Chapter Fourteen #2
Dinner was delicious. At least, I think it was. I was too busy replaying the last hour's events to notice the meat I was eating or the taste. I’m completely distracted. I want to go again, even though logic screams at me not to even entertain the idea.
A warm hand slides down my calf, wrapping tightly around my ankle and stilling my movements. I look up at Flynn and, surprise, surprise, he’s staring right back at me.
“Why are you anxious?” he asks softly, leaning toward me so he can speak quietly in my ear. I shake my head, a lump crawling up my throat. “You are. Your foot is bouncing like crazy, and you haven’t been able to look me in the eye since we sat down.”
“I’m fine.”
His thumb presses into my ankle, finding a pressure point and circling it. My shoulders relax and I sit back in my chair. “Did I go too far? Did you not want me to touch you?”
“No,” I say quickly. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. “I don’t know. It was a lot. We had rules.”
“Fuck the rules.”
“They were there for a reason.” I fidget with a fold in my dress, my fingers slipping over the satin. “We … This was supposed to be just business. Remember?”
“I thought I said I wanted to be friends?”
“Friends don’t do what you did to me in a corridor, at a public event,” I whisper, avoiding his gaze again. Flynn hums, dropping his grip on my ankle and standing. He holds a hand out to me, and I hesitate.
“Friends dance though, right?” Even without looking up at him, my eyes still trained on his outstretched hand, I know he’s smirking as he watches me struggle with indecision.
I slip my hand into his and roll my eyes as I get to my feet. Flynn leads me to the dance floor, my thighs rub together, and it’s another embarrassing reminder that I’m completely bare under my dress.
When we reach the middle of the small crowd of people dancing, he wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me tighter to him. I am pressed right up against his chest, and my cheeks heat as I feel my nipples harden at the friction it creates.
Fuck, one round of oral has turned me into a horny bitch.
Large fingers close around my own, and he pulls our hands to his chest, swaying us on the spot easily to the music the band plays. I take a careful look around us, but no one seems to be paying us much attention. They’re all too busy having their own conversations.
“You could at least give me my underwear back,” I murmur.
He smiles victoriously and shakes his head. “No way. They’re mine now.”
“You can’t keep them.” He could. In fact, if he does, it’ll probably be the hottest thing a guy’s ever done after a hook-up. Is it weird that I want him to refuse me? Say no and then absolutely keep them? I don’t know. Flynn confuses me.
“They’re mine.” He bends down slightly, pressing his lips to my neck as he murmurs words against my skin.
“Besides, it’s making me hard knowing you’re walking around tonight with nothing on.
I could slip my hand down”—the hand he has on my back begins to lower, fingers brushing against the top of my ass—“and just feel you. Bare. Wanting.”
My breath hitches, and I bite down on my lip as his hand curves over my ass. His fingers dig into the fabric of my dress, squeezing. I lean forward, trying to bury my face into his shoulder as I suppress a moan.
Fuck.
“Stop it.” My voice is breathless, weightless, even though I mean the command to come out strong.
“Are you turned on?” I can hear the smile in his voice. His hand slides back up and rests on the small of my back again, creating enough warmth that I feel as though he might singe a hole in the dress.
“Whatever you’re doing, it’s not funny,” I hiss as I pull back from him. His smile falls just a little, and his brows start to pull together.
“Katie,” he begins, bringing his face so close to mine, I can’t do anything but stare directly into his eyes. “I’m not sure I want to be your friend.”
My heart stops beating in my chest. My mouth goes dry, and I feel my stomach twist. Instead of asking him what he means or why, or trying to have the proper, adult conversation about why I won’t get into anything more with him, I divert and distract. “You want to be enemies instead?”
“No—”
“Because we can be enemies, but I think the fighting and the snarky comments and the hatred give the opposite message to what Hollie has been trying to achieve. And, I would win all the arguments. Obviously.”
It works, and Flynn rears back. “Why do you get to win?”
“Because I’m always right.”
“That’s so not true.”
I shrug. “These are my terms. If you’re serious and you want to be—”
Flynn cuts me off by kissing me.
Well.
That is one way to shut me up, yes.
His lips move against mine, and I sink into him. The hands that I’d hesitantly placed on his shoulders relax and start creeping toward his hair. My arms encircle his neck, and I pull him in, erasing any space between our bodies, his touching mine everywhere.
God, I love the way he kisses me.
My eyes flutter and I see, in my periphery, a flash go off. A camera flash. I jerk backward, and my head spins, trying to find the culprit. Flynn frowns, finding the guy at the same time as I do. He gives us a nod and a thumbs up, then walks off. I cringe. It was a setup.
I step back, out of Flynn’s arms.
“I think I’m ready to go.” I look around. There are still people everywhere. Dancing, sitting at tables talking, crowding the bar. I don’t even know what time it is because Flynn has my phone. “Can we go?”
“We can. If you want,” he says gently, stepping back into my space and circling me with his arms again. “But I want to finish this conversation first.”
“Why did you kiss me?” I ask.
“Because I wanted to.”
“Not because you knew there was going to be a camera and Hollie had told you that you had to?”
“Fuck no.” He lifts a hand, brushing his thumb against my lip, and then tucks a loose piece of hair behind my ear.
“I can’t be … I don’t want to be in a relationship.
” I lie through my teeth. What I should have said is that I don’t want to be in another relationship like the one I was in.
One where I had to fight for attention, and went to sleep each night alone, worrying where my partner was.
Where I forgave unforgivable things because I truly believed that’s all I deserved.
Where, after four years, I completely lost who I was, and now I’m drowning just trying to figure it out.
Flynn isn’t Grant. Deep down, I know that.
But I can’t take the risk. Maybe Italy was nothing. Maybe it was just harmless flirting. Maybe he would be different in a relationship.
I don’t want maybe, though.
I want … no, I need more.
“I—” I can see him searching my face, trying to figure out what I’m thinking, but the mask is on now. I am playing pretend again.
“But I also really liked you making me come,” I say, my voice low. My face is certainly blushing a deep red, but I hold my ground. “We can do that again, friend.”
“Like … you want to be friends with benefits?” He sounds confused, eyes still flickering over my features, but I just smile up at him.
After a beat, he seems to come to a decision, and his features relax.
The set line of his lips curls into a smile, and his eyes shine as he asks, “What are your rules?”