Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
RACHEL
My head spins when our mouths connect, and I reach up, pressing my hand to the top of my head for a moment so it doesn’t fall off like an idiot.
Thankfully, it’s still there, and I can’t believe we’re kissing.
Again. In the bathroom at the Snowline, which is a wild place to be.
But I blame it on being drunk and feeling silly.
Lightheaded and carefree and surprised that this is happening.
He is solid and warm and smells divine. Like leather and fresh air with a hint of spice.
That look in his eyes when he spoke, told me what he was going to do before he even did it.
And then saying he doesn’t want to talk at all, right before he kissed me?
The man has moves. Good ones.
I sink into his kiss, my entire body prickling with heat at that first touch of his lips on mine.
He’s not cautious when he kisses me. No, more like he’s determined.
Persuasive. He parts his lips, kissing me over and over again until my mouth opens too, and when I feel the first swipe of his tongue against mine?
The spot between my thighs throbs, my stomach fluttering. My body remembers how good it was between us, and oh God.
He lets go of my hand and slides his fingers along the side of my neck, shifting them upward until they’re in my hair.
Holding me still as he drinks from my mouth.
Our tongues tangle and our breathing accelerates, my heart racing.
The need to touch overwhelms me, and I reach for him, my hands falling onto his broad chest, marveling at the strength I feel there.
The heat. The thundering beat of his heart.
Power surges through me when I realize I did that to him. I’m the one who’s making his heart race and his skin hot.
We kiss and kiss for seconds. Minutes. It could be hours, for all I know, and when he finally ends it first, he presses his forehead against mine, his breath coming hard, his eyes closed. “How old are you?”
I pull away slightly, and his eyes open, turbulent and heated all at once. “How old are you?”
“I’ll be twenty-nine on the tenth.”
Twenty-nine. He’s not that much older than me. “Your birthday is coming up?”
He nods, his hand dropping to my waist. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Oh.” I suck in a sharp breath when his thumb roams, coming perilously close to the underside of my right breast. My entire body hums, remembering the first time we were together. “I’m twenty-two.”
“Just a baby.” His faint grimace makes me irrationally angry.
“Well, you just had your tongue in this baby’s mouth, so you probably shouldn’t complain,” I toss at him, making him chuckle.
“When you put it like that, I have to agree.” He kisses me again, pulling away before I can take it further, and I fight the disappointment that wants to wash over me. “Seriously, Rachel. My life is . . . complicated.”
He says this now? When he has his hands on me and after he just thoroughly kissed me to the point that I’m unable to think rationally? His timing is the worst.
“Mine is too.” I think of my father and how he abandoned me out here. My mother too. Everyone back home must be wondering where I am and what I’m up to.
Or do they even care?
“I have responsibilities,” he murmurs, his deep voice moving through me and settling between my legs. I could possibly come just listening to him speak in that low tone. “A daughter.”
That throbbing pulse recedes somewhat at his mentioning Dottie.
Not that I’m going to turn him away because he’s a father, but it is a bit of a damper on the moment.
I’m dying to know where her mother is, but I can’t ask him, especially right now.
I’ll dig Paige for more information later.
I decide to change the subject. “I should probably go.”
He’s frowning. “Want me to get Nate so he can drive you?”
My laughter is light. This man is drunk too. Sweet. An excellent kisser. “I mean I should probably return to New York soon. I’m sure . . .”
My voice drifts and I clamp my lips shut. To say my fears out loud makes them more real, and I don’t want to get down on myself. Not right now.
“You’re sure what?” he asks when I don’t continue speaking.
“I was going to say my friends and family probably miss me, but truthfully, I’m not so sure about that at all.
No one back home has tried to contact me since the fire.
Not even my mother. Or my best friend.” I’m not going to hold it against Scarlett that she’s busy touring with Tate, but still.
It does hurt a little that I haven’t heard from her.
Though I never got a chance to tell her about the fire either.
I bet she would’ve flown out here just to make sure I’m okay if she did know. “Maybe no one cares.”
Wyatt skims his thumb along my jawline, his gaze searching my face. “I care.”
That’s all he says before he kisses me again, and this one is more heated than the last. My hands roam all over his body, and his are roaming too.
I whimper when he tugs on my bottom lip with his teeth just before he shifts, his hot, wet mouth on my neck.
Kissing and nibbling the sensitive skin there.
I throw my head back and close my eyes, lost to the sensation of his mouth on my skin, his hand sliding along the outside of my thigh, tunneling under the skirt of my dress.
I hold my breath, waiting, anticipating where he might touch me next—
There’s a loud banging on the door, and we jerk away from each other, my heart racing for an entirely different reason.
“What the hell are you two doing in there?”
Oh God, I recognize that voice. It’s Nate. Wyatt mutters a few choice curse words under his breath, tugging my skirt back into place before he takes a step back, his hands falling away from me and leaving me feeling woefully empty and alone.
Hmm, I’m rather dramatic when I’m drunk too.
“Are you okay?” His dark eyes meet mine, and I see the concern there. My heart flips over. “Do you need a minute before I open the door and unleash holy hell on my asshole brother?”
I can barely stifle the giggle that escapes me, despite my sexual frustration and spinning head. “Unleash holy hell?”
