Page 69 of Tourist Trap

“But then Paul beat me to it, and I wasn’t going to step in because I thought you were happy, and that’s all I wanted for you. But make no mistake about it, you were always supposed to be mine. My biggest fucking regret is not running across the beach two years ago and going for what I’ve always wanted—you.”

My mind flashes to that Memorial Day party, when June and I looked across the beach to see Grant, Miles, and Paul. June laughed that maybe this would be the year Miles pulled his head out of his ass, but I told her there was no way he would ever be into me.

That was the night Paul came over and used all the right lines until I was putty in his hands, a feeling that carried over for too long.

I also remember the look of pain and regret I thought I saw flashing in Miles’s eyes the next morning.

“Oh my god,” I whisper, eyes wide.

“I never hated you flirting with me, never thought it was annoying: I was mad that I wouldn’t let myself act on it. I didn’t want you changing your life for some idiot mechanic in a small town waiting at home at night for you to call. I want you so fucking bad, I can’t think straight. I go to work and I wonder what you’re doing. When I come home and you’re not there, the house feels empty. Seeing you at my kitchen table eating your shit cereal that’s going to rot your teeth out makes my fucking morning. When I think about you leaving in the fall, I get downright depressed. You think I think you’re childish and flighty, but in truth, I envy how you never care what anyone thinks, so long as it makes you happy. I wish I could be like that. I wish I could be like you, Claire, but the truth is, I’d much ratherhaveyou.”

”Oh,” I whisper, heart pounding and overwhelmed with what he’s saying.

“So here’s what I have to know: are you able to forgive me? Can you get over my being so fucking blinded by whatIthoughtyouneeded that I almost let you walk away from me? Or did I come to my senses in time to not lose you?”

I stand there, pinned between the door and his body, the warm summer air ghosting along my skin as his big towering body pins me in place, his brown eyes staring me down, and for the first time, I see there’s nothing there: no walls, no denial, no worries and concerns. Just pure fucking longing and need and something else under there that’s been simmering for years that I don’t think either of us would be ready to name.

Some sane part of my mind warns me he might change his mind in the morning. That this might just be the consequence of him seeing me with another man. It wouldn’t be the first time we took one step forward and three steps back, after all.

But like I always do, I trust my gut and decide to jump.

“It’s not too late.”

TWENTY-FOUR

CLAIRE

I barely even get that final word out when his lips are on mine, and instantly, I know this is different. There’s no hesitation, no hint ofshould we be doing this. Just his lips on mine, my hands pulling him tighter so I can get him as close as feasibly possible.

One hand moves to my hip, tugging me in closer, and the other fumbles behind me on the doorknob, attempting to turn it as he continues to kiss me. I let out a giggle as the door opens, stumbling back, but he catches me, a similar smile on his own lips.

We move through the door, and as soon as we’re inside, he slams it closed with my back, pressing me there and grinding into me. My lips move to his neck as he locks the door behind us before the hand not holding my ass moves to my chin, redirecting me to his lips, where he kisses me again.

It’s heaven, and it’s heated, and it’s everything I knew this moment would be if we ever managed to finally get here. His lips start to move down my neck, the scrape of his mustache sending more heat ricocheting through me as he nips and sucks down the column of my neck. My fingers twine in his hair as he trails kisses down to my clavicle, his tongue running along the bone there.

“Miles,” I whisper, and I feel his smile against my skin more than I see it. “I need you.” He lets out a pleasure-filled breath, the heat of it coasting along my skin as his fingers play at the hem of my tank. “Please.” I don’t even know what I’m asking for, but I’ll take whatever he will give me.

He tugs the pretty tank top I wore on my date up, revealing my breasts in a bra, and he audibly groans, like the sight alone has done him in. It sends a rush of wet between my legs as his thick finger grazes along the seam of my bra, my breath hitching.

“Yes,” I whisper, afraid that if I speak anything else aloud, I’ll ruin the moment.

“So fucking pretty,” he groans, leaning forward from where he’s now on one knee to press a kiss to one swell.

“Do you want me to—” I’ll do anything right now if he takes this further. Absolutelyanything.

“No, no. I’ve been dreaming about unwrapping you for years, Claire. Let me have this.” I can’t help but let out a small laugh at that, but it’s swallowed by a moan when he tugs one bra cup down and wraps his lips around my nipple.

He tongues the needy bud, and my chest arches into him, one of his hands going to the bare skin of my back to hold me there. His teeth graze along them before he pulls back, then sends a cool shot of air from parted lips to coast over the nipple.

“Oh, god,” I groan, my hand on the back of his neck moving to get him closer. A deep chuckle leaves his lips when he doesn’t budge.

“Oh, this is going to be fun,” he says low, almost as if he’s talking to himself.

“Miles,” I say, but his name gets caught in my throat when he moves to the next breast, pulling the cup down and sucking the nipple into his mouth in the same moment. “Ahh!” I pull his head further into me, and he bites down on my nipple, more wetness soaking my already ruined panties.

As he sucks, his hand moves up my calf to my inner thigh beneath my skirt. I attempt to subtly shift my legs wider, needing more, needing everything. He chuckles against my breast, and I groan at the vibration, my hips rocking forward to try and get some kind of relief.

His hand begins brushing along the sensitive skin of my upper thighs before his mouth shifts to the other nipple again. I let out a groan, and he looks up at me.

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