19 #3
The kiss was getting even more affectionate.
A five-star kiss, 1,000 out of 100. Never, with any of the other guys I’d kissed (a total of six, though two didn’t count as full kisses) had I ever experienced something like this.
I swear it felt like my legs, my arms . .
. everything was being unscrewed. Any trace of resistance vanished completely.
Until he stopped. Nothing lasts forever, right? I’d later discover that truth, but right then, Adrik pulled away and shattered the spell. I opened my eyes, my lips still parted and swollen, stunned by that onslaught.
We looked at each other in astonishment. He was breathing heavily. I’d never seen him look so vulnerable. He looked just as confused as I was, like he couldn’t understand what had just happened.
“Jude, please tell me I haven’t done what I’ve just done.”
“Y-yeah, you have,” I whispered, staring at every inch of his face in astonishment.
“Shit,” he mumbled.
“Shit,” I mumbled.
He closed his eyes, looking regretful.
“That shouldn’t have happened,” whispered Adrik.
For a minute I felt . . . I don’t know . . . I felt bad because he was right.
“Never,” I sighed. The word came out hoarse, dry, strange.
“It was . . . I didn’t want . . . I shouldn’t have . . .” he mumbled, scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, like it was no big deal. “Poof, it was just a kiss.”
Adrik nodded and forced half a smile. I wondered why he didn’t just slip into his usual deadpan expression and be done with it. However, he seemed like he actually wanted to make up for his mistake?
“Yeah, yeah, exactly,” he said. “Like, it was good, wasn’t it? But it doesn’t mean anything.”
“I totally agree,” I said, sounding rather friendly. I didn’t want him to know what had really gone through my mind during that kiss. “It was fine, that’s all. I’ll have forgotten about it in no time at all,” I assured him.
“Yeah, well, it’s not like it was that insignificant,” he said, still a little uneasy. “I mean that . . . it was interesting.”
“I know,” I replied. I let out another strange laugh. “You’re really hot, and yeah, you’re odious and I can’t stand you, but I’d be lying if I said you’re a bad kisser.”
“Thanks, I’m not bad, if I say so myself.” Then he pointed at me like he’d just realized I was there. I raised my hands, smiling. Why the hell were we smiling? Why were we acting like this?
“And you didn’t hold back. Great self-control,” he said sarcastically. “Have you kissed a lot of guys or . . . ?”
“No, not really,” I said, trying to downplay this further. “You set the pace, all I did was follow your lead.”
“Yeah, right . . .”
“Yeah . . .”
We both nodded at the same time.
“Okay, I think I should get up,” I said.
Adrik pulled his hands back as if to say, Oops, sorry.
I tried to move my legs since he was literally wrapped around them, but in the process, I shifted slightly on top of him and .
. . well, you know how something like that feels.
Let’s just say he was hard. Like, really hard.
I didn’t know what to do. My head wanted to explode.
So, I got up as quickly as I could and backed away from him.
I’d barely taken a few steps when I realized that even I . . . Fucking hell, had I got off on that kiss? What the hell was happening to me?
I cleared my throat and stopped at the window. There was an eerie silence, one that made me feel like something was off. It was Adrik, Aegan’s brother, a Cash . . .
I think he stood up too, but I didn’t turn around to check.
“You’ve got to go,” is all I could say.
“But the incense—”
“I’ll call Artie to come make sure I’m okay,” I quickly cut him off. “Anyway, it’s starting to wear off.”
I felt the full force of his gaze on my back. I felt weird. My heart was racing. I wanted to turn around, but I couldn’t. My legs didn’t want to move. For a minute, I was afraid to look at him.
A phone started ringing. I thought it was mine and went to hang up, but . . .
“It’s Aegan,” said Adrik.
I shuddered as I soon as I heard his name. I felt like I’d been caught doing something terrible. I turned around and saw Adrik walk out the door.
He slammed it closed behind him, making me jump.
As soon as I was alone, I shut my eyes tight and let out a deep breath.
What the hell had just happened?
How could I forget who I was dealing with?
How the hell had I forgotten about my plan?
I wanted to topple the Cash brothers, not kiss the middle one while I was going out with the eldest one.
I wanted to smash my face against the glass. I was really angry at myself. Now Adrik would probably think I liked him. Sure, I liked kissing him. There was definitely something different about him, but he was still the enemy. I had to keep seeing him as the enemy if I didn’t want to slip up.
Now the plan was in danger. Things would be over if Adrik told Aegan what had happened.
I started praying he wouldn’t.
Did they tell each other everything?
And what would happen to me if Adrik told Aegan we kissed?
Oh, shit.
This throws a wrench in the plan.