Page 137 of Make Me Mean It

My breath punches out against his lips.

“Theo—”

He doesn’t give me a chance.

He pulls me with him as he falls backwards, and my balance goes completely, one hand shooting out beside his head to stop myself from crushing him while the other catches at his waist.

His mouth never leaves mine.

There’s nothing slow about this kiss.

Nothing teasing.

He’s kissing me like he needs something from me, mouth desperate against mine, his hands gripping my shirt so tightly I can feel the pull of the fabric across my back.

And I give in just as fast.

My hand slides around the back of his neck, holding him to me as I kiss him harder, because this I understand.

Theo.

His mouth.

His body beneath mine.

I understand this.

“Don’t—”

The word breaks apart against my lips.

I slow, but Theo doesn't.

His hands tighten against my chest, dragging me back every time I give him even an inch, and the desperation in it makes my stomach clench.

“Don’t what?” I breathe, but he kisses me again before I can get an answer.

“Don’t go."

Everything in me stops.

Theo’s lips press back to mine, softer now, but the desperation hasn’t gone anywhere.

“Don’t go,” he says again, rougher this time, like getting it out hurts him.

I pull back enough to see him, Theo refusing to meet my gaze.

And it's there again, that thing he keeps trying to hide from me, except I can see it now.

He isn’t asking me to fuck him again.

He isn’t fucking around or trying to get under my skin.

He’s asking me to stay.

I cup his jaw, my thumb brushing lightly beneath his eye until his gaze starts to lift back towards mine.

“Okay.”