Chapter 8 #2
“We won’t be catching up on anything, Pierce. I really do wish you the best on the bar exam. Although I’m not sure it’ll be a different outcome considering you’re here, preparing for this bar exam the same way you did the last one.”
I pick up my drink and head back to the table where Mina sits, James in tow. I sink into the booth, watching James slide in beside me. Mina’s eyes are wide, like she’s not sure if she should be amused or concerned.
“Seriously? Pierce?” she says when I sit down.
“I know. I can’t believe he’s here,” I say, sipping my drink. My hand is still unsteady, but I hope it’s not obvious.
“I hope you told him to fuck off,” Mina snaps.
I shake my head, preparing to recount the whole conversation for Mina when James speaks up.
“A very professional ‘fuck off’. You handled that well.” There’s a hint of admiration in his voice that I can’t ignore, and I feel a flush of pride.
“Thanks,” I say, trying to sound more nonchalant than I feel.
“So that’s the idiot then?” James asks, but it’s more of a statement than a question. Like most of his questions.
“That would be the idiot, yes.”
Mina nudges me with her knee under the table. “He knows about Pierce?”
“Yeah,” I say, cautious about how much I want to acknowledge. “I may have mentioned him.”
She raises an eyebrow, and I can already hear the debrief that will follow as soon as James is out of earshot. She’s still studying him, trying to figure out exactly what he is to me.
Maybe I am, too.
The crowd at the bar shifts, revealing Pierce gathering his coat and leaving. His shoulders are slumped, but I can’t bring myself to feel bad.
“Good riddance,” Mina mutters as she follows my gaze.
I throw back the rest of my drink and as I do, the DJ kicks up the music.
I grab Mina’s hand. “Let’s dance!”
She flashes a grin, already moving to the music as I pull her toward the dance floor. I look back at James. “Coming?”
He stays seated, an amused look on his face as he watches us. “I think I’ll sit this one out.”
Bodies sway around us, and I get lost in the rhythm, Mina’s energy infectious. I glance at James across the room. His eyes are steady on me, and I’m caught between wanting him here and enjoying the freedom of him watching from afar.
Mina spins me around, and I laugh with abandon. I let myself enjoy it, the music pounding through my body, the blur of voices and colors, the feeling of being untethered.
When I look back again, James is threading through the crowd.
He’s not leaving, I realize, but making his way to me. By the time he reaches us, I’m breathless and a little dizzy, but he steadies me, his hand firm on my waist.
“Thought you were sitting this one out?” I yell over the music.
He leans in, his voice low in my ear. “I changed my mind.”
The warmth of his breath sends a shiver down my spine. Mina gives me a knowing look and slips away, leaving me alone with James.
I’m hyperaware of everything: my heartbeat, the weight of his hand on my hip, the way his body moves with mine. I’m trying to remember to breathe.
The music shifts to a slower beat, and he pulls me closer.
My heart is racing, but I’m not sure if it’s from the dancing or how his eyes lock on mine, intense and searching. I wonder if he can tell how much I want him to kiss me right now.
The music slows, and so do we. He doesn’t let go of me, and I can feel every inch of him against me.
“Avery,” he says, and there’s something in his voice that I can’t place.
I look up at him, waiting, wondering if he’s going to say anything more. The moment stretches between us, and I’m about to say something when he leans in. I think he’s going to kiss me, but he stops, his mouth close to my ear.
“If you keep grinding on me like that, I’m taking you to the parking lot and I’m gonna do something I really shouldn’t do with one of my employees. Behave,” he grits out.
I lean away, looking him in the eyes. Embarrassed and flustered, I say, “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize—“
His grip tightens on my waist, sending a wave of heat through me.
It could be my natural desire for him or the liquid courage coursing through me, but I suddenly don’t care about the consequences.
I lean into him, snake my hand around to the back of his neck, and get on my tippy toes to whisper in his ear.
“What if I don’t want to behave?”
Who am I?
He trails his fingers up my arm, grabbing my hand that’s on his neck and pulling me through the crowd toward the door. I quickly wave goodbye to Mina, and that’s all the attention I can give her before focusing back on the man leading me toward the parking lot.
When we get to his truck, he opens the passenger door and says, “In.”
I watch him as he rounds the front of his truck, and it feels like my heart is beating out of my chest.
Are we really doing this?
He climbs in the driver’s side, moving the seat back a little like he’s done this before. I shake the thought from my head as he grabs my elbow, hauling me on top of him and says, “Get over here.”
I settle onto his lap.
The first touch of his lips is tentative, like he’s savoring a long-awaited moment.
It ignites something reckless in me. I kiss him back with all the urgency I’ve been holding in, tasting whiskey on his tongue.
He tangles his fingers in my hair, tugging just enough to make me gasp into his mouth, and he swallows the sound greedily, deepening the kiss.
It’s everything I’ve imagined and nothing I’ve prepared for. A low sound escapes him, and I feel it reverberate through my entire body.
He pulls away, eyes searching mine, and I’m afraid he’s going to stop.
“Avery,” he says, his voice rough.
“Don’t,” I breathe, pressing closer, and he doesn’t need more convincing.
He kisses me again, harder this time, like he’s staking a claim. His mouth is hot, insistent, and I lose myself in the sensation of it. His hold on me is possessive, and I’m painfully aware of the heat building between us, and I can’t get close enough.
I don’t care where we are, don’t care about anything except the feel of his body against mine. I grind against him, and he groans, the sound low and primal.
I arch my back as he grips my hips, shifting me against his hardness in a way that makes me gasp. The windows start to fog, and I know we should stop, but I don’t want to. I don’t want to think, don’t want to do anything except give in to the way he makes me feel.
“Avery,” he says again, and this time the way he says my name makes me sit up straight.
He pulls back, breath ragged, and I can see the conflict warring in his eyes.
“We shouldn’t.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking,” I say, climbing off of him.
I reach for the handle but stop before opening the door. Turning back to him, I say, “Actually, I do know what I was thinking. And you were thinking the same thing.”
I see a flash of something dark and desirous in his eyes, and I almost stay to hear if he has a response, but I don’t. I open the door and get out of his truck.
Walking through the lot, I find my car and sink into the driver’s seat to call an Uber, all the while trying to convince myself that I’m not a complete idiot for thinking that could’ve ended any way other than how it did tonight.