35. Leo
Leo
Ihold Lucy’s gaze, my heart pounding in my ears.
I can’t believe I just said that.
But I did. Because I can’t hold back anymore. I can’t look her in the eye and tell her anything but the truth.
Warning bells blare in my head. We’re friends. We live together.
We shouldn’t be doing this. I shouldn’t be doing this.
I shouldn’t have Lucy pressed up against the wall, holding her face in my hand, hovering my mouth over hers.
But that’s exactly what I’m doing. Because right now, I’m not capable of doing anything else.
Seeing my dad go after Lucy unleashed something inside of me. Something protective and lethal and raw. And honest.
I look at her, holding my breath and counting the seconds as I wait for her to speak or react.
Doubt rattles through me. What if she’s upset? Or disgusted? What if she shoves me away and tells me to go to hell?
I brace myself for the worst.
She gazes up at me, those bright blue eyes as big as saucers. She lets out a shaky breath.
“Then kiss me, Leo,” she rasps.
Relief swoops through me, then pure, unbridled want.
I press my mouth against hers.
The second I feel her plush lips, my brain stops working.
I can’t think. I can’t process.
All I can do is feel. Her mouth on my mouth. Her breath on my skin. Her body vibrating against mine.
She moans softly, and my dick twitches. Oh, fuck. That sound. So fucking sexy.
She claws at my chest, pulling me closer. I press against her harder, pinning her between me and the wall.
She makes that soft, whimpering sound again, and my head spins. She sounds so desperate, and I can’t fucking take it…
Her mouth parts, and she runs her tongue along the seam of her lips. Gently, she laps her tongue against mine. Like she’s shy.
With my hand still gripping her chin, I tilt her face up. She opens that sweet little mouth wider for me.
Our tongues tease and slide. She’s so soft and wet and warm. She tastes like champagne and sugar. My mouth waters, and I groan. Have I ever tasted anything this good?
My blood pounds in my ears. A wild feeling rams through me. It’s feral and needy and unlike anything I’ve ever felt before.
This kiss is so slow and teasing. We’re taking our time, savoring and tasting and feeling.
I run my hands up the sides of her body, relishing her soft lines and curves.
My cock is getting harder by the second, just from kissing her.
“Holy shit, Luce,” I murmur against her mouth.
I feel drugged and hazy. I can’t hear anything. Not the music from the ballroom or the sound of people talking floating down the hall.
All I hear is her cute, desperate little noises.
She digs her fingers into my chest, whimpering as she kisses me harder. A low, rough noise of encouragement rips from my throat. She presses her hands into my chest, tugging on my suit jacket. Fuck, I love that. I love feeling how much she wants me.
My muscles pull tight, and I’m suddenly hot all over.
My hand slides from her hair to the back of her neck, pulling her even closer. I tilt her jaw up so I can kiss her deeper and harder.
My head is swimming at just how much I love kissing her. Her sweetness, her softness, her sounds, how pliant and wet her mouth is.
A tight longing lands at the center of my chest. Already, I miss everything about this kiss. Because I know that the second it’s over, I’m going to crave it. I’m going to crave her.
Against me, her body starts to tremble. Another desperate sound slips from her lips, and I swallow it.
Need pulses through me like a drumbeat. I wanna hear her make that sound over and over.
I want to drop to my knees, push up her dress, pull her panties to the side, and kiss her pussy. I wanna tease and lick her until she’s yanking her fingers through my hair, begging for more and screaming my name…
“Please, Leo,” she rasps against my mouth.
My cock is aching, and my balls are tight. Is this what she’s like in bed? All sexy, whiny noises, writhing and desperate, shamelessly begging?
She presses her pelvis against me and starts to grind against my leg.
Oh, fuck…
“Leo, are you—Oh, crap!”
The sound of my sister’s voice pulls me out of the pleasure-drunk haze.
Lucy and I break apart, both of us panting like we’ve sprinted a race. I look over at my sister, standing a dozen feet away, her eyes big, her jaw on the floor.
She shakes her head. “I-I’m sorry.”
She spins around and runs off.
“Zoey, wait,” I holler after her, but she keeps walking off.
I start to go after her, but I stop myself and turn back to Lucy. I hesitate for a second, not wanting to be a dick for leaving her.
“I-I should check on my sister.”
Lucy’s eyes are dazed and cloudy as she wordlessly nods.
I run down the hall after Zoey. When I’m back in the area in front of the ballroom entrance, I look around for her. I see a flash of her red gown near the back by the restrooms.
I run after her and gently grab her arm. “Zoey, wait. Let me explain.”
She spins around and shakes her head at me, her expression somewhere between disbelief and disappointment.
“Leo, what are you thinking?”
I lean back at the sharpness in her tone.
“You know, I was worried about you. I overheard Dad laying into you and felt awful, so I went looking for you to make sure you were okay. But then I see you making out with Lucy, so I guess you’re doing just fine.”
I’m confused. Why is she so upset?
“Zoey, why are you mad about this?”
She tilts her head at me like I’m an idiot. “Leo, who kissed who first?”
I almost scoff. What the hell, that’s not her business.
“Leo. Tell me.”
I huff out a breath. “I kissed her.”
Zoey crosses her arms over her chest, like she’s disappointed in me.
“Leo, listen to me. You need to think about this differently. Lucy is your friend, who you live with. Your roommate. You’ve known each other for what, a month?
