I giggled. “I feel like I should make a joke about you not being able to handle your liquor.”
Kale’s lip twitched. “You try drinking Bud and downing some Jack Daniels, and we’ll see how long you’re on your feet for.”
I smirked. “Ten quid says I’d be up longer than you.”
Kale licked his lips and dropped his eyes to my mouth. “I’d take that bet.”
I grinned. “Stop looking at me like you want to eat me.”
“I do want to eat you.”
My playfulness disappeared. “And how would that go exactly?”
Kale growled. “Aren’t we bold tonight?”
I smiled teasingly. “I’ve dreamt of conversations like this with you. Let’s just say I’m ready to play them out in real life.”
He bit down on his lower lip, looked down at my body and took a small step backwards. “Let me see you.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “You can see me.”
He smirked as he lifted his hand, stuck up his index finger and rotated it in a circular motion. He wanted me to twirl. I playfully shook my head, smiling as I slowly twirled in a circle, swaying my hips from side to side as I moved.
“Damn, Laney Baby,” Kale whispered in a low, husky voice.
I blinked with surprise as I watched his eyes slowly scale their way down from my face to my chest, which had finally decided to develop over the last year and a half. He licked his lips as he read the word across the front of my crop top and snorted to himself before lowering his gaze further.
“You got your belly button pierced,” he murmured, more to himself than to me, then flicked his eyes up to me and asked, “What else do you have pierced?”
I licked my lips, and heat flooded my core. “No more piercings, but . . .”
“But?” Kale prompted.
“I have a tattoo on my inner thigh,” I said in a rushed breath. “I got it a couple of months ago with Lavender, like a pre-birthday present to myself for my eighteenth next month.”
Only Lavender, and now Kale, knew about my tattoo. If it got back to my parents or brothers, they’d kick my arse, never mind what they would do if they knew what kind of tattoo I got.
Kale’s features hardened. “What did you get?”
He looked in pain.
“Just two words,” I whispered.
He moved close. “What words?”
“Taste me.”
Kale’s sharp intake of breath caused my legs to shake. “You. Are. Perfect.”
My heart thudded against my chest so hard it almost hurt. “Such a sweet talker,” I murmured.
Kale lifted his hand to my face and cupped my cheek, rubbing his thumb under my left eye. “Where’s my girl gone?” he mumbled.
I frowned. “I’m right here.”
He lightly shook his head. “No, my girl wears glasses and is terrified of other people seeing her with hardly any clothes on.”
Was terrified.
Lavender helped build my self-esteem up when she realised how shot it was. She had observed me a lot during our first few weeks of friendship, and she held off in calling me out on what she termed “hiding behind my books”. At first she thought I was just quiet, but when I let about to how Anna and Ally had made me feel about myself, she hit the roof. She blew a fuse and vowed then to always be completely honest with me, and she told me I was beautiful and that I shouldn’t hide behind the books I love so dearly because the real world was much better than fiction.
She started off by giving me small compliments every day. She repeatedly told me I had lovely penmanship and that she wished her ears and lips were like mine. Silly things that most people would overlook. Her compliments were only the beginning; she brought me on new adventures too. She was a daredevil and believed most things should be tried once, and she took me along for the wild ride. She broadened my perception of the world and myself, and eventually I became content with who I was. I wasn’t freaky or a nerd because I loved reading, and I wasn’t fat or ugly because I didn’t measure up to society’s version of beauty. Lavender made me appreciate my own beauty.
I didn’t understand what Lavender saw in me because I felt I didn’t offer anything great to our friendship, but she told me the way I cared for her was enough. She said that she noticed when I cared about someone; I treated them like one of my favourite books. I treasured and loved them. She said that was what was special about me.
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m growing up.”
“This is you growing up?” Kale asked as he continued to stroke his thumb under my eye, his eyes getting more bloodshot by the minute.
I nodded. “This is me having some fun, Kale. I wanted to come to a party and see what the fuss was all about; I’m tired of just reading about them in my books. I wanted to experience what one was really like.”
He growled, and the sound caused me to jump and lick my own lips as a thunderbolt of excitement shot up my spine.
