Page 50 of Make Your Shot
“No, none of that is okay with me,” he says, his voice quiet as his eyebrows pull tighter together. He slowly turns to face me, leaning forward as he grabs the leg of my lounge chair and pulls me closer. He drags it across the stamped concrete until the corner of mine is between his legs. He scoots to the edge, his knees pressing against mine. “I’m sorry for letting you walk away. I’m sorry if I led you to believe it meant nothing to me.”
My heart skips a beat and my breath catches in my throat. “What?”
“I don’t regret kissing you, Mia.” His throat bobs, his eyes slowly searching mine. “I regret letting you think I did.”
“But you’ve been avoiding me,” I tell him, my voice barely audible as his admission sinks deep into the fibers of my being. “You’ve barely spoken to me since that night.”
His nostrils flare. “Because all of this is fucking with my head, pup.” His tongue darts out to wet his lips and he pinches them together momentarily. “When I’m around you, I don’t think about her as often and I’m not sure what to do with that.”
My eyes bounce back and forth between his. This is the moment where I should walk away. Caleb Ford is the furthest thing from healed and I have no business thinking I can be the person to help guide him through that. I’ve never lost anyone in my life, I don’t know the first thing about how it feels to try and move pastthe grief and guilt and all the emotions that come with it.
“I don’t want to be a problem for you,” I whisper.
“That’s not what I meant,” he says in a rush. He lets out a breath, running a ragged hand through his hair. “I tried dating about two years ago and it just wasn’t for me. But with those women, it felt different than whatever this is between you and me,” he says, dropping his hands to his knees. His fingers brush against my own, which sends a tingle up my arm. Warmth radiates off him through the material of my sweatpants. “I’m not ready for anything serious and honestly, I don’t know if I ever will be.”
My mind plays back what Willow said.It doesn’t have to be serious. It can just be for the plot, for the fleeting moment passing through time.Caleb doesn’t have to become a permanent fixture. Instead, he can just be a short chapter. A piece of my past.
And for some reason, that feels like a complete disservice to this broken man in front of me.
“I’ve never done casual before,” I admit to him, tucking my hair behind my ears again. I drop my own hands to my thighs, my fingers reaching toward Caleb’s. The tips of his find mine and he slides them against the pads of my fingers until my hand unfurls for him. When our palms touch, he laces our fingers together and gives my hand a little squeeze . “But it’s not something I’m against trying.”
The corners of his mouth twitch as he rolls his wrists, moving his other hand to cradle mine. “I can’t stop thinking about you, pup.” A shiver slithers downmy spine. “I need you, but you need to know—I can never give you more than stolen moments when I’m home. It can never be anything more than physical.”
My stomach flutters, my heart racing inside my chest. “I’m not interested in anything serious,” I tell him what he needs to hear, the words tasting foreign on my tongue.Will I be able to keep it casual?
His eyes burn into mine, his throat bobbing as I inch to the edge of my lounge chair.
My knees press against the insides of his thighs. He breathes out, a low groan vibrating in his throat as my tongue darts out to lick the lies from my lips.
“I don’t want anything more.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CALEB
Any logical thought evaporates my mind when my hands reach for the sides of her face as I lift myself from my lounge chair. Mia reaches for me, her hands grabbing at my sweatshirt as I slip my hands behind her head, my fingers plunging through her hair. It’s so soft and slips through my fingers like water.
Mia leans back, tipping her chin up to look at me with lust filled eyes. I pause to take her in. A ragged breath escapes me as I take my time to search her irises. Looking for any sign of hesitation.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” I murmur, my voice barely audible as my gaze drops down to her plump pink lips with their perfect Cupid’s bow.
“No,” she breathes before she glides her tongue along those perfect lips to wet them. Her hands push up the bottom hem of my sweatshirt, and I suck in a sharp breath when her fingers dance across my flesh, sending goose bumps up my torso. “We probably shouldn’t.”
My eyelids fall shut, a groan vibrating in my throat. There’s no place for rationality right now. If I’m going to live my life, I can’t second guess every move I make. That defeats the whole purpose of just living. I take another slow deep breath through my nose to try to calm myself down.
Opening my eyes, they immediately meet her hooded gaze. “Fuck it,” I growl as I lower my mouth to hers. She inhales sharply and there’s a moment of hesitation as I begin to move my lips against hers before she responds. She works her lips against mine, kissing me back as her fingers continue to trail along my skin.
I inch closer, lips locked together as I begin to lower her down onto the lounge chair until she’s lying flat on her back. I crawl over her, settling between her legs as my tongue slides along the seam of her mouth. Mia doesn’t hesitate this time and they immediately open, granting me access inside.
Warmth builds in the pit of my stomach and I feel blood rushing between my legs, my already hard cock throbbing against her center. I can’t help myself as my body reacts to the warmth between her legs. A low moan sounds from my chest and I shift my hips forward, pressing my erection against her.
Mia nails dig into my back, biting into my flesh as she moans against my mouth. Her tongue is like silk, tangling with mine as she winds herself inside the fibers of my very being.
She kisses me with an intensity that has my toes curling, body trembling. The cool air of the early morning skates across my skin, a stark contrast to theheat blooming inside my body as she pushes my shirt up farther.
As her hands move up along my shoulders, I break apart from her, coming up for air as I rock back to sit on my heels. Mia’s breathless, her hair splayed out around her head, the bottom of her shirt pushed up above her belly button. I stare down at her before pulling both of my shirts off and tossing them onto the ground beside us.
“Should we go inside?” she murmurs, lifting herself up as she reaches to touch my stomach. A shiver dances down my spine, more goose bumps breaking out across my skin as she trails her fingers along the ridges of my abdomen.
