My eyes snap open to find Eli Bennett straddling my hips, watching me with those all-knowing hazel eyes and his fingers still on my face.
What.
The.
Hell?
This asshole broke into our fucking cabin!
I part my lips, but no sound comes out. Instead, I make a choking noise, and I’m sputtering. Ready to scream my freaking head off when he clamps his hand over my mouth, silencing me completely. I blink up at him, my heart tripping over itself when he lowers his head, his eyes never straying from mine. He’s so close, I can feel his warm breath waft across my face.
“Don’t say anything,” he whispers, his fingers tight across my lips. “We don’t want to wake the fam now, do we?”
I squirm beneath him, using all of my strength, desperate to get out of his grip, but it’s no use. He’s literally on top of me, his thighs bracketing either side of my hips, his hips pressed against mine. And while he’s not as big as my brother, he is definitely bigger than me.
In other words, he is super heavy, and it’s almost impossible for me to move.
A frustrated noise of rage escapes me, muffled by his fingers, and he grins.
“I do like how feisty you are,” he says.
Okay, that does it. His choice of words. That particular word.
Parting my lips, I sink my teeth into his finger. I don’t even know which finger I’m biting, but he yelps as he jerks his hand from my mouth, shaking his fingers with an incredulous expression on his face.
He deserved that. I hope it hurt like hell. Maybe I even broke skin.
I take my chance and try to get away from him, but he ends up grabbing hold of my wrists, pressing them against my pillow, so they’re on either side of my head. I lift my hips, trying to buck him off me, but all that does is cause my lower body to brush against his, and that is so not the message I’m trying to send.
With a huff, I try another tactic, contracting my stomach, pressing my butt into the mattress, trying to get away from him. So I can’t feel his hot body on mine. Burning me up.
I’m a prisoner. Trapped beneath him.
“You bit my throwing hand,” he chastises, holding his right hand in front of his face and examining his index finger, his eyes crossing the slightest bit. If I didn’t hate him so much, I’d think he was kind of adorable. “Trying to take me out or what?”
I say nothing. Just glare at him.
His smile never fades, damn him. “I’m guessing you didn’t like it when I called you feisty.”
My eyes narrow, but I still remain silent.
“We’re already deep into battle number two, I guess,” he says, dipping his head so his hair falls over his eyes. It looks soft. I curl my fingers into fists, hating how I’m tempted to touch him. Brush his hair out of his eyes.
That the thought even flashes through my brain sets me on edge, makes me wary. Wary of my own self-control. What he’s doing—what we’re doing right now isn’t normal.
Not at all.
His fingers tighten around my wrists, reminding me that he’s not about to let me go. Not yet. “Looks like I’m winning this one, yet again.”
His smugness makes me want to punch him, and I finally have to say something.
“How did you get in here?” I ask, my voice sounding like a hiss.
“Like I’d give up my secrets.” The devilish gleam in his eyes unsettles me. Makes me think he’s capable of all sorts of things.
None of them good.
“You should leave,” I tell him, swallowing hard. Trying to hide the tremble in my voice. But there’s no use. It’s more than obvious he makes me nervous. Nervous that he’s here. Nervous that I’m feeling such…unfamiliar sensations swirling within me. “If you go now, I won’t tell anyone you broke into our cabin. It’ll be our little secret.”
“See that’s the thing.” He leans in closer, so his cheek is pressed right next to mine, his mouth at my ear. “I have a feeling we’re going to share lots of secrets, Ava. This is the first of many.”
My breathing accelerates, and every exhalation is shaky. I sound terrified. I am a little frightened. I don’t know what he wants from me.
Wait. I take that back. I think I do know, but he’s definitely not going to get it.
“Don’t be scared of me,” he whispers, right before he nuzzles his face in my hair. Tingles scatter all over my skin, and I hate how my body reacts to his nearness. “You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, do you know that? You make me go out of my fucking mind every time I see you, knowing I can’t touch you. Can’t have you.”
