Chapter 14 Austin #2
Hayes’s noncommittal hum wedged in my chest. That man may have the shittiest luck alive, but it didn’t take luck to see what I was barely hiding.
I was a fucking wreck over his sister. Ever since hide-and-seek in the yard, I couldn’t stop thinking about her—us hiding behind the carriage house together. Her breath shallow. Her mouth so fucking close.
I took a pull from the bottle, swallowing around the ache that had lodged deep in my throat and hadn’t budged in weeks.
Hayes kicked at a pebble with the toe of his cleat. “What ever happened to that girl you were seeing—the one from Muskegon?”
A laugh cracked out of my chest, a bit too loud and way too fast. “That really wasn’t anything. It fizzled fast.”
It was months ago and had fizzled because she wasn’t Selene. All because I’d met a stranger in a shitty jazz bar and had the best sex of my life. No woman measured up, and, frankly, I wasn’t all that bothered by that.
No. Selene was the only woman to leave me pacing the other side of a wall while she soaked in the tub with a book, and the sound of her sighing behind the door drove me half insane.
“Man,” Brody muttered, smirking, “you are fucking done for, kid.”
My scowl sliced in his direction. “Shut up.”
But they all knew.
A chorus of laughter rumbled through the group. I leaned back and closed my eyes, letting the breeze cut through the heat still clinging to my skin. The sun was behind the trees now, but the sky held on to that early autumn bruise-blue tint.
I had played a lot of games in my life and taken a lot of hits, but this felt like standing still and getting wrecked anyway.
When I opened my eyes, Hayes was watching me. Not judging, just . . . assessing.
“She looks at you differently, you know,” he said simply. “They both do.” Hayes stood, stretching his back before clamping a hand on my shoulder. “Just don’t fuck it up.”
My jaw clenched. I didn’t answer, because I knew the truth. She did look at me differently, and I looked at her like I couldn’t stop.
I told myself I was just swinging by to grab my hoodie—the one Winnie had claimed and Selene had threatened to donate if I didn’t take it home.
It was an excuse. One even I barely believed.
The house was quiet when I pulled up. The porch light was on, just like always, but there was no TV glow through the window. It was surprising how quiet it was without Winnie’s voice tumbling through the screen door in a swirl of questions and glitter.
It was late. Her bedtime had come and gone, and because of that, I didn’t want to knock too loud. I wasn’t here to cause a scene or to wake up a sleeping kid who thought I hung the damn moon.
I knocked softly and waited. When there was no answer, my ears strained to hear anything coming from inside the duplex, but it was quiet.
I slowly cracked the door open and peeked inside, voice low. “Selene?”
No reply.
Then I could hear her. Faint movement toward the rear of the house. I knew the layout like the back of my hand—how the floor creaked just before the hallway turned, where the overhead light hummed near the laundry nook, the way the kitchen curtains fluttered with the slightest breeze.
I stepped inside quietly, closing the door behind me.
My shoes thudded softly against the rug.
The kitchen was dim with just the stove light on.
A pan from dinner still rested beside the sink.
It smelled faintly of tomato and basil. Something sweeter clung to the air—her shampoo, maybe, or the dryer sheets she liked.
The tumble of the dryer led me to her.
Selene was barefoot, wearing soft shorts and an old college tee that clung to her back in places and stretched loose in the neckline.
Her hair was up, but barely—half undone in that way that made me ache.
She had earbuds in, swaying slightly to music I couldn’t hear.
Her hands moved with practiced rhythm as she folded a towel and dropped it into the basket.
I froze and stared for a heartbeat. Maybe longer.
The sight of her like that—unaware, relaxed, truly at home in her skin—hit me square in the chest. There was nothing performative there, just Selene, warm and wild and so fucking beautiful it almost hurt.
She turned and startled when she saw me.
A hand flew to her chest. “Jesus, Austin—”
I laughed and held up my hands. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She pulled the earbuds out. One side of her shirt slid lower as she moved, baring the soft curve of her shoulder.
“You scared the hell out of me,” she said, but there was laughter in her voice.
I smiled, stepping closer. “I didn’t want to wake Winnie, but I came for my hoodie.”
“She’s out. Long day of fairy hunting.” Her eyes flicked over me. “Did you guys win?”
I shook my head. “Nah. We got our asses handed to us. Brody gave me shit, saying they’d only asked me to play to secure a win.” I shrugged playfully. “Turns out even I can’t help us.”
