Page 105 of Resisting the Temptation
Izzy rolls her eyes. “Please don’t think you have to spare the details because of me. I lost my virginity as soon as I got to Texas.”
“Isabelle!” Elli scolds, but Hannah and I chuckle.
“Ohpuh-lease,Els. You think I can’t hear you and Wes through the walls of our shared apartment?” Izzy drops her voice to mimic Wes’s. “So good for me, baby. You like it when I spank this—”
Elli smacks her palm over Izzy’s mouth, her face red as a tomato while Hannah and I crack up laughing.
“We don’t need a reenactment of my sex life, Iz.”
Izzy must lick Elli’s palm because she pulls back with a gag and wipes her hand on Izzy’s arm while Izzy grins deviously.
My heart lurches. I envy their relationship. I’m not close with any of my sisters.
“I’m just saying, Emma doesn’t need to be so vague. It’s clear there’s sexual tension between them. I’d be shocked if theyhadn’tfucked—sorry for the language, Talmage.”
Talmage’s face is a little pink, but he just waves her off. “All good. Tonight, I’m one of the gals—uh, you know what I mean.”
“Fine, we’re just friends with benefits,” I finally admit.
Hannah snorts. “Right. All friends with benefits make a twelve-hour drive to a different state for a funeral of a person they didn’t know. Emma, that man does not want to be your friend. He wants you to take his last name.”
“We agreed this is only sex. There’s no way he sees me as more. He knows—and you all know—I don’t do relationships. As soon as we’re sick of each other, we’ll end it. No harm, no foul.” I don’t even believe myself at this point.
“And then what? You’ll just see each other every day at work and pretend nothing happened?” Elli asks.
I truly haven’t thought that far ahead. I haven’t wanted to. I haven’t wanted to think about this ending because I know it’s going to hurt like a bitch. It’s going to wreck me, and I’ll have to go on like nothing ever happened.
I swallow a sip of the hard cider I never finished at dinner. “Yeah. Probably.”
“Emma, you’re being dumb,” Izzy deadpans.
I scoff. “Okay,rude.I’m not being dumb.”
“Then at the very least you have blinders on because I agree with Hannah,” Elli chimes in. “You didn’t see the way he was looking at you at dinner.”
“H-how was he looking at me?”
“The same way Wes looks at Elli. The same way Morgan looks at Hannah. But not the same way Luke looks at Izzy only because I think comparing him to a nineteen-year-old is a little weird. No offense,” Talmage says the last part to Izzy, and she just waves off his apology.
That can’t be true. Can it?
Wes looks at Elli like every love song in existence was written specifically for her. Morgan looks at Hannah like she hung the moon. Both men are completely obsessed with their partners.
“We haven’t even kissed,” I blurt out, and all four jaws drop.
“What do youmeanyou haven’t even kissed? How are you fucking if you aren’t kissing?” Izzy shrieks. It’s still weird to hear her curse.
“You don’t have to kiss to have sex. We just… skip that part and get straight to the good stuff. I haven’t kissed anyone in four years, and it works just fine.”
“Fouryears?” they all say in unison.
“It’s not that big of a deal!” I state.
“Making out is the best part of foreplay! When the kisses turn messy and harsh, all lips and teeth and tongue. When touches get greedy and desperate…” Elli trails off, her eyes taking on a glassy look.
Talmage’s face is turning redder by the second, and I’m wondering if he regrets staying now.
“I have to agree. Kissing is severely underrated. And I’ve only kissed two people in my entire life,” Hannah adds.
