Page 21 of Kiss Me Ever After
Justin moved closer, the pad of his thumb drawing a line around my jaw before returning to my lips. My tongue darted out, licking the tip of his thumb.I wanted his lips on mine.The woody aroma of his aftershave, mixed with whisky, tickled my nostrils, the scent – or was it his closeness – making me light-headed. Now wouldn’t be the time to pass out. He slid a hand around my waist, resting in the small of my back and pulled me flush against him. I let out a small gasp as I landed against the hardness of his torso, almost melting into his chest.
“Lennon,” he murmured again.
His hands cupped my face, tipping my head to look up at him. I could drown in those brown and gold pools.What a way to go…
Gently, almost in slow motion, he bent his head and met my lips, the kiss tentative and tender. I reached up and wound my arms around his neck, my hands tangling in his hair, drawing him into me to deepen the kiss.
My eyes fluttered shut in utter bliss. I lost myself in the moment, forgetting everything that had gone before us, today, last summer… I lost myself in every single insinuation of Justin Navarro’s lips on mine.
His kiss was everything I had imagined it to be, and oh so much more.
I trembled as his tongue slid between my lips, my core on fire from such a small action.
“Justin.” I sighed against him, not wanting the kiss to end, wanting to take it further, wantingmore.
Then, with no warning, he drew back. His brown and gold eyes fixed on me, not saying a word.
“Justin?”
Confusion flitted across his face. He bit his lip. “I… have to go.”
“But you haven’t finished your drink.” He couldn’t leave like this again.
“Another time,” he said. “Make sure you get some rest.”
And he fled from the room. I heard the front door slam and rushed to check he had really gone, only to see him running along the road away from the house. For good measure, I locked the door and leant back against it, before crumpling into a heap on the floor.
I couldn’t quite believe history was repeating itself.
9
Justin
My lungs burnedas I ran up the hill towards home. Not least because the incline was a slow one, designed to test even the strongest of runners, and because it wasreally fucking difficult to run with a hard-on.
I had just kissed Lennon Cole.
After all the near misses, all the almost kisses. But instead of taking things further, I’d run away. My mind whirled, remembering the softness of her lips, the way her body fitted against mine, howrightit all felt.
I stopped for a moment and bent over, screwing my eyes closed, recalling every single second of having her in my arms, having my lips against hers,having everything I’d always dreamed of.
Fuck.
Wrestling with a confusing train of thoughts, I set off again, pushing myself harder and harder. I gasped air as I hit the peak, slowing to a stop at the entrance to the block of flats and taking a few moments before heading in. No one would suspect anything was wrong. No one would know that I had just been at Lennon Cole’s house with one thing on my mind. I shook my head, trying to bring all parts of my body back to normal.
When I opened the front door, the usual wall of noise hit me. Mum’s TV show battled against Ted’s radio. Neither of them was prepared to give in and switch off, so I lived in a constant cacophony of talk shows, quizzes and country music.
“Where have you been, Justin?” Mum asked the moment I got into the front room. “I thought you were out with Alex, but he came by wondering why you weren’t here.”
“Apparently you were going out for beers tonight. Again.” Ted tutted.
I refrained from taking the bait. Ted always tried to make me out as a bad boy to Mum—sotransparent—it was as if hewantedto get rid of me. Seriously, I couldn’t wait to be out of there.
“You really should tell your Mum what you’re doing. She’s been slaving in the kitchen to get you some dinner sorted and then you turn up hours later than planned,” Ted lectured. “You should show her more respect.”
Same old broken record.
I ignored him and went over to Mum and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry. I got, um, side-tracked.” I debated whether to tell them about the incident at the cafe. Gossip was rife in Ealynn Sands, and if it wasn’t already over half the social media accounts in town, it soon would be. “There was a robbery at the Blue Goose. I stopped to help out.”