I avert my face, looking toward the window, trying to arch away from his touch. I don’t believe what he’s saying. He’s just trying to—use me to get back at my brother. I can’t fall under his spell. That’s what it feels like. He’s weaving a spell on me with words and gestures, and it’s all fake. It has to be. “You don’t even know me.”
“I want to know you,” he says, his fingers loosening ever so slightly, around my wrists. “I’ve been watching you for a while. I had to take my opportunity when I could.”
“So you’re a psycho stalker,” I throw out as I face him once more, my voice defiant. I lift my hips, trying to buck him off me yet again and he spreads his thighs wider, pressing his lower body against mine so tight, I have no choice but to keep still. I look away again, frustration rippling through me. I wish I was stronger.
“Call me whatever you want.” He releases my wrist to grab hold of my chin, turning my head so I face him. “Just give me a chance.”
I’m frowning. I want to laugh at him. Spit in his face. “A chance at what?”
“At you. I can prove to you we belong together.” He says it with such conviction, I can almost believe him.
Almost.
“You’re insane,” I whisper.
“It’s my best quality,” he says with a straight face.
“This isn’t the way you go about proving to a girl that you’re into her.”
He raises a brow as he releases my chin and grabs hold of my wrist once more. “Really? I think it says a lot, that I broke into your cabin and snuck up the stairs into your room. You’re beautiful when you sleep, by the way.”
I fight the warmth that spreads over my skin at his words. No boy has ever said such a thing to me before. Of course, when has a boy ever seen me sleep? “Please don’t tell me you watched me sleep.”
“I totally watched you,” he says. “For maybe…five minutes? I didn’t want to disturb you. You looked so peaceful.”
“But you did disturb me.” He disturbs me on a constant basis.
“I suppose I did.” He sends me a stern look. “If I release my hold on your wrists, you promise me you won’t hit me or try to get away?”
“No.”
A sigh escapes him. “Guess I have to keep holding you prisoner then.”
I struggle against his grip like I can’t help myself. He’s extraordinarily strong. And seriously, I can’t believe I bit him. Though I’m kind of proud of that. I wish I would’ve done actual damage.
“This is stupid,” I finally say, when I’m tired of trying to break free. “Just tell me what you want and leave.”
“I want you,” he says, his eyes full of sincerity.
I slowly shake my head. “I’m not interested.”
“Why not?” He sounds genuinely curious.
“You go to a different school. You’re my brother’s archnemesis.” He raises his brows at that one. “You go to our rival school, which could be really awkward if we ever did date.”
“We’re definitely going to date,” he says with way too much confidence.
I ignore him. “You’re a year older, so you probably have all sorts of expectations I can’t meet.”
“You meet every single one of my expectations and then some,” he says, his voice appreciative.
This is the strangest conversation I’ve ever had. And I’m not about to explain to him that the expectations I�
�m talking about are sexually related. As in, I don’t have sex. I’m a virgin, and I’m going to keep it that way for as long as possible. I’m barely out of my sophomore year, and while I know plenty of girls who’ve already had sex, I’m not ready.
Nope. I’m not my brother, who’s been screwing around since he was a freshman. Autumn confessed to me that she never had sex until she was with Ash. And that didn’t happen until she was a senior.
I have time. Plenty of time.
“What other obstacles and concerns do you have?” Eli asks, as if he’s conducting a job interview.
I sigh. “Too many to mention.” Hmm, maybe I can convince him this is a bad idea and he’ll leave me alone once and for all. “This is never going to work, Eli.”
“You really believe that?” he asks, his voice soft. “My breaking into your room didn’t show you how I feel?”
Is he being serious right now? Like his breaking into my room proves that he feels some way about me?
At first, he appears one hundred percent serious. Though I can tell the longer I watch him, the harder it is for him to remain neutral. He struggles to keep a straight face. The corners of his lips quiver. I see a sparkle in his pretty hazel eyes. Yes, his eyes are pretty. Everything about him is pretty, okay? But he’s a no-go zone. I’m pretty sure that’s how Jake refers to me to his friends, so that’s how I’ll refer to Eli in my mind.
