Page 25 of Midnight Wishes

‘What?’ she said to Abby, suddenly self-conscious. Suddenly overly aware that they’d lived together for seven years, and Abby could read her like a book.

‘Have you considered thatyoucould use some fun? I know the idea of dating hasn’t thrilled you recently, but it doesn’t have to be that. This room is full of some of the most attractive twenty and thirty-somethings in the city. Find someone hot. Have a repeat of the last time you were here.’

If only Abby knew how accurate a repeat it could be.

But what the hell. Maybe it was time. She left their alcove and immediately locked eyes with a tall brunette with immaculate winged liner. Sarah had noticed her eyes on her every time they’d passed each other.

‘Do you want to dance?’

Half an hourlater, the woman’s hands had drifted over every part of Sarah’s body she could reasonably touch in a public setting—even one as sexually charged as this.

And despite her best efforts to get out of her head—to gethimout of her head—Sarah had absolutely no desire to go any further. There was no desire in her, period. Maybe she was in her luteal phase. She’d check the app when she got home.

Regardless, she didn’t need to waste this girl’s time any more than she already had. The night was still young, and Sarah was sure she could easily be replaced by someone less preoccupied. So she disentangled herself, said she needed a drink, and went to wait at the bar.

A familiar voice brushing her ear made her start, her skin already prickling into goosebumps despite the oppressive heat of the club.

‘Evening, Princess. Want to make some new memories in the bathroom?’

Although his voice was cool as ever, Alex’s usually precise words were, not quite slurred, but soft around the edges. When she turned, she found his eyes even brighter than normal.

‘Are youdrunk?’ she asked.

‘Just enough to take the edge off. You made me watch while someone else got to touch you.’

‘Jealous, Aleksander?’

‘Absolutely.’ It was almost a moan.

She wondered how much of it was genuine. How much was fuelled by the artisanal, small-batch whiskey (yes, it was also vegan and organic) brand acting as one of the night’s sponsors.

But then Alex’s hands came to rest on the counter, one on either side of her, caging her against the bar. ‘I have a confession.’ He leaned in close, lips almost grazing her cheek. ‘One time wasn’t enough for me. Did Wednesday help you get me out of your system? Because all it did was make me want you more.’

He was right, of course. She’d been thinking about it near incessantly, immortalising every visual.

‘You could have anyone in here tonight with minimal effort. Why are you so intent on me?’

‘Maybe I enjoy putting in the effort. Maybe I find it fun that you don’t like me, but we both know you want me.’

So it wasn’t her. It was the thrill of—for probably the first time in his life—needing to work for it.

‘If you’re so desperate for me, why did you immediately start flirting with the first women you saw?’

She realised her mistake the second the words passed her lips.

‘So you were watching.’ His smirk was impossibly wide, dimples popping on both cheeks. She had the frustrating urge to lick them.

Because he was right. Wednesday had done nothing to make the tension between them go away. Instead, she’d spent two days reliving the way his hips had thrust up from below her. The groans in her ear as she scratched his back. His soft hair threading through her fingers as he lapped at her. The gentle but insistent touch of his mouth on her neck.

A greatest hits reel played on repeat while she wore out her vibrator.

When Alex stepped closer, curling his fingers over her hips, she wasn’t as strong as she might have hoped. He was staring into her eyes now, pupils wide. With alcohol, sure, but if the hard length pressing into her leg was anything to go by, a bit with lust, too. He nudged his nose against hers. ‘Answer me.’

She couldn’t. Not with words. Couldn’t say out loud that every moment she spent with him had her resolve crumbling a fraction more. So, like she had in the pub, in his car, she kissed him. Let all the soft parts of her melt against the hard planes of his.

Not her luteal phase then. Just her body being very, very clear about what and who it wanted, she thought, as warmth bloomed below her stomach.

They finally pulled apart when a loud voice cut through the music. ‘Can you two do that somewhere it’s not a health hazard?’

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