Page 45 of My Hotshot

His grip around me tightened, and then hedidpull me closer. Chest to chest. I felt his breath against my cheek. Mine mingled with his.

“Lainey,” he whispered.

My name. On his lips. That close. It undid something in me.

I didn’t think. I didn’t analyze. I just felt.

I watched his mouth, then looked back into his eyes.

“Kiss me,” I whispered.

Chapter Fifteen

Dice

I wasn’t going to ask her if she really meant it.

I didn’t need to.

I couldfeelthat she did. Hell, I felt it in my chest, in my gut, in the way her voice trembled when she whispered,Kiss me. There’d always been something between us—something magnetic and electric—and after sixteen years, it hadn’t faded. If anything, it had grown stronger. Wiser. Hotter.

So I moved in, and she matched me, like we were syncing up without a single word.

Our lips met, anddamnif it didn’t feel like I was finally home.

Her mouth was soft and warm, a little unsure at first—but only because we were both still hovering at the edge of disbelief. I tilted my head and slid my fingers into her hair, feeling the silky strands curl around my fingers. Her breath caught as I gently tipped her head back, deepening the kiss. She leaned into me, arms winding tight around my shoulders, held on like I was the only thing tethering her to the earth.

And maybe I was.

She tasted like memory and maybe everything I hadn’t let myself want in far too long.

We kissed like time hadn’t passed. Like we hadn’t wasted sixteen damn years. It started soft, sweet, then slowly ignited into something else—something hot and heady and dangerous in the best kind of way.

We didn’t stop until the need for oxygen forced us apart.

Even then, we stayed close, our foreheads pressed together, and our breath tangled together.

“Damn,” I whispered. My voice was rough and wrecked.

Lainey didn’t say anything. Her eyes sparkled, lips swollen, cheeks flushed, and then she jumped.

Literally jumpedonto me.

I had to catch her. My hands gripped the backs of her thighs as she wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. Her mouth crashed against mine again, no hesitation this time. All fire. All need.

I stumbled back a step, hitting the edge of the counter with a grunt, and then caught up. Kissed her like I needed her more than air.

Because in that moment, Idid.

She whimpered against my lips, and I groaned in return. It was wild how fast she could undo me. We moved together like we hadn’t missed a day—like our bodies remembered what our heads were still catching up to.

I turned with her still wrapped around me and set her on the kitchen island. Her arms stayed around me, and her legs tangled with mine to keep me close. I didn’t need the encouragement.

I was already there.

Her hands were in my hair, and her mouth pulled mine open to deepen the kiss again and again. My hands roamed over her thighs, her waist, and her back. I couldn’t keep still. Couldn’t stoptouchingher.

“Lainey,” I muttered against her mouth.

---