Page 86 of Never Will I Ever

His smirk spreads into a full-blown grin, eyes twinkling from the filthy promise.

“Looking forward to it.”

Twenty-Three

Kaleb

“You know, rule breaking looks good on you. Maybe you should do it more often.”

Shifting my attention from where I’ve just rehidden the lodge’s spare key, I find Avery watching me with a predatory gleam in his eyes. He grins and pushes off the deck railing he’d been leaning against, approaching with a panther-like prowl.

My throat bobs as I swallow, and I shove the back door to the lodge open.

“You really shouldn’t be encouraging bad behavior in a place like this. Think of the children!”

Laughter bursts out of him, way louder than it should at this time of night, and I instantly slap my palm over his mouth. My reaction only has him laughing more, so I keep my hand firmly in place until his hysterics subside.

“That wasn’t meant to be funny,” I hiss when I finally release him.

“Oh, but it was.”

“It wouldn’t be if you got us caught.”

Another soft chuckle leaves him, and he lets out a hum that’s far more seductive than it should be. “Well, good thing there aren’t any kids around to catch us.”

With that, he steps past me and through the open doorway.

The idiot I am, I follow him into the darkened halls of the lodge until we reach the kitchen. It’s only once we’re inside, the door closed behind us, that I risk flipping on the light.

Avery doesn’t wait, instantly taking off toward the cupboardsin search of snacks, and I have to rein in my amusement.

“No, no. You’re not gonna find anything out here.”

He casts a dubious glance over his shoulder, but when I motion for him to leave the cabinets alone and join me across the room at another door, he follows.

Pulling the door open, I reveal the small walk-in pantry and usher him inside.

The pantry isn’t all that large, barely big enough to fit three people with the door closed, with floor-to-ceiling shelves on one side and a countertop with cabinets on the other. The cabinets are where the kitchen staff stores most of the counter-top appliances and spare tin foil, plastic wrap, that kind of shit. Meanwhile, the shelves have tons of food lining them; everything from baking supplies to canned fruit and vegetables to what we actually came here for.

Junk food.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding all the good shit,” he mutters, aiming a knowing glance in my direction. “I think I’m even more annoyed you keptthisfrom me over the Wi-Fi password.”

I snort, shaking my head. “You had to earn the spoils of war, Reynolds. I wasn’t gonna just hand them over willy-nilly.”

“You’re such a fucking dick sometimes.”

With that, he’s back to focusing on the task at hand: snack raiding.

His hands immediately land on two single serving bags of salt and vinegar chips before looking in the basket of chocolates and candy. After a few moments of digging, he pulls out a handful of Tootsie Rolls and Rolos.

“Salty and sweet,” I muse, eyeing the items he snatched from the shelves in approval. “Solid choices, I must admit.”

“The superior combo.”

Just like us.

The thought has my brain screeching to a halt, because what the fuck is my brain on right now? There’s nouswhen it comes to me and Avery. It’s just sex. Getting each other off and, hopefully, getting him past the backward way of thinking his stupid bigot of a father instilled in him. Anything more than that is off the table.

---