What was happening?
She didn’t want to think about it. Didn’t want to think about this feeling she had when he looked at her like that. This feeling of relief. Of security. Of protection.
So she kissed him again. Told herself she was kissing Eddie the bad boy. The one she’d sneaked peeks at in homeroom. The one she’d ogled whenever he’d played any sort of ball on all kinds of fields ever since they were twelve.
She’d made the move, and his response was instant. Now he was the one to angle his mouth and take the kiss deeper. This time it was his fingers in her hair, tipping back her head. It was his hand roving her body, kneading her, and—oh God…
She pulled away with a gasp. His fingers were cupped over her breast, where he’d been doing amazing, magical things. She cradled her hand over his and felt the thumping of her own heart.
He grazed a thumb over her peak, giving her a questioning look. “You still with me?” His gaze was quiet and intense, like he might be able to read the real her.
Yes, she realized. She was. “I’m with you. ”
He gave her his crinkle-eyed smile, and a feeling of such tenderness warmed her, but then it was heat that followed, cascading from her chest all the way down to her toes. Had she always loved his smile? Was it just that she’d been afraid of what it meant? Afraid of how it’d made her think dirty things with this bad boy?
She promised herself she’d consider all of it…later. For now, she had to kiss him just one more time. She stood on her toes, running her hands up the nape of his neck. “So kiss me already. ”
He did, but then this time he was the one to pull away first. “I thought you said slower. ”
“Whatever,” she muttered. Feeling a bit breathless, she tugged him back.
With a low, rumbling laugh, he brought his mouth down, trailing kisses along her jaw, down her neck. He was going lower, and every atom in her body wanted and feared it both.
She swallowed hard, trying to calm her body down a notch. “I can’t believe we’re making out in my high school bedroom. ”
“Another of my fantasies to check off the list. ” He kissed below her throat, dipping even lower. Her shirt had a low scoop neck, and he was grazing dangerously c
lose to the neckline.
She finally registered his words. “This was a fantasy?”
“Oh yeah. ” He roamed back up to kiss her jaw. Her cheek. Dipped in to take her mouth.
She pulled back. “What else did you fantasize about?”
His eyes sparkled. “You still got that cheerleading costume lying around?”
“Pig. ” She gave him a little shove, but there was laughter in her voice.
He laughed broadly, scooping her tightly to him. “You pushing me around like that…that might be somewhere on the list, too. ”
She froze. “Seriously?”
“No. ” His voice pitched deeper. “But this is. ”
He lifted her, and instinctively she wrapped her legs around his waist. She felt so exhilaratingly small in his arms. He carried her across the room until her back touched the wall.
She curved her body, grinding into him. She’d told him slower, but now all she could think was faster, faster, more.
He braced his hand on her purple-flowered wall, kissing her in bad-boy ways that would’ve horrified the popular girl who’d done the decorating.
There was a knock. The door creaked. Then, “Oh, jeez, sorry. Oh. ”
She unhooked her legs and swung her feet to the ground. “What the—?”
Eddie’s firm, protective hand didn’t budge from the small of her back, as Hope looked from her, to him, and back again.
“Sorry,” the woman sputtered. “I was…So sorry, Laura. I just couldn’t…”