Page 27 of Double Trouble

I’m a chickenshit for throwing it back at her… for not making a move until I know. But given my track record, I’m gonna give myself a break for once.

Her eyes soften, and her gaze skates over my body, almost like she’s studying a new course before hopping on.

When her eyes meet mine again, a wicked gleam rests just beyond hazel in her irises. Before I know what’s happening, she pushes to her knees. She throws a leg over my body and slowly rests in my lap. Her hands sear my jawline, her fingers curling into the hair at the nape of my neck. She reels me in as easily as she handles a simple drop-in.

Her hot breath hits my lips, and she stops, leaving me in heart-thumping agony.

“Tanner?”

I answer with a froggy croak that makes her whole body chuckle against me.

“I like you a lot.”

She gives me a sweet smile before closing the gap between our lips.

Tanner’s hair is so frigginsoft. I seriously want to tangle my fingers all up in it till the end of time.

His hands, which have been stone still for at least a full minute, finally lift from the half-pipe and hold my hips. His fingers tickle the skin right above my shorts, making me laugh in the middle of our kiss, but it doesn’t stop us.

He’s been such a rock for me, and he’s that way now… solid and safe. He’s so careful in his movements, almost like he’s afraid I’ll break if he holds me too tight. He should know by now I’m one tough dudette. Just to prove it, I push him to his back, trapping his arms against the floor of the half-pipe. My hair falls against his face, and he spits it from his lips.

“Whoops. I was going for sexy, but this darn hair…” I pile it on top of my head, using my bracelet as a hair tie. I rarely wear it up—doesn’t fit under my helmet.

Tanner tucks a hand under his head, watching me carefully, a crazy look of lust and excitement in his green eyes. It makes me feel sexy, a feeling I rarely have, and my fingers get tangled in my hair in my rush to get back to kissing him.

“I’m stuck,” I say, struggling to free myself. He chuckles underneath me, causing zaps and pings to pop off in my lower abdomen. He sits up and checks my mess out.

“What in the world…?”

“I know. I don’t know how to girl right.”

“Yes, you do.” He tugs on the strands, and I wince as little baby hairs rip from my head, but my hand gets freed. My hair falls over my shoulders, and Tanner slips my bracelet back on my wrist. “I don’t mind the hair. Just keep it out of my mouth.”

“Check.” I wrap my arms around his shoulders and press my lips against his again. It’s been too long already since they were together.

His confidence must be rising; he tucks his hands on my upper thighs, right under my ass, and he pulls me onto his lap, cinching me into the perfect spot to get butterflies to burst through my stomach. I bite his bottom lip in response, and a groan I never thought I’d elicit from him rumbles between our mouths.

Okay, it’s official. I’m a selfish person. I’m a damn selfish girl, because I shouldn’t be using him like this. Yes, I like him. Yes, I like him more than I like other people. And yes, I’m terrified of losing yet another person I care about, so I dove in faster than I intended. Faster than I think I can run.

Kissing him is erasing so many worries running wild under my skin. I don’t want it to end, even though I know I won’t have time for a relationship. I won’t be able to give as much as he wants or deserves. I won’t be able to commit.

But I’ll want to kiss him every time I see him now. I know it. He’ll open the door for me to sneak in, and I’ll jump into his arms. Forget the boarding time. I’ve done a million things on this half-pipe and none of them have felt as good as this.

One of his hands moves the fringe on the bottom of my shirt and slides up my back, and it shuts off my brain for good. My head falls back, and he loves on my neck, pressing kisses to all the right spots.

When was the last time I had sex? It’s a stray thought that zips to the forefront of my mind, and I wish it would go away. I cannot have sex with him on this dirty half-pipe. I cannot have sex with him while we’re technically trespassing. And I cannot have sex with him if I’m not committing myself fully to a relationship.

Tanner is not a booty call.

“Can we… can we slow down?” I manage to breathe out.

Tanner freezes immediately, and instead of easing down, he tosses an entire bucket of ice water over our heads.

“Yes, yes, sorry.” He practically throws me from his lap, then scoots three feet away. I’m still coming down from the high of his kisses that I have to blink a few times to get my bearings.

“I didn’t say stop,” I say through a breathy laugh. Red tinges his neck and ears, and he makes a “whoops” face that is so darn cute I want to toss out the rule book and get back on the fast track to selfish city.

“Sorry.” He shakes his head, his hair an absolute makeout mess. “I just… I’ve had a tendency to… rush things.”

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