I expected him to cheer.
To gloat.
To taunt me with my misguided and failed attempt to wiggle my way back into his life. I was ready for his relief and a swift farewell.
What I got instead was the shock of being thrown on the bed, and the surprise of having his well-built body crawling up over mine until I was completely caged in by him. He put a hand on my throat without applying any actual pressure and used his thumb to stroke along the length of my scar.
The spot on my face was mostly numb. However, I swore I could feel flames lick across my skin at his light caress.
“You aren’t going anywhere, Ollie.”
There was no mistaking that his words were a threat, and I should be very, very worried about whatever was going to happen next.
Interestingly enough, being worried wasn’t at the forefront of my mind as he hovered over me.
Huck
I recognized the look in Ollie’s eyes when she declared it was time to go.
I was intimately acquainted with that special kind of tension that tightened your entire body and made your heart hurt when the person you cared most about might be in danger. I was sure I looked the same way back in the day when I realized exactly how crazy Sawyer was and how much danger Ollie was really in. She wanted to protect me.
I wasn’t having it.
She’d pushed and pushed until I was forced to open the vault I’d locked all my affection for her in. I wasn’t about to let her disappear into the dark. I’d been there and done that myself and knew how tough it was. I knew exactly how awful things could get when you took responsibility for a tragedy that wasn’t your fault. It was a game of what-if that refused to end. It was confusion and conflict that took up more time and space than it should. It was regret that held me back and made me question important choices every step of the way toward my future. Holding onto blame that wasn’t mine meant my hands were too full to grab other opportunities that came my way. It left me feeling frustrated and angry at the person for whom I was ultimately willing to risk everything.
A few weeks ago, I would say Ollie was getting exactly what she deserved. I convinced myself that I hated her. I started painting her and Sawyer with the same brush because that ugly night was tangled up in my mind. Regardless, I wanted her far, far away from me because I knew when I looked into her chocolate-colored eyes, I would have to face the truth.
I couldn’t hate her no matter how badly I wanted to.
I braced an arm above her head and sighed at the feel of her soft hair brushing against my skin. I used my free hand to hold her face still so she couldn’t look away as I slowly started to lower my head.
I always thought I would be the winner when it came to the games she and I had played since childhood… but it seemed like I didn’t stand a chance against her.
I decided to cut off any argument she might have before it started. She kissed me out of the blue first. It was only fair I got a turn to kiss her back. After all, everything between us was about balance and a little bit of give and take, push and pull.
She gasped against my lips as they touched hers. Her hands curled into the fabric of my shirt, holding tight even though she was trying to convince me she wanted to get away a second ago. I didn’t pretend to play nice or give her any time to adjust to the sudden onslaught. Since her lips were parted, I dived in, immediately tasting every warm, wet corner of her mouth. The kiss was a little bit sloppy and totally uncoordinated. It was much more aggressive than the one we’d shared while rolling around on the floor. She’d been trying to tease and tempt me into giving her the upper hand.
I kissed her to warn her where we were going. There was no stopping. No going backward. No more looking at each other and seeing who we were. I kissed her to show her I was fully investing in who she was now. There were a lot of benefits of reconnecting now that we were older. Changing the way we spent our time in bed together was just one of them. Childish naps and innocent cuddling still had their place. But heated bodies rubbing against one another and soft gasps of surprised pleasure were so much better.
I kissed her breathless and used my teeth and tongue to make her squirm underneath me. I wanted her to have no doubt that I wanted her and that a stolen kiss was just the beginning. I no longer saw my playmate when I looked at her. I no longer thought of her as the silly, selfless girl who crushed my teenage heart when she let me go.
No. She was someone else entirely now that I knew how sweet she tasted and how eagerly and desperately she kissed me back.
I lifted my head and looked down at her. Her eyes were hooded and hidden by her long lashes. Her cheeks were flushed, making her freckles and scar stand out. Her mouth was damp and glistening. Her lips were plump and tinted red with a rush of blood. With her already wild hair spread out around her head in a thoroughly unruly halo, she looked like an entirely different girl than the one I’d been unable to forget.
Ollie sucked in a breath and looked like she was going to launch into a lecture. I put a finger over her lips and lowered my head once again. I kissed the pounding pulse point on the side of her neck and let the tip of my nose drag along the soft curve of her jawline. She wasn’t the most stunning girl I’d gotten my hands on recently, but she would always be the most memorable. Unlike those other girls, this one knew me on more than a physical or intimate level. Every single part of her was imprinted somewhere inside of me, making her shine brighter and burn hotter in all my important places than anyone who had come before her.
Plus, she’d liked me a whole lot before I’d hit puberty and transformed into someone others took a second look at. She knew me inside and out before I’d had a six-pack and tattoos. She’d been charmed by me when I was the outcast and didn’t fit in anywhere. She thought I was the best when I had nothing. She’d had my back when she couldn’t watch her own, so in my eyes, she was always going to stand above even the most beautiful face that filtered in and out of my life temporarily.
In fact, I couldn’t remember what the last girl I’d been with looked like. Her face was a hazy shadow with no definition, but even after years and years apart, I could recall Ollie exactly. And now I wanted to see the expression she made when she came apart in my hands. I wanted to know all her secrets and the sounds she made when she was ready to surrender.
Ollie’s breath came in short, sharp bursts as it brushed against the fingers I had pressed to her swollen lips. I tilted my head so I could trace the prominent lines of her collarbone with my tongue. She had freckles there as well. They dotted her skin like a sexy constellation. I couldn’t remember if she’d had them there when she was younger, but I really liked them. I followed the path they left for me as the little marks disappeared into the collar of her oversized shirt. I’d nearly grabbed her and shoved her behind me when she came barreling down the hallway half-naked. Not that I was worried about Vernon getting any ideas, but the flare of pure, possessive jealousy that hit me made me irrational. It explained why I liked seeing her in my too-big sweatpants practically as much as I liked seeing her in barely anything.
I shifted my weight so I could kiss my way across her chest. I only moved my hand when I was sure she wasn’t going to tell me to stop and come up with an excuse to run. I dragged my fingertips over the curve of her breast and the tightened peak of her nipple that was super visible through the thin material of her t-shirt. Even if she could come up with words to argue why we should stop, her body told a very different story.