“Dressed like that you wanted to experience a party?” he asked, maddened.
I stood my ground. “I’m eighteen next month, I can dress like this – and be with lads if I want to be.”
Kale’s breath hitched and he dropped his hand from my face. “You haven’t been with someone . . . have you?”
I felt heat spread across my cheeks. “Why do you care?”
I gasped when my back was suddenly pressed against the wall behind me, and Kale was up against me, moulding his hard body to the front of mine.
My centre began to throb.
“Have. You. Had. Sex?” Kale asked me, his eyes narrowed and non-blinking.
I was so twisted for finding him incredibly sexy when he was angry.
“What will you do if I have?” I questioned.
He placed his hands on either side of my head and said, “Rip the bastard’s dick off.”
My eyelids fluttered, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “And if I haven’t, what will you do?”
He dropped his roaring red eyes to my lips, and my heart almost came to a complete stop.
“Answer my question and I’ll show you.”
Show me. Not tell me.
“No,” I squeaked. “I haven’t had sex with anyone.”
Kale lowered his face to mine until our lips were centimetres apart.
“I’ve had a fair bit to drink,” he hiccupped. “So kick me in the balls if kissing you isn’t okay.”
I bit down on my lower lip, and the action caused him to groan as I felt him harden against me. Fuck. Shit. It was happening.
Finally.
“I’ll kick you in the balls if you don’t kiss me.”
Kale pressed his forehead against mine and said, “I don’t want to do something that will ruin things.”
“It’s too late for that,” I replied, terrified he would change his mind. “You want to kiss me, and I really want to kiss you.”
“We can’t be friends after this,” he whispered, swaying into me. “We can’t ever be just friends anymore.”
I lifted my hands and gripped onto his T-shirt. “I don’t want to just be your friend.”
He blinked. “You really want me?”
“Hell. Yes.”
His eyes lit with fire then, and he applied more pressure against my body.
“Think carefully about this,” he said firmly, groaning when I moved, causing my hip to brush over his hardened length.
Yeah, he’s hard, I thought. For me.
I swallowed. “I’ve thought about this non-stop the last couple of years.”
Kale growled. “You’re making this very hard.”
I couldn’t help but grin. “I think that’s the point.”
He looked at me, his hooded eyes filled with lust. “Last chance for you to run away from me.”
Like hell.
“I’d never run away from you.”
Kale lowered his face dangerously close to mine. “Promise?”
“I promise,” I breathed, and fisting his shirt in my hands, I pulled him towards me.
He didn’t protest; in fact, he almost glided across the room with me, but he halted and said, “The door.”
I let go of him as he scurried over to the door, turning the lock. When he turned back to face me, I started to lose my cool and become nervous. Extremely nervous. I continued to back up until the back of my legs came into contact with the bed.
“You’re sure about this?” Kale asked as he stumbled towards me.
I caught him just as he was about to trip over his own two feet.
“I’m sure, but are you?” I asked. “You’ve had a bit to drink, and I don’t want to take advantage—”
“Let me stop you right there,” he said, laughing. “You aren’t taking advantage of me, Laney Baby – trust me.”
I did, but he wasn’t exactly in his right mind, and I didn’t want this to be something that was really good tonight but turned out really bad in the morning.
“Okay,” I whispered.
Kale looked down at me and licked his lips.
“Lie back for me, sweetheart.”
Shit.
Okay, this was really fucking happening.
I sat down on the bed and lay back like he asked. I looked up at him as he knocked his knees against mine and took off his beanie hat, tossing it on the floor behind him. His hair was sticking up all over the place, which only added to the Greek god look he was rocking. He kept his inflamed eyes on me as he kicked his shoes off and began to unbutton his shirt.
Ohhhhhh, my God.
I licked my lips when the shirt left his body and floated onto the floor. I watched it fall until it was out of sight, so my eyes automatically went back to the show Kale was giving me. His hands were on his belt, and he was unbuckling it. My hands itched to do it, so I boldly sat up and covered his hands with mine in silent question as I gazed up at him.