Page 67 of That Kind of Guy

“Pretty sure we need to leave room for Jesus,” she murmured below my ear.

“This isn’t a Catholic school.” One hand was on her lower back, the other was between her shoulders, running my fingers over her smooth skin. She sighed and relaxed against me.

“This is nice.” Her head came to my shoulder.

My heart twisted again in the best way. I was floating, standing here in a school gym that smelled like sweat and Axe body spray, with the most beautiful, funny, infuriating woman I had ever met tucked against me. I wracked my brain for when I had ever felt like this before and came up with nothing.

I pressed my mouth onto the top of her head, and the realization hit me.

After the election was over, Avery and my agreement would finish, and whatever this was that we were doing, it would end.

No more making out in the kitchen or against the car. No more dinners. No more of her teasing me with pictures of the turtle rescue.

My arms gripped her tighter and she made a little noise of contentment against my chest.

I didn’t want this to end. The thought shocked me as it rippled through my head, but it was the truth. I enjoyed spending time with Avery, even when she was pissing me off or pushing my buttons. I couldn’t wait to see her. My pulse picked up whenever we touched. I thought about her constantly, not just thoughts about sinking my cock into her and making her writhe with an orgasm, but I thought about her at her restaurant, how cute she looked when she was focused on something, how pretty her hair was, and how much I liked it when she made fun of me.

Shit.

My fingers paused in her hair and my throat tightened.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. I didn’t do this kind of thing. I wasn’t this kind of guy. This was a Will thing to do. I was Emmett Rhodes, unattached, bachelor for life.

After the election, my life with Avery was a big blank. One big wash of unknown. Would we stay together? Would we break up and only see each other once in a while around town? My chest tightened at the idea of not seeing her almost every day, but the idea of staying married, being marriedfor realsent a streak of panic through me.

I didn’t know what I wanted.

When Will and Nat got together, he knew exactly what he wanted. He had everything planned out, even from eighteen years old. They’d finish college, they’d get married, they’d save for a few years, and then they’d start a family.

I had no plan. I had no clue what I wanted. All I knew was that I wanted Avery.

There was a flash and Avery lifted her head. Miri inspected the photo on her camera with a smile. “Just perfect.”

“Do you need help?” Avery asked and I pulled her closer. I didn’t want to help. I just wanted to sway here with her pressed up against me until the early hours of the morning.

Miri waved a hand. “We’re fine for now. Come find me once we start cleaning up.”

Avery’s head returned to my chest and the song played on. When it ended and an upbeat tune began, she lifted her head and gave me a huge smile. “I love this song.”

I shrugged my jacket off and tossed it onto a nearby chair. “Show me your moves, Adams.”

We danced for an hour, but it felt like ten minutes. Song after song, some slow and some fast, we moved around that dance floor, surrounded by awkward teenagers who laughed at us. Avery didn’t care, so I didn’t care. All that mattered was that she was having fun.

At one point, the photographer’s lineup had disappeared, so I convinced Avery to get our photo taken.

“This is awkward.” She shook with laughter as I made her stand behind me and place her hands on my waist.

“It’s supposed to be awkward, Adams. I thought you wanted me to have the full prom experience.”

The camera flash went off and the photographer laughed. “One more, for the heck of it.”

I turned, tilted Avery’s chin, and dropped a kiss on her mouth. Another flash went off, and I should have broken off the kiss there, but I didn’t. My tongue slid against the seam of her mouth and she opened up so I could taste her. One hand was behind her head as leverage, the other on her ass. I gripped and she exhaled into me. My cock stiffened again.

The photographer cleared her throat. “Next.”

Avery broke away first. A blush grew on her cheeks. “Sorry.” She wore a dazed look as she pulled me back to the dance floor.

When the prom was over and the kids had gone home, Avery and I hung back to clean up.

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