Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Phoebe
Henry
What’s Rees Heaton doing?
Phoebe
It’s Reed Easton. Show him some respect.
Henry
You’re being cute again.
I looked up from my book and over the top of my Ray Bans to see Henry laid out on a lounger on the other side of the pool, where he’d been for the last hour.
Even though I couldn’t see behind his sunglasses, I knew his eyes were on me.
I didn’t think they’d been off me since he’d put distance between us as soon as the others had arrived.
He’d been texting me ever since, though, and I was in danger of exposing myself to the girls by being on my phone so much. Luckily, they’d both spent the last hour in the pool with Jace and Andy, fooling around, not paying a second of attention to either Henry or me.
Phoebe
And you’re interrupting my reading time again just as things are about to get serious.
Henry
Good serious? Or dum, dum, dum serious?
Phoebe
If you must know, he’s about to take his love’s virginity.
Henry
No wonder he’s chasing her.
Phoebe
You’re gross.
Henry
Is he good?
My smile came freely, but I managed to hold back my laughter somehow. His sudden intrigue in this book amused me.
Phoebe
He’s got the charm. If you’d let me finish reading this chapter, I’d know if he was ‘good’ in other departments, too.
Henry
Does he turn you on?
I glanced up at him again to find him smirking my way and not being at all subtle about it.
Phoebe
Are you asking me if I’m wet, Henry?
Henry
Jesus, Phoebe.
I watched as he shuffled around in place, running his hand over his mouth to compose himself. ‘Jesus, Phoebe’ was quickly becoming his go-to whenever I said something that either impressed him or took his breath away, and I’d begun to chase those two words now.
Henry
But.. are you?
Phoebe
Figure a way to find out.
Knowing nobody could see me, I lowered my sunglasses down the tip of my nose and winked at Henry the way he’d winked at me so many times already.
I hardly recognised myself. There’d never been any playful banter like this with Rob.
I never would have dared to take these risks with him for fear he’d turn around and laugh at me for even trying.
Maybe because I already knew Henry’s presence in my life was temporary, it felt easier to release a side of me I’d never really known existed before now.
Henry
I’m going to tell the guys I’m heading for a walk. Play along.
Phoebe
Now?
Henry
Now. I need to touch you in places.
Phoebe
Jesus, Henry.
No response came, but when I slyly looked up, I saw him standing and tucking his phone into his back pocket before he pushed his hands into his front ones and sauntered alongside the pool, calling out to Jace and Andy.
“Hey, dipshits!”
Andy surfaced and wiped away the water from his face as he shook out his hair. “What’s up?”
“I’m heading out for a walk. You guys need anything?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“Jace?” Henry chucked his chin. “What about you?”
“Where you headed, bro?” Jace asked as he bobbed along in the water with Rhea on his back, pretending to choke-hold him.
“Thought about heading out to check out that little tavern we saw the other night. Getting bored of this place’s BLTs and overcooked fries for lunch.”
“Nah. I’m not ready for food yet, but let us know how it is, yeah?”
Henry gave him a curt nod before he looked at me. “What about you?”
I lowered my book, making a point of looking at him like he had three heads. “What about me?”
He nodded in the general direction of the exit, as though the very effort of asking me his next question pained him. “Well, you know, since you’re sitting there on your own like another third wheel… wanna join me?”
I sat up immediately, letting my legs drop to each side of my lounger as I pressed a hand to my chest. “Henry Cohen. Are you asking me to dinner?”
“Stop it?—"
“You are, aren’t you? People will start talking. They’ll start thinking you’re a nice guy. Next thing you know, you’ll be smiling freely for all the world to see.” I spread my arms out wide, making a spectacle of this—of us.
“Forget it. I’ll go on my own,” he grumbled and started to walk away.
“Hold your horses, grumpy one,” I said on a laugh. “Since you asked so nicely, I’ll join you for a walk. Can’t promise to eat dinner with you though. You know how nauseous we make each other if we spend too much time together.”
From the corner of my eye, I caught Andy laughing, while Jace and Rhea were already lost to their own play fighting again, so I slipped on my denim cut off shorts, grabbed my bag, and I followed Henry through the complex, making sure to keep my distance.
To the others, it no doubt looked like Henry already regretted inviting me.
But the moment the two of us made it around the corner out of sight, I barely had time to draw in a breath before Henry spun me around and slammed me up against the nearest wall, making my bag slip off my shoulder and fall to the ground with a thud.
He pushed his hands into my hair with urgency before he crashed his lips against mine and kissed me like I held the oxygen he needed to keep himself alive.
We were dangerously close to being caught, which only added to the thrill as I hitched my leg over his hip and moaned into his kiss. He grabbed my thigh with one hand, then began circling his hips against me so I could feel just how hard he was for me already.
“I would fuck you right here if I could,” he panted between kisses, making it almost impossible for me to breathe.
His hand slid to my arse cheek, and he pushed it under my denim shorts to squeeze the flesh there, causing a twinge of satisfying pain to jolt through me before his fingers delved in deeper, brushing through my wet heat.
“Goddamn it,” he groaned against my mouth. “Is this for me?”
“Yes,” I gasped, ready to lose myself in whatever he felt ready to offer.
“Not that Reed guy?”
“You. Only… you. Oh, shit. Yes. Oh. Keep doing that.”
His fingers dominated my clit, commanding my body, making it bow to his every touch.
I would have let him fuck me against that wall, too, but when I heard the sound of flip flops drawing closer, we were brought back to reality far too quickly, and I somehow pushed him off me enough to catch a breath.
“Henry, stop, someone’s coming.”
“ Shit .”
It took him less than a second to step back and put some distance between us, but he turned away from the sound of whoever drew closer, no doubt to try hide his erection that stood proudly in his shorts now.
I couldn’t take my eyes off it, knowing that I, the woman he’d hated at the very start of all this, had been the one to cause such arousal.
He wiped his hand over his mouth—the one that had just been playing me like an instrument—while I stayed slumped against the wall, trying desperately to catch my breath.
But then the sound of flip flops disappeared around another corner away from us, and when Henry and I locked eyes again, it took just another second for both of us to start laughing.
“What the hell are you doing to me, woman?” he asked, still panting.
I bent down to retrieve my bag and threw it on my shoulder. “It isn’t me, Henry. It’s the forbidden. You’re a sucker for it.”
He looked at me like I was stupid.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He shook his head.
“Liar. Tell me.”
“You’re not ready to hear it yet.” I had no idea what the hell that mean, and he didn’t give me chance to ask as he glanced behind him, then reached for my hand. “Come on. Let’s get out of here and have some fun.”
I looked down at his outstretched hand, which he held out for me so casually, as though it wasn’t a big deal, or this wasn’t the first time he’d offered it.
But the expectant look on his face had me sliding my fingers through his anyway.
When I looked up at Henry again, he was smiling that smile of his that made my stomach flip without much effort.
“Don’t look so scared, angel eyes. It’s just a hand.”
“I know exactly what that hand is capable of.”
“I haven’t even got started yet.”
“What if someone sees us like this?”
“I’ll have to tell them how you’re finding it hard to keep yourself away from me. How I had to take pity on you.”
“You have it all figured out, don’t you?”
“Nah.” He strode ahead, pulling me along with him, his face tilted up to the sun. “I just figure you’re worth the risk, no matter what happens now.”