Page 34 of Wish You Would

I throw back the tequila, the liquor a welcome burn as it slides down my throat. After everything that has happened tonight—Holden’s lingering gazes, his hand on my leg—I’m feeling unnerved. My brain only gets hazier when he leans into my side and whispers, “Looks like I’m about to find out what happens to my girlfriend when she drinks tequila.”

I study him. The alcohol has loosened my inhibitions. “So, I’m your girlfriend now?” I ask him.

“Isn’t that what we agreed to?”

I watch his expression darken, the freckle under his left eye pulling my attention away for just a second before my gaze drifts to his mouth.

I’m feeling a buzz from the alcohol, which is why I take things one step further. “I wanna hear you call me your girlfriend again.”

He starts to say something, but the sound of Tucker’s chair sliding back over the concrete patio interrupts the moment.

Tucker pulls Daisy on to the dance floor and the rest of our friends follow soon after. It doesn’t take long for the small dance floor to be full of swirling bodies. I watch my friends move to the sounds of 90’s songs with a smile on my face and happiness in my heart, feeling grateful to have this group of people in my life.

I feel Holden stretch his arm across the back of my chair. If I knew what was good for me, I wouldn’t melt back into him. I wouldn’t inch even closer. But that’s exactly what I do.

It feels good.

It feels right.

I feel safe.

And while the tequila may have something to do with the warm feeling that is spreading through my body, I know it’s a lot more than that.

“Do you wish you were dancing?” Holden murmurs in a low, lazy tone.

I turn my head to the side, looking at him under the fringe of my lashes. “I’m pretty happy right here where I am.”

His eyes widen, and I see the flash of heat in them. Butterflies come to life in my stomach. When is that going to stop happening? I keep thinking that the more time I spend with him, the sooner these fluttery feelings will dissipate, but if anything, the opposite is happening. They seem to only be intensifying.

“Like something you see?” he asks, eyebrows raised.

I roll my eyes. “I was just appreciating the view… of therestaurant.”

He laughs, and something about it is incredibly sexy. I’m trying not to overthink things but the way he’s looking at me with that smirk and those twinkling green eyes has me off balance.

“Nice try. You were staring at me, Bee. And I think you were liking what you see.”

My eyes narrow. “Was not.”

Holden leans into me, so close that the woodsy scent of his cologne just about makes me forget my own name. “Tell your boyfriend what you were thinking about when you were checking him out.”

It’s my turn to push his buttons. So that’s exactly what I do when I decide to tell him exactly what I was thinking. “The way you are with your friends is so damn hot.”

“What else?”

The arm he has wrapped around me tightens as I swivel in my seat so that I’m facing him. His eyes sear into mine, heavy with heat and appreciation. His other hand rises to my face, sweeping my hair behind my ear. The feeling of his fingertips sends a shiver of desire through me. When his gaze dips to my mouth, I feel a spark of electricity between my thighs.

“I was thinking I like it when you touch me.”

“Funny… I like touching you.”

“Have you thought about doing more?”

“Bee, the things I’ve thought about doing to you should be illegal.”

I bite my lip at the same time my eyes go wide. So, he does want me just as much as I want him.

“I don’t understand what’s going on between the two of us.” As soon as the words leave my lips, I feel a mixture of relief and trepidation. Holden has been so hard to read. “Tell me what you’re really thinking, Holden.”

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