Eli Bennett. The no-go zone.
Slowly I shake my head, realizing that’s he waiting for my answer. “Um…no.”
He studies me for a moment, his gaze roaming over my face, lingering on my lips. “Maybe this will then.”
Without warning, he presses his mouth to mine. I go completely still, shock coursing through me as he kisses me. I can’t believe he’s doing this.
Eli Bennett is kissing me.
I shouldn’t like it. I should hate it. He’s weird. He broke into my room and held me against my will. He held me against my will last night too. I should call the freakin’ police on his ass.
He’s a terrible, awful person.
But his lips are soft and warm, with just a hint of dampness. And oh my God, they’re rather persuasive. His mouth lingers on mine, as if he’s testing my response, waiting to see what I do.
I try my hardest to do absolutely nothing.
One kiss. Another. And then another. He’s persuasive. Teasing. Without thought, I kiss him back. Worse, I enjoy it. He’s taking it slow. Not thrusting his tongue into my mouth or putting his hands on places I’m not used to.
No, he’s winning me over. Slowly but surely. With the softest lips I’ve ever kissed. I’ve kissed boys. I have a tiny bit of experience. But this is on an entirely different level. I can tell he’s holding back. Keeping himself reined in.
That’s kind of hot.
I shouldn’t enjoy this. Jake hates him. Eli hates Jake. Nothing good can come of Eli and me being…anything. He’s the enemy.
But I don’t want this kiss to stop.
Not yet.
Our bodies shift as we settle into the kiss fully. The faint sound of our lips connecting again and again fills my ears, fills my head, and unwillingly, a little sigh escapes me.
He takes advantage of that sigh and my parted lips. His mouth works mine. Opens. He releases one of my wrists to cup my cheek as he deepens the kiss, his mouth capturing my top lip and sucking lightly. Oh. My hand automatically goes to the side of his head, so I can tunnel my fingers through his hair.
It’s just as silky as I imagined.
All sorts of imaginary warning signs are clanging in my head. Full of words like stop and this is crazy and knee this dude in the balls.
But I don’t stop. I don’t knee him in the balls either. It’s like I become a different person in Eli’s arms. And when his tongue touches my bottom lip, I open to him fully.
Just like that, it’s more. More fire. More sensation. Sliding tongues and swallowed gasps. I’ve got both of my hands in his hair now, and he’s cupping my face, holding me like I’m a precious, fragile thing while he ravages my mouth.
No boy has ever kissed me like this before, and it’s…
Exhilarating.
Eight
Eli
I’m kissing Ava Callahan, and she tastes like heaven. She feels like heaven too. Her soft, lush body is pressed against mine as we tangle tongues and try to swallow each other whole. I cup her face, my fingers grazing her satiny soft cheeks. I want to touch her everywhere, but I’m afraid she’ll come back to reality when she feels my hands on her body, slap my face and then it’s over.
While I never want this to end.
Eventually we have to come up for air, so I reluctantly break the kiss, exhaling as I bury my face in her neck, kissing her there instead, right where her pulse beats wildly. A soft sigh escapes her, and the sound goes straight to my dick, making it twitch.
“What was that?” she asks.
Guess she felt that twitch.
I lift away from her and roll over on my side so I’m stretched out alongside her, feeling satisfied. Confident. Breaking into the cabin was a crazy idea, but I’m always full of crazy ideas so…I tend to get myself in trouble. I’m spontaneous as fuck.
Clearly.
Lifting my body off hers was probably smart. Otherwise, she’d end up naked, and I’d end up inside her and that would be…all wrong. I can’t have sex with her.
Not yet.
“You mad at me?” I reach over and tug on the drawstring of her hoodie. The very hoodie I still want to steal from her.
“Yes,” she says, swiveling her head so those gorgeous green eyes meet mine.
