Page 75 of The Best Kind of Forever
Hayes’ smile liquifies my insides. “Aeris, this is incredible. Thank you.”
He plants a chaste kiss on my lips before I can respond, but the obnoxious howling of our friends makes us pull apart sooner than I would’ve liked.
Gage cups one hand around his ear. “So, Hayes, you’d say that this birthday party was a success then?”
Hayes rolls his eyes. “Yes, Gage, the party was asuccess,” he says in exasperation.
Gage hums happily as he pats himself on the back.
“Even though a lot of you”—he fixes a narrowed look a Kit and Gage—“get on my nerves, you’re family. And I’m so grateful for every one of you.”
Family. Not even second family, butfamily.I haven’t had a family in the longest time, and never in a million years would I have thought it would consist of a group of hockey players. But sharing in this love, being here with everyone, it closes the empty hole inside of me that my parents left when they abandoned me. And there’s a part of me that isn’t so scared of the future anymore.
* * *
After we dropFaye off at the airport, Hayes and I start cleaning up. The guys offered to help, but I wasn’t opposed to some alone time with my boyfriend.
I push some of the empty containers into a large trash bag, keeping my eye on Hayes as he reaches up to take down a nest of streamers.
“Did you have fun?” I ask.
Hayes gives me a panty-melting simper. “This was one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had.”
“Really?”
He crosses the space between us, his hands on my waist as he pulls me into him. “Really. And it was all because you were here,” he says.
“I think you’re giving me too much credit.”
“Well, I mean, there issomethingyou could do that would make my birthday better.”
I smack my forehead. “Oh, shoot. We never set the chocolate sauce out, did we?”
I strut over to the fridge, deliberately swaying my hips from side to side, and I can feel Hayes’ eyes on my ass the entire time. I dig around to pull out the Saran-wrapped bowl of chocolate sauce that Josie had whipped up from scratch, and I place it on the dining table.
Hayes takes the seat closest to me. Heat thickens across the back of my neck when I glance down at his legs.
“Spoons?”
He doesn’t say anything, so I go ahead and open the drawer, grabbing two spoons.
Instead of sitting beside him, I wrap one arm around his neck and lower myself onto his lap. A low groan makes its way out of him.
Stay cool, Aeris. Stay cool.
I peel back the thin plastic layer on top, dipping my spoon in and gathering a little pool of cocoa. The minute I turn toward Hayes, he wraps his lips around the bowl of the spoon, looking up at me through his thick lashes.
Oh, dear Lord. I’m in trouble.
His mouth detaches from the spoon with apop, and he leans back in his chair, a cocksure grin on his face. Can humans smell pheromones? I hope they can’t, otherwise I’d reek of desperation right now.
My thumb instinctively comes up to wipe a dreg of chocolate from the corner of his mouth, but he grabs my wrist before I can fully pull back my arm, lapping at my digit with the snap of his tongue.
Oh, God. How am I already soaked? Does just being in Hayes Hollings’ presence make girls instantly wet? It must be some kind of superpower of his.
He slowly unbuttons the first few buttons on my blouse, revealing the red, lacy bra cupping my breasts. My nipples feel especially sensitive, and I wouldn’t mind feeling the heat from his mouth engulf them.
“Shit, Aeris. You have no idea how much I want to fuck your tits right now—how good my dick would look sliding between them,” he growls.
