Chapter 13
LIAM
I went into full boyfriend mode and tried to leave my emotions out of it. While I’d always had a deep attraction to London, I’d never allowed myself to seriously indulge even the thought of us truly together. I’d always wondered, though, and that curiosity had deepened ever since we got to Florida.
Potentially dangerous as it might be to test this little thing I had for her, tonight was the perfect opportunity and it’d sure go a long way in satisfying my curiosity. There’s no harm in pretending tonight to keep James from coming around, right?
It was either that or go back to the girl who had sucked my face like a drunken fish and had insisted on keeping my shirt until I got back. Even after I told her that I wouldn’t be back.
Pity too. I really liked that shirt.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked as I led her to the cocktail bar. Peering up at me through those long lashes, she sighed and flicked a glance at my chest. “You seem to have been busy before I texted you.”
“Bros before hoes, am I right?” I joked.
She frowned at me. “Don’t talk about her that way. Just because she’s a stranger doesn’t mean I don’t have her back.”
“Yeah, you’re awesome,” I said. “Girl power.”
As I felt her grip easing on my hand, I remembered who I was dealing with and reassessed.
“Okay, look. I’m sorry. It’s a silly saying and I don’t even usually use it. Let’s not fight tonight, okay?” I wound my fingers around hers again and tugged her closer, easing her to me until her chest was brushing against my own. “Will you let me pretend to be your boyfriend tonight, darlin’?”
“Only if you don’t call me that.” She stared up into my eyes like I meant the world to her, though.
Wrapping her free hand around the nape of my neck, she pushed up on her toes and spoke about half an inch away from my mouth.
“If you ever speak about another woman in front of me like that again, I’ll have your balls. ”
“I don’t doubt it,” I murmured, finally giving into the urge I’d had for most of my life and sliding my hand into her hair. I almost groaned at how soft and silky it was. How perfectly it wrapped around my fist. “For what it’s worth, I really don’t think she’s a hoe. She just liked the look of me.”
London’s blonde eyebrows rose, those pouty lips so close to mine that I could barely think, but I didn’t go in for the kiss. “If you’ll sleep with any woman who likes the look of you, maybe you’ll find the real hoe staring back at you in the mirror.”
“Fair enough.” I chuckled and drew her even closer, fucking loving the sensation of her soft body molding to mine. My heart was pounding, my entire body suddenly on edge. “Stay close to me tonight, Walker. He’s still watching.”
“He is?” She frowned. “Why? He dumped me .”
“In a moment of weakness,” I told her, looking right into those eyes from way closer than I’d ever been to them before. “He was staring down the barrel of jerking off to pictures of you instead of having the real thing and he freaked out. He wants you back now.”
“That’s disgusting. He wasn’t going to?—”
I arched an eyebrow and slid my hand to her lower back, applying pressure until her body was fused to mine. “What’s so disgusting about it? I do it. You do it. He just didn’t want to do it without knowing when he was seeing you again.”
“ You do it?” She blinked hard, her pupils dilating some in the firelight before she scoffed. “Funny, I always thought you just got girls to do it for you.”
I shrugged. “Sometimes, but I always return the favor. Are we going to keep arguing, or are you ready to my girlfriend yet?”
“I am being your girlfriend.”
I groaned. “Well, maybe James had a point when he let you go. Maybe?—”
Hurt flickered in her eyes and she started pulling away from me again. “You tease too much.”
Fucking idiot.
Refusing to let go, I slid an arm around her hips and drew her to me, holding her.
I inhaled a deep whiff of her strawberry-scented hair.
“Just hug me back, okay? For now, that should be enough. Hug me back and I’ll start swaying.
We’ll dance for a minute, then we’ll get a drink and go sit by the fire. ”
“Liam?”
“Yeah?”
“Why are we doing this?”
I started swaying just like I’d promised her, resting my temple against the top of hers and simply dancing right on the spot. “Because he’s watching us like a jealous hawk, Walker. That’s why. Do you want him back?”
“No, but don’t you want the brunette?”
“No. We were just hanging out. It’s a party.”
All throughout the night, we kept spending time together—actual time. When I led her to the bar, I held her hand, and as we searched for space by a fire, I kept my fingertips on her waist. As we found a spot to sit, she cuddled up against me, her drink in her free hand and her arm around mine.
“This isn’t as difficult as I thought it would be,” she mused out loud, eyes flickering with firelight and her expression surprisingly relaxed. “You’re sure you don’t mind?”
“I’m a committed fake boyfriend.” I grinned down at her, purposely making my expression as dopey as I possibly could to make her smile. “I don’t mind. It’s our first party in this city. There will be others and we can be single and ready to mingle at those. Tonight, we can just stick together.”
She burrowed deeper into my side. “I think I like the sound of that.”
