free. This isn’t just want. It’s not only attraction, either; it’s something deeper, something I haven’t felt in months, maybe even years.

Her mouth opens beneath mine, soft and warm, and I tighten my grip on her waist, pulling her closer. My fingers press into her, holding on, because even an inch of space between us feels wrong, like I’ve spent too long without her pressed against me already.

“Dannica.” Her name drags against my lips, thicker now, like it’s carrying more than it should. She answers with a low, breathy moan, and it goes straight to my cock, settling deep and pulling tight. My hands shift on her waist, instinct taking over, and I have to steady my breathing before I take more than she’s giving. “Tell me you want this,” I say, even though I already know what she’s going to say, already feel it in the way she leans into me instead of away, the way her hands hold on instead of letting go.

“I want this.”

That’s all it takes.

I walk her back slowly, step by step, until her spine meets the wall, the soft thud grounding the moment. My body follows, leaving just enough space for her to move if she wants to, giving her the choice, even as everything in me strains toward her. She doesn’t pull away. If anything, she presses closer, the heat of her bleeding into mine, and that, God, that does something to me.

My mouth leaves hers, dragging down her jaw, slower this time, deliberate, feeling every shift in her as I go—her throat, the pulse there quick under my lips—and I feel it immediately. The way her breath catches. The way her body reacts before she can think about it. It’s real. Unfiltered. I pause just long enough to take it in, to let it hit, because this… this is what I’ve been missing. Not the image. Not the shot.

The reaction. The connection. The truth of it.

My hand tightens slightly at her waist, like I need to hold onto something solid while everything else tilts. “You have no idea what you’re doing to me,” I say, my voice lower now, rougher, stripped of anything practiced. Just the raw edge of honesty.

I don’t rush her. I could. I want to. But for the first time in a long time, I don’t want the end of this. I don’t want to jump ahead to release. I want every second of it. I take her hand and lead her to the bedroom, slower than necessary, letting the pace settle, letting it hold.

“Dannica, I want to take your clothes off. Tell me I can.” She inhales sharply, and I tilt her chin so she meets my eyes. “It’s okay if you want to stop.”

“Oh, hell no. No. I don’t want to stop. It’s just…”

“Just?”

“Well… it’s the headline that popped into my head.”

My smile comes slow and easy. “Care to share?”

She looks at the floor and bites her lip. “Promise you won’t laugh?”

“Can’t do that. Recent experience has taught me your mind is an amusing playground.”

She shakes her head. “No, I can’t.”

“Dannica, please tell me so I can continue kissing you.”

A rush of air leaves her mouth. “You don’t play fair.”

“Nope.”