Page 76 of Love You Like This

He tilts his head and looks at me. “I can’t stop wanting you.”

“You’ve been fine for fifteen years.”

He scoffs. “I’ve been the furthest thing from fine.”

My stupid heart twinges. I think I’ve lost her to the cause. Only my brain remains on the same page.

I grab the closest item of clothing, which happens to be his shirt, and pull it on. “I’m not saying this was a mistake.” I stand up, the shirt dropping to the middle of my thighs. “It’d just be too easy for us to be found out while we’re on tour.”

“So?” He pulls me to him. “Who cares? You’re phenomenal at your job. There’s no one like you in the business.”

“I do.” My hands land on his abdomen as I tilt my head back and look up into his eyes. “I worked hard all my life and then your dad called me to take over for your last publicist. People know I’m connected to your family, and no one takes me seriously because of it.”

He frowns and shakes his head.

“When you were trying to get into Juilliard you didn’t want your dad to pull any strings, right? I specifically remember a conversation about not wanting to be seen as a nepo baby.” I search his eyes with mine. “It’s the same thing.”

His shoulders drop, and I know I’ve got him. My point hits home.

“What if we sneak around and are careful?”

“We’ve already been caught kissing.”

He scowls and runs a hand through his hair. “I hate this.”

“Think of last night as us just getting it out of our system. We cleared the air, we’ve forgiven each other. We’re good now.”

His eyes darken. One moment we’re standing talking, the next his hands have slipped behind my thighs and lifted me into his arms. I cry out in surprise, my legs wrapping around his waist as I cling to his shoulders.

My back hits the wall just as his mouth covers mine. His hands slide up my thighs until they each fill with my ass. He grinds his cock against me, the thin layer of cotton the only thing keeping him from slipping inside me. My hands glide from his shoulders up into his hair as he angles the kiss deeper.

He licks into my mouth, dragging his piercing along my tongue. I lose myself to the moment, letting him take what he needs from me. He groans when my hips grind against him.

The moment dies when his phone vibrates in his pocket. But he doesn’t put me down. He runs his nose along mine.

“I hate this,” he says. “And I need you to know one thing.” He waits until he knows he has my full attention. “I will never get you out of my system. I could spend every moment of every day buried inside you, and it would never be enough. You are all I want. You are all I’ve ever wanted. Understood?”

I nod once and drop my legs from his waist.

“When you change your mind, you know where to find me.” With those words he releases me and steps back.

I watch him walk out into the hall. My back slumps against the wall, and I press my hand to my kiss swollen lips. I’m so fucked.

Tobias drops down into the chair across from me at the hotel coffee shop where I’m getting some work done. I’ve just finished editing the video of Xander playing piano after sound check the other day. After going back and forth on whether I wanted to keep it for myself, I decided that the world needs to see his talent.

It’s a widely known fact that Stone and Xander met at Juilliard and are both excellent on many different instruments, but during acoustic sets Xander sticks to guitar. Not to mention the raspy, sexy voice that he has and doesn’t get nearly enough spotlight in my opinion.

“What’s up?” he says, tugging his baseball cap further down over his forehead.

“Just about to upload this.” I slide my phone across the table to him.

He hits play and leans over the screen. His tattooed fingers immediately tap in rhythm. A soft smile lifts the corner of his lips. He slides it back to me when the song ends.

“He’s so disgustingly talented,” he says with a full grin.

“You all are.” I set my work aside to focus on him. “How are you?”

“Living.”