Page 83 of All I Have Left

“Same as always.” His eyes meet mine. “Flirty hello followed by, what are you doing later.” He laughs. “She hasn’t changed much.”

“I hate that bitch.” My heart drops to my stomach. Jealousy is ugly. “I think one of her fake tits is bigger than the other.”

He doesn’t look at her. “I wouldn’t know. Never looked. And you’re adorable when you’re jealous.”

And transparent. Fuck. I scowl in her direction. “Doesn’t she realize we’re together now?”

Tilting his head toward mine, he searches my face, his voice low. “Is that what this is?”

“I mean, yeah, isn’t it?” I fumble over the words, unsure we’re ready to attach a title to this so soon.

“I want it to be.” The faintest smirk ghosts his lips, his cheeks flushed. “But it’s up to you, not me.”

Frustration gnaws at me. “Why don’t you just say what you want? You’re constantly making this about me and I want to know whatyouwant.”

He scrunches his nose in the cutest way. “I don’t think you want to know.”

I actually stomp my foot. “Yes, I do!”

Sighing heavily, he rolls his shoulder on the wall we’re leaning against and turns toward me, his body shielding mine from the crowd. “I want,” his voice lingers in my ear, fading enough that I can hear the shift in his breathing. The coolness of the beer bottle in his hand hits my lower stomach as he backs me up and flat against the wall. “Every man in this room to stop looking at you like they want to fuck you. Me included.”

I find it hard to get out my words, but I manage. “That’s not true. My brother is here. That’s gross.”

“Shut up,” he snaps, but it’s playful, his touch slightly rougher than before. “I’m not finished.”

I laugh, rolling my eyes. “Fine. Continue.”

Licking his lips, he continues, “I want you. All of you. Forever,” he says, his eyes raking down my body, pausing at the hem of my dress before dragging back again until he’s looking at my eyes. Smiling, he cups my cheek with his other hand. “The things I want to do to you should be illegal.” His finger dances over my collarbone and pushes the strap of my dress off my shoulder. “Like right now, you smell so good I want to bury my fucking face between your legs and spend the rest of the night licking those sweet juices I dream about off every square inch of you.”

Maybe it’s the way his breath catches when he says those words, but holy. Shit. Who is this guy and what did he do with the Southern boy who entered the room earlier?

A whole-body shiver works through me.

But he doesn’t relent. He keeps going, his words barely above a whisper but so deliciously rough, they scrape over my skin, leaving traces of the bad boy deep inside him. “I want to make love you to, over and over again. I want to make you my wife. I want you to have my babies, and spend the rest of my life loving only you.”

I stare into his eyes, shaking my head, barely able to breathe.Every touch, every whisper has me panting with a need built on the foundation of wondering what it will feel like to be with him again. “How do you exist in this world?”

“I’m no angel, honey.” He laughs, but it comes out a snort. “Far from it. My thoughts keep me destined for hell.”

I frown at him, wondering what he means by that, though I’m worked up at the same time because though everything he said is sweet, okay, dirty in some ways, but the look in his eyes, that carnal desire bleeding from him is exactly what he’s referring to. There’s so much more he wants but won’t say.

We’re interrupted by Josh’s dad making his way over to us.

Courtney finds me at the same time.

“What do you want?” I ask, downing the beer in my hand. If you haven’t noticed, I can’t stand her. In the distance, Grayson watches us curiously, a smirk on his lips because he knows my feelings.

“Girl.” She giggles and clicks her tongue to the roof of her mouth. “Don’t be like that. So, what’s with you and Grayson?”

I want to say something like we’re madly in love and I’m having his baby. But my answer is less impressive. “We’re fucking,” I lie. “What’s it to you?”

Biting her lip, she bats her lashes at me. “I thought you were with Shane.”

“I haven’t been with Shane since February. He just can’t take no for an answer.”

“Oh, I know how that is.” Her back arches as she sticks out her breasts. She had a boob job recently and thinks everybody needs to see them. Ethan told me there’s a picture of them in the men’s bathroom at The Point, but I don’t know for sure. “He’s relentless.”

For the first time, I wonder what her relationship is with him. “What’s withyouand Shane?”

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