Do you really think the smartest thing to do right now is to cross this line with her? ”
I’m quiet. I didn’t even think of that.
“What if something goes wrong? What if your feelings change? What if her feelings change? Then what? Are you going to keep living together? Are you going to keep letting her stay in the house if things get so awkward between you two because you blurred the lines between friends and something more?”
My sister’s words hit me like a ton of bricks. She’s right.
I tug a hand through my hair, annoyed and frustrated with myself. “I wasn’t thinking,” I say. “I was so pissed from arguing with Dad. Lucy comforted me, and I guess we just got caught up in the moment.”
My sister’s pointed expression eases. “I like Lucy a lot. She seems like a sweet girl and a good friend to you. I just think you two should be careful. Nothing runs a friendship faster than a hook-up.”
I let out a heavy breath. “Yeah. You’re right.”
She pats my shoulder. “Are you really okay? I overheard some of what Dad said to you. He was out of line, and you didn’t deserve that.”
“I’m fine.” I pull at my tie. I don’t want to talk about him. I don’t want to think about him.
She walks off, and I head back out to find Lucy.
* * *
“We need to talk about that kiss,” I say when we’re back in my car.
My nerves are firing off as Lucy turns to look at me.
“Okay.”
That pretty pink flush paints her cheeks and neck and chest. Her hair’s a little messy too from when I ran my fingers through it minutes ago.
She looks so sexy and disheveled, and fuck, I want her so bad.
My cock stirs in my pants. I try to ignore it. I can’t be thinking about her like that anymore.
“We can’t do that again,” I say.
Her brow lifts. I hold my breath, wondering if she’s going to get mad or hurt.
But she just glances down at her lap for a second before looking back at me.
“You didn’t like it?” she asks.
I shake my head. “No, I fucking loved it.”
The corner of her mouth twitches like she’s fighting a smile. “Me too. It was really hot.”
“Really, really hot,” I mutter, my gaze falling to her lips. I force myself to look away and stare ahead at the dingy gray parking garage wall I pulled up to after the valet brought me my car.
I clear my throat. “I like you, Lucy. A lot. I’m really attracted to you.”
She glances down at my lap, amusement flickering in her gemstone eyes. “I could tell.”
I let out a laugh. She chuckles softly.
“I’m attracted to you too, Leo.”
Confidence swoops through me, hearing this beautiful girl say that she wants me too.
“We’re friends, Luce. As much as I want you…as much as I want to finish that kiss…” I swallow hard as I hold her gaze. The air between us in the car is thick and heavy. We’re just inches apart. I can smell her perfume playing with the natural intoxicating scent of her skin.
Heat races across my body. Maybe talking in the car was a bad idea.
I shake my head and refocus.
“We can’t cross that line,” I say. “I mean, I know we already did when I kissed you, but we can’t do it again.
I care about you. I want to be a good friend to you.
We live together. And I’m scared that if we cross that boundary into something more than friends, it’ll ruin our friendship.
I don’t want to lose you as a friend. Or a roommate.
And I’m nervous that if we fool around, things might get weird or intense or… ”
She nods as I trail off. “You’re right. I didn’t even think about it that way. I don’t want that either. You’re my best friend, Leo. My closest friend. I wasn’t thinking…I guess I got caught up in the moment.”
“I did too. I should have been using my head, but I wasn’t.”
We’re quiet for a long second.
“So you’re not mad?” I ask.
She shakes her head, a small smile playing across her lips. “No. I don’t want things to be weird between us because we were stupid and horny.”
I laugh again. She flashes that sweet, sexy smile.
“We’ll just try to forget about that kiss and move on,” she says.
I nod once, even though I know there’s no way I’m ever going to forget about kissing Lucy.
That was the hottest kiss of my life. I’ll think about that kiss until the day I die. I’ll remember the way her mouth and tongue tasted, the desperate noises she made, the way she felt grinding against me…
Stop it.
“Okay, good.” I turn on the car and pull out of the parking spot, then drive back toward the house.
We’re quiet the whole ride home. When I park in front of the house, she reaches for the door handle, but I catch her wrist.
“Thank you again for coming with me,” I say. “That would have sucked without you.”
“I was happy to.” Her gaze focuses, and her expression turns serious. “Are you okay after what happened with your dad?”
I nod and loosen my tie. “I’m done being around him. I don’t want anything to do with him.”
Sadness flashes in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Leo.”
“Don’t be. None of this is your fault.”
We step out of the car together, then head inside. When I close the door, Lucy immediately steps out of her heels. Wally runs up to both of us, his tail wagging. I give him a few scratches behind the ears, then he turns to Lucy and licks her face and hands. She kisses his head.
“Nick is staying at Poppy’s tonight, so I’ll sleep in his room,” I say.
“Okay.” She heads toward the staircase, while I walk across the living room to Nick’s bedroom.
“Good night, Luce.”
“Good night,” she says softly.
I stand in the open doorway and watch her walk up the stairs to my bedroom, Wally following behind her.
I think about how, if we kept going with that kiss, I’d probably be walking up to my bedroom with her…
I swallow hard and try not to think of all the filthy things I want to do to Lucy.
She’s your friend. Nothing more.
I slide out of my tux jacket and take off my tie, then toss them onto the bed. I slump against the doorway, exhaling sharply. What a night.