Page 53 of Sinful Promise

She wraps her arms around my neck, and I let my hands trail down her back until I’m gripping her ass through those tiny shorts.

I’m actually in heaven.

“Danil?”

I pull away from Emily at the sound of my brother’s voice.

Or maybe this is hell.

She’s straddling my lap in the middle of his kitchen, her lips swollen from kissing me, and my fingers are currently digging into her ass.

Dimitri’s heavy footsteps head toward us.

“Shit.” I jerk up, and she slides from my lap so fast I have to steady her.

“I should get back to studying,” Emily mumbles without meeting my gaze.

Before I have a chance to apologize for pulling away so quickly, she hurries past me and disappears up the stairs.

Well, fuck.

That was not how I wanted that to end. If anything, I stupidly thought I would carry her upstairs and show her what else I can do with my tongue.

Instead, it looked like I couldn’t break away from her fast enough. Or worse, that I wasembarrassedat the idea of being seen kissing her.

“You fucking idiot, Danil.” I run my fingers through my hair.

The last thing I want Emily to feel is rejected, but I couldn’t risk Dimitri catching us. It would spark too many questions that I’m not sure either of us is ready to answer.

It would just be so much easier if Emily would realize how much I want her.

12

DANIL

I’ve lostcount of the amount of times I’ve reached for my phone to message Emily over the past few days. And each time I type out a message, I end up deleting it. No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to find the right thing to say to her.

I was hoping that she would break the ice first, but she’s been just as silent.

Does that mean she regrets what happened?

Fuck, this is bad.

I can’t remember the last time we went twenty-four hours without talking. Even if it was just a quick text just to check in, I’d still see her name pop up on my phone, and it was enough to bring a smile to my face.

But there’s been nothing.

I miss her so much, and I’ve been driving myself insane trying to figure out what to do. Perhaps I’m just too much of a coward to face her, because when I do, I might also have to face the fact that she might not like me.

At least not in a way that ends up with us walking down an aisle.

Kissing Emily felt sorightin the moment. It was clear we both wanted it, and I have no doubt that it would have gone further if Dimitri hadn’t walked in.

But then I had to go and fuck it all up, and now I’ve ruined our friendship.

This isexactlywhat I was afraid of. If I end up losing Emily because of this, it might just break me.

I need to do something, but I have no idea what.

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