For a moment, we both lapsed into silence, but it wasn’t awkward. We sipped our drinks and stared at the ocean or the fire. Then she suddenly glanced up at me. “Do you really?”
“Do I really what ?”
“You know…” She made a fist and moved it up and down next to her leg.
I burst out laughing, but down below, things were definitely looking up. “On occasion. Why?”
“Just curious.” She shrugged slowly and then sighed. “Why have we never talked about this kind of thing before?”
“What, sex?” I brought my fingers to her chin when she kept her gaze fixed firmly on the fire, gently turning her head to mine. “I don’t know, London. I guess it’s just never… come up. What would you like to know? I’m an open book.”
“How are you so casual about it?” As soon as the words were out, her eyes widened like she wished she could stuff them back in. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s not like I’m an innocent. You just…”
“Seem to get around a lot more?” I guessed.
When she nodded, I turned my upper body to face her more fully, but our thighs and biceps were still pressed together and her arm was still looped through mine.
“I don’t know, really. Everyone always says that when you’re with the right person, you’ll know.
I’ve never known. That’s the best I’ve got to explain it. ”
“So you’re willing to give just anyone a chance? There doesn’t have to be a spark?”
“I feel lots of sparks.” Just not the way I did when I kissed you earlier. “There just haven’t been any that have lit that forever fire for me yet.”
“You’re still looking for that?” She peered up at me through those long lashes, and as much as I knew that she wanted me to say no, I nodded.
“Always.”
Her eyes searched mine. “Do you think you’ll ever feel it? Those forever sparks?”
“Yeah, I do.” Pretty sure I felt what might’ve been them a few hours ago. Could’ve been, if we wanted the same things out of life . “I just need to keep looking.”
“Well, you’re doing a great job at the search,” she said, giggling as she hugged my arm tighter. “Think she’ll let us stay friends once you find her?”
“If she’s really the one, then yes. She’ll let us stay friends. If not, then she’s not the one, is she?”
“Let’s hope you feel that way once you find her.” London smiled up at a girl who approached us, immediately inviting her to sit down when she learned that the girl was going around introducing herself to all the newbies.
Pretty soon, she’d been joined by a group of her friends. They all seemed pretty cool. My only gripe with the group was that they’d roped James in somewhere along the way, and he kept glowering like he wanted to throw me into one of the bonfires.
Thankfully, that gave me an excuse to keep London even closer. Later on, when they suggested we go for a swim in the ocean, I swept her up into my arms and ran full speed into the water. Peals of her laughter rang out into the night. Warm water sprayed up our sides as I ran.
When I was up to my waist, I dropped her into her water, laughing. She cussed and spluttered when she surfaced. She narrowed her eyes at me, hair dark hair glued back against her head as she shot me an evil grin.
“You’re going down for that.”
“Remember when I told you I’d get you back for earlier at the convention? That was me getting you back. If you take me down now, I’ll only have to get you back again.”
She sighed and stuck her fingers into her hair, unsticking it before she launched herself at me, but while I was expecting her to try to wrestle my head under water, she simply wrapped her legs around my hips and her arms around my neck.
Pulling herself closer, she smiled down at me, wet, and happy, and way too close to keep my body under control.
“Is this okay?” she asked quietly.
I gathered her up in my arms and waded deeper, never moving my eyes away from hers. “This is perfect.”
London hugged onto me like a koala for the entire swim, laughing and flashing those pearly teeth as she bantered back and forth with our new friends.
We got so comfortable that I almost forgot we were pretending.
The chemistry between us was off the charts and my gaze remained mostly stuck to her. The water hid my rock-hard erection.
Whether it was London, the alcohol, or the thrill of the party, everything just seemed to set my veins on fire.
When we finally got out of the water, we sat around the fire and roasted marshmallows, drying off while London sat between my legs, laughing with the others.
I leaned back on my palms, my gaze inadvertently rising to James.
He was seated on the opposite side of the fire, but I saw him watching her every move. Saw the moment he decided to make his. When he rose to come speak to her again, I sat up a little and caught her face between my sandy palms, leaning in to kiss her.
It was slow and hot, both of us moaning softly. We started making out. I forgot all about James and the party, my body on fire for her as her tongue delved into my mouth. It was just her and me—until she suddenly broke the kiss.
“Let’s go home,” she whispered.
I felt a need for her that I’d never felt before. In the past, I’d forced things between us to stay platonic, but not tonight. Right now, we were just having fun with this and I decided to lean into the moment, not questioning what might happen tomorrow.
London and I had been waiting for our chance for a long, long time, and fate had finally delivered it to us in an ex named James and a series of problematic decisions. Yet here we were, ready to follow those problems all the way, and I, for one, was eager to see where they went.