She doesn’t look mad. Her lips are swollen, and her eyes have this dazed quality to them. I’m thinking mine look the same.
“Really?” I tug on the string again, just before I slide my finger along her delicate jaw. I note the way she shivers. She likes it when I touch her, even if she hates me. “You didn’t seem so mad earlier when your tongue was in my mouth.”
An irritated noise escapes her. “You need to leave.”
“That’s it? You make out with me and now you want me to leave?” I lean in close, dropping my voice to a whisper. “Are you just using me, Ava?”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” The tone of her voice—with that slightly hysterical edge—tells me I should lean away from her, so I do.
“You broke into my family’s cabin,” she continues, and I can tell she’s losing patience with me. I’m surprised she’s put up with my shit this long. I’m surprised even more that she kissed me back. “I woke up to you lying on top of me like some sort of creeper. That’s—it’s not normal. It’s ‘you could get arrested-type’ behavior, Eli.”
“I love it when you say my name,” I say, because it’s true.
She rolls her eyes. “I’m trying to be serious right now. This is freaking insane. You can’t do this sort of thing and believe you’ll always get away with it. Someday, you’re going to get caught.”
She’s not wrong. I know this. Breaking into the Drew Callahan’s cabin during football camp and sneaking into his daughter’s room? Talk about risky. First, my coaches would kill me. I could possibly get kicked off the team. And if her dad found out what I’ve done? He’d have my balls if he knew I was in here right now, thinking of all the ways I could corrupt his daughter.
But like I told her, I had to take my chances. She’s worth the risk. I’ve been interested in her since…shit. My sophomore year, when I saw her sitting in the stands with her mom and friend while watching us play football. Fable Callahan is smokin’ for her age. Then there’s Autumn, who’s also smokin’ hot, but she doesn’t look much like her mom. Well, they’re both short and have big racks, so there’s that.
Ava was just a name. She meant nothing to me.
Until I saw her that night.
She’s identical to her mom. Long blonde hair and green eyes. Bright smile. Taller than her mama. Doesn’t have Autumn’s big ol’ titties either, which i
s a shame.
She’s still undeniably hot. Swear to God, she’s gotten even hotter. Haven’t seen her in the last few months. Not consistently. The occasional Instagram story doesn’t count. And she’s got me blocked on Snapchat, for some reason.
Jake probably has something to do with that.
There’s just something so…mysterious about Ava to me. I see her and automatically wonder what she’s thinking. What’s going on inside her head? What is she up to? What does she like? What does she hate? I want to know everything about her.
And I’m determined to find out everything I can.
“Let me explain,” I murmur. My serious tone must spark something in her because she stares into my eyes, waiting for me to continue. “You were having a bad dream. When I first showed up and walked into your room, yeah I watched you sleep. But then you started to say stuff, like you were having a dream. Or a nightmare. And it was like you were struggling. Fighting against something.”
She’s frowning. I wonder if she remembers her dream.
“I wanted to calm you down so I touched you, but then you really started to thrash around. I climbed on top of you because I worried about your safety.”
“Really?” She sounds doubtful.
“Really.” I nod.
Ava looks away, staring at the closed door. “If my dad found you in my room, you’d be dead.”
“You’re worth it.” Unable to resist, I lean in and drop a kiss on top of her pretty blonde head. “But I should go.”
“Thank God.”
I climb off of her and stand by the side of the bed. She sits up, running her fingers through her hair, tugging on the ends of her ponytail. “This can never happen again.”
“What do you mean?”
“This.” She waves a finger between us. “You and me. It will never work. Jake hates you. And if he hates you, we all have to hate you.”
“Your dad doesn’t hate me,” I say, feeling defensive.
“My dad is trying to do your team a favor, but deep down, he knows you guys will never beat us, so it’s easier for him to justify being nice to you.” She sits up straighter after she threw that little zinger, her expression haughty. Like a princess. “You should go.”
Addicted To Him Page 6
