Ward was dressed up as a football player, which was not a costume, because he was a football player for the Texas Longhorns. He’d actually graduated last May, but was in town for Kate’s birthday, which was two days after Halloween.
“Sure, I am,” he replied, grabbing my hand and tracing the logo with my finger. “This is the wrong team.”
I thought that red color looked unusual. I shrugged and smiled up at him. “You can’t expect me to know that. I don’t have much interest in sports.” We were still almost holding hands. His enveloped mine completely. I liked the feeling.
“Hmm. What do you have an interest in, Tinkerbell?” His voice was soft, and there was something hot and heavy in his gaze.
“Emma,” I corrected automatically, still not pulling my hand away. I didn’t want him to get in the habit of calling me that.
Ward laughed at my answer. “Oh, so you’re self-obsessed?” He shrugged. “At least you’re honest. Most girls really try to hide that, at least at first.”
I giggled at him and my tone turned teasing. “Don’t call me Tinkerbell. And I have lots of interests. But what about you? Do you have any outside of football or is it all just visions of sweaty men with balls in your head?”
He smirked and set the beer he was holding in his left hand down on the counter with a decisive clink. His response was slow and suggestive. “Well now, I just have all sorts of interests beyond that.” His native, Texas drawl gave the words a few extra syllables we didn’t have in Connecticut. I smiled shyly up at him and listened as he continued. “For one, I’m finding myself very interested in you, Emma.”
My lips parted in surprise. Ward was interested in me? As in, romantically interested? Interested in sexy-fun-times with me? The fact that we were standing alone, basically holding hands in the darkened kitchen suddenly percolated through my alcohol-soaked brain. He seemed to realize it too and straightened. He blinked like he’d just been awoken from a trance, releasing my hand which I pressed to his chest. I could hardly believe I was touching him. I stared at the hand like it belonged to someone else, and then looked up at him.
The look in his eyes suggested that he was thinking us through, just like me. He was Kate’s brother, no longer a student, and definitely not going to stick around. I was on the rebound from the world’s worst relationship, painfully shy, semi-drunk, and essentially wearing lingerie in public. We’d spent all most all of our time at this party until this point trading pointed jabs. But now I had a very different sort of exchange in mind.
Before I could overthink anything, I leaned up and up—he was much taller than my five-two—and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around my waist, crushing my stupid wings and then mumbling an apology against my lips. I could hear his heart beating hard as he pressed me closer into his chest, and he teased my tongue mercilessly with his until I was breathless. A dull, throbbing ache was starting in my core, and any silly things like consequences receded in importance. I only needed to fix that needy ache. The sound of someone laughing in the room beyond pulled us back to the moment. We needed to get out of this kitchen.
“Come on,” I told him, pulling him towards the hall. “My room is this way.”
He hesitated. “Emma, in three days I have to go back to—” he started to say. I shook my head and cut him off with another kiss.
“I know,” I told him when I pulled away. I leaned up to play with the soft tendrils of dark hair that curved around his ear, and then leaned up to whisper. “I’m not asking you to go steady.” He shivered and squeezed my waist.
“Are you sure?” he asked again. Distantly, I admired his willingness to be honest about what he was offering me and obtain my consent. He wasn’t offering love, or friendship, or even companionship. Just… right now. Just tonight. Impulsively, I decided it could be enough.
In that moment, I didn’t care that this would be very, very temporary. I was taking a risk and part of me knew I’d pay for it later, but at that second… I wanted to be the sort of girl who did fun and spontaneous things. I wanted to be brave. I wanted to be the girl who could recover from the last asshole I’d been with and come out swinging. I’d never done anything remotely like this before, but I found myself more excited than scared. Maybe I was channeling my inner, plucky Tinkerbell. Or maybe I was just dumb, drunk, and horny.
Whatever the reason was, my desire was simple. My answer was simple too.
“I know when to admit what I want, Ward. Do you?”
He smiled a slow, crooked smile, and then followed me back to my room.
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Also by Taylor Holloway
My books take place in the same world and share locations and characters. Here’s the suggested reading order.
Lone Star Lovers
Admit You Want Me - Ward
Kiss Me Like You Missed Me - Cole
Lie with Me - Lucas
Run Away with Me - Jason
Hold On To Me - Ryan
Soulmates of St. Vincent
A Bad Case of You - Eric
Touching Me, Touching You - Christopher (Coming Soon)
This one’s For You - Ian (Coming Soon)
Bad For You - Will (Coming Soon)
For fans of exciting, romantic mysteries full of twists and turns, check out my Scions of Sin series!
Prequel: Never Say Never - Charlie
Bleeding Heart - Alexander
Kiss and Tell - Nathan
Down and Dirty - Nicholas
Lost and Found - David
A Bad Case of You Page 25