She chuckled and turned back to the dryer. “How’s Hayes?”
I lifted a shoulder. “He showed up late again. He swore a seagull shit on his windshield and stole his sandwich while he was parked at the marina for dinner. Brody accused him of lying, but I saw the mustard on his windshield.”
Selene sighed and shook her head. “He has the worst luck.”
My brows furrowed. “Is what I’ve heard true? Do you think he’s cursed by the Lady?”
“No.” She gave me a sad smile. “Maybe?” Selene exhaled and looked at the shirt in her hand. “He has the worst luck imaginable, but I don’t really believe in curses . . . I don’t think. Hayes doesn’t like to talk about it.” Her head tipped sideways. “Your hoodie’s over there. Freshly washed.”
“I see that,” I said, but I didn’t reach for it.
I stepped up behind her, close enough to feel the warmth rolling off her skin. Close enough to smell the faintest trace of coconut and clean laundry. Her breath hitched.
“You fold like a fucking goddess,” I murmured, my voice low and rough.
She snorted. “That’s a new one.”
I reached past her for the hoodie, intentionally brushing her hand in the process.
Her body went still, and so did mine. Her skin was warm. The air shifted. Every inch of space between us vanished. Her breath caught. My pulse spiked.
She didn’t look at me, but I could feel the awareness snap tight between us. The buzz of the dryer. The creak of the floor. The throb of need so thick it made my head spin.
I leaned in, voice barely audible. “Do you always smell this good, or is it just when you’re trying to kill me?”
Selene’s shoulders rolled back, her breath sharp and shaky as her back pressed against my front. “You’re—God, you’re impossible.”
I pressed my mouth to the curve of her neck, just once, just a whisper of skin.
“Tell me to leave,” I murmured, praying she wouldn’t. “I will. Just say the word.”
She didn’t speak, so I let my mouth roam. My tongue laved over the delicate curve of her neck. She arched into me as I sucked and moaned into her skin. My hands dug into her hip bones as I struggled to remain in control.
My cock twitched as every nerve ending in my body lit up.
Gripping her hard, I spun her around. For a beat I stared down at her.
Selene’s cheeks were flushed, her pert mouth slack as if she couldn’t believe what we were doing.
My eyes searched hers, begging for her to tell me to stop before it was too late.
A rumble gathered in my throat. “Fuck it.”
My mouth crashed to hers. The kiss wasn’t delicate; it was filthy.
Her mouth opened to mine like she’d been waiting for it—hungry and wild, like she needed it just as badly as I did. I crowded her against the dryer, hands kneading her hips, pulling her against my aching cock.
She whimpered when I rutted forward, and that fucking sound . . . it ripped the breath from my lungs.
“You don’t know what you do to me,” I growled, dragging my mouth along her jaw.
Her hands clawed at my shirt, tugging me closer. “Then show me.”
I leaned in, arching her back against the warm dryer. My thigh shoved between hers and her hips ground against me like it was instinct.
“Christ, Selene,” I breathed. “You feel that? That’s what you’ve been doing to me.”
Her fingers dug into my shoulders, her head falling back with a gasp.
“I think about this every damn night,” I said, dragging her top down farther to expose her shoulder. “I think about your cunt on my tongue. About you begging me for more. I’ve been thinking about it ever since that night in the forest.”
She let out a desperate sound, and I swallowed it with another kiss—hot and deep and filthy enough to burn.
“Do you want that?” I asked. “You want my mouth on you?”
She nodded, wild-eyed. “Yes. Please. Fuck—Austin . . .”
I dropped to my knees without hesitation. We’d been too hurried to go slowly the first time, and I wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. I’d been dreaming about the taste of her for months.
Selene tried to say something, but I grabbed her thighs and pulled her forward.
“Shh,” I said, mouth already pressing hot kisses up the inside of her leg. “I’ve got you.”
And then—
Footsteps above.
A creak of the upstairs floor.
Selene went rigid as her hand clamped on my shoulder. I blinked up at her, both of us panting like we’d just run a mile.
She shook her head, eyes blown wide. “I can’t. Not here.”
I nodded once, jaw clenched, swallowing down every last ounce of want like it might kill me.
She straightened her top, flushed and trembling. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” I stood slowly, brushing my thumb across her cheek. “But just so we’re clear . . .”
She looked up, blinking.
“I’m not done with you.” I grabbed my hoodie and walked out the door without looking back.
I knew then—and so did she—that the pretending was over.