“He’s a dick.” Wyatt grabs my hand and shifts me away from the door, giving my fingers a squeeze before he lets go of me. “You ready?”
I nod, and without hesitation he unlocks and flings open the door.
“What the fuck do you think we’re doing?” he practically roars, and I can’t help it.
I am full-blown laughing.
It doesn’t help that Nate is standing in front of the open door with a shit-eating grin on his face. Paige is hopping up and down just behind him, trying to look inside.
“Are you guys hooking up?” Paige calls.
I cover my face, trying to contain my laughter, but it’s no use. Wyatt whips his head around, and I can feel him watching me, probably confused by my reaction. I spread my fingers wider over my eyes so I can see him, nerves eating at my insides. Is he mad? He sounded furious when he yelled at Nate.
But no, he’s smiling too. Reaching for my hand, he leads me out of the bathroom, Nate stepping aside and getting out of our way. “Come on, Rach. I guess playtime is over.”
* * *
“Tell me everything,” Paige demands the moment we enter her condo and she has the door shut and locked. “I need details. All the dirty ones, please, if there are any. And I am incredibly hopeful that there are some.”
I’m blushing, my entire body flushed hot at thinking about saying what he did to me out loud. It wasn’t even that scandalous, but it feels . . . intimate, what Wyatt and I just shared. And no way can I tell her about our initial hookup. She’ll freak.
“I can’t tell you. I’m too embarrassed,” I say to her as I shoot up the stairs, heading straight for my bedroom.
“Don’t you try that with me,” she calls, chasing after me. Damn, the girl is quick. She gains on me quickly, those long legs taking her farther than mine, and I increase my speed.
Within seconds I’m barreling into my room, about to shut the door in her face, but again, she’s too fast—and surprisingly strong.
She pushes the door open with ease, barging into my room and stopping so she can stand in the middle of it with her hands on her hips.
That bandage of a skirt is still barely covering her, and I wonder how she didn’t end up doing something with Nate.
The man either isn’t interested in her at all or has the willpower of a bull.
Do bulls have willpower?
God, I think I’m still drunk.
“You don’t have to share everything with me, but I need something.
” Paige’s voice is sincere, as is the glow in her eyes.
“Do you know how frustrated I am with Nate? I have been trying to get him to see me as more than a friend for years, and you waltz into town and end up with Wyatt McKinney in a matter of weeks! So many single women who live here are going to hate you.”
Her words don’t make me feel any better. Actually, they make me feel a lot worse. “Gee, great. People in this town already consider me a complete outsider. Now they’re really not going to trust me.”
Paige blows out an aggravated breath, dropping her arms to her sides. “I’m sorry. I don’t think the single women are going to hate you, but I’m so . . . curious. Wyatt is the closest thing to Nate, and both of these men have seemed unattainable for what feels like forever.”
“I don’t know why it happened,” I admit, my voice low. “I just feel like whenever we’re together, there’s this . . . unspoken chemistry between us. He feels it too. And I guess we just acted on it.”
“Did you kiss him?”
I nod.
“Do anything else?”
I shake my head, wishing we had. A replay of what happened the first time around would’ve been fun, but I wouldn’t have wanted Nate interrupting us. Talk about embarrassing. And do we really need to hook up in a bathroom? Kissing was about as far as we should’ve taken it. “He’s really good at it.”
“What? Kissing?” Paige flops onto my bed, staring at the ceiling. “Nate is too.”
“Wait a minute.” I’m the one hopping off the bed, staring down at her, and needing all the details. “You’ve kissed Nate.”
She shifts, resting her elbows on the mattress and propping up her upper body so our gazes can meet. “Well, yeah. When we dated.”
“You dated him?” I’m in shock.
“It was a summer fling right after I graduated high school. He had to go back to college and broke up with me before he left. Nothing ever really . . . happened between us.” She swallows hard, averting her gaze.
She’s got guilt written all over her. I don’t believe her, but I’m not going to press for more info.
“And you never thought it important to mention that little fact?”
“It was so long ago. Everyone knows our lore.” Paige blows out an irritated breath.
“Well, I don’t know your lore, so those details would’ve definitely given me more insight.”
“He claimed that long-distance relationships never worked, and he didn’t plan on coming back here to live after he graduated, so I agreed with him.
That’s it.” She tosses her arms in the air.
“Then he comes back here and acts like we were never . . . anything. So I just pretended along with him, and now here we are. I’m sexually frustrated, and he’s a prick. The end.”
Misery fills Paige’s beautiful face, and I swear I see the glimmer of unshed tears in her eyes.
I immediately go to her, wrapping my arms around her so she can cry into my shoulder.
“I still care about him, and it’s making me miserable.
He told me when we went home in the Uber together that he refuses to be responsible for breaking my heart again.
He doesn’t believe he’s worthy of me, which is like . . . the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Men are clueless.” I brush her hair back, noting how perfectly soft and silky it is.
She’s so sweet. Funny. A total giver—which might be a bad trait in the long run, but still, it’s an endearing quality.
So why does Nate not want to be with her?
It doesn’t make any sense. And I’m too drunk to try to rationalize her feelings and his actions, so I do what I can manage.
Comfort my friend and tell her it’s going to be okay.