Page 91 of Just Between Us

“Ignore me. I don’t know why I said that. It’s just everything…” My words trail off as Liam slowly turns, eyes meeting mine with bruising force. But he remains completely silent. God, this night was heartbreakingly perfect and I had to go and ruin it with one tiny slip up.

After what seems like an eternity, Liam speaks. “There’s something you need to know. I told you I fucked around, right?” I nod and he continues, eyes dropping to my mouth. “What I didn’t tell you is that I had one rule. No kissing. Not once. Not since her.”

My breath catches in my throat. “Liam, please. I said igno?—”

He cuts me off by hooking an ankle around my chair, dragging me inches from him.

We’re so close, I can feel his breath on my cheek. And my heart, oh my heart, is a frantic bird, wings flapping behind my rib cage. I want to kiss Liam; to know what his lips feel like against mine. I need to know what he tastes like. There’s an art to kissing someone for the first time—finding the rhythm, learning how they move. I want to memorize these things about Liam. In Liam's eyes, there's fear, of course there's fear. But also resolve.

Kiss me, I think.

Both of his hands cradle my cheeks with such tenderness my eyes sting while his have darkened to the shade of rain-soaked leaves. The pad of one thumb brushes against my bottom lip andsomething beyond the usual five senses ignites, swallowing all the oxygen from the room. Liam’s eyes flash, and I see the exact moment he decides.

“Fuck it,” he whispers.

His lips crash against mine. The kiss isn’t tentative or gentle. It’s raw and desperate, like he’s crossed an invisible line and there’s no going back. He kisses like it’s his job, his mouth urging mine to keep up. One large hand slides into my hair while the other stays steady on my jaw. His tongue slides against mine and I forget how to breathe. I want all of this, all of him, his mouth on every inch of my skin. God, if he’s this good with my mouth, what would he be like in other places? The thought has me gripping his shoulders, grounding myself in the solidness of him.

His mouth leaves mine, and I gasp at the loss of him, while he trails that skillful tongue across my jawline until it reaches my earlobe. Shivers scatter across my whole body when his teeth latch gently to that tender skin coaxing a whimper from my throat. Liam swallows the sound with his lips back on mine.

He tugs my hair, tipping my head for a better angle, while his other hand wanders, ghosting over my breasts, lingering there, the tops of his knuckles moving back and forth until want drips through me, like a tap that’s been slowly filling over time and is now flooded, pushing waves of heat and desire through every inch of my body until I’m clenching my legs together. There is a very real chance I might combust at any moment.

Liam groans when I bite gently on his bottom lip and he breaks away to breathe, rolling his forehead against mine, both of us panting, the air between us thick and heavy.

“What was that?” I whisper, once I’ve caught my breath.

He answers by moving his mouth along mine, painstakingly slow, like he’s mapping out the curve of my lips with his. Tiny shivers run down both my arms and up my neck.

“That,” he starts, voice low and rough, “was me doing something I’ve wanted to do since the night I met you.”

PART THREE

I enterthe bar to find Josie perched on a stool. Colorful nails tap a quick staccato on the bar top while she watches the entrance as if she’s waiting for someone.

“You’re finally here!” she announces, clapping as I approach. “And I thought I was always the late one.”

Okay, I guess it’s me she’s waiting on.

“You know I don’t come here every day. How’d you know I’d show up?”

“Please.” She waves a hand. “I called Sheila to find out when to expect you.”

That tracks. Sheila knew I’d be in today. A large delivery arrived yesterday evening and there’s no way I’d let her haul all those heavy boxes alone.

The stool beside Josie scrapes against the floor as I pull it out and take a seat, angling my body to give her my full attention. “Well, here I am. What have I done to earn the pleasure of a visit from my fake older sister at”—I check the time on my phone—“seven a.m.?”

“I have a bone to pick with you.”

“Should I be scared?”

“Maybe.” Josie pulls a notebook from her purse and flips itopen with a dramatic flair. One by one, she ticks off the roles our friends will play in her wedding. When she reaches the end, she pins me with a look only Josie Thomas can achieve. The kind she probably uses on her students and apparently her friends when she wants something.

“My wedding is quickly approaching and your name is missing from this list, Liam.”

Shit. That’s right. Josie is finally getting her fairy tale ending after putting Tyler through the ringer.

“May I?” I ask, taking the list from her hand to skim each name: Penny, Austin, Abby, Jay, Tyler’s mom. Even Jackson is on the list. I look over at her, keeping my expression perfectly blank just to mess with her. “I’m not following.”

Josie’s eyes narrow and her nostrils flare. That little furrow appears between her brows that means she’s about to slip into full older sister mode. God, she’s fun to rile up. It’s like poking at a tiny bear. A tiny terrifying bear who happens to be the best pseudo-sister a guy could ask for.