Page 129 of Her Goal
He pauses and returns the favor. Instead of a half grin, I get a full-blown smolder. Given how heavy his eyes are, it’s safe to say he’s not distracting himself with hockey stats right now.
My voice is smoky when I say, “Remember when you asked what I would do if you kissed me?”
He nods slowly.
“I figured it out. I’d kiss you back.”
His lips quirk. “It’s about time.”
Gaze flickering, I lift my chin. My stomach and skin and everything in between and from top to bottom flares with warmth.
Hudson leans back in. His breath is cool against my skin and when the kiss resumes, his stubble is like fine sandpaper. His palms smooth their way along my sides before he wraps his arms around me, tugging me closer.
The kiss resumes, sliding between intense and tranquil like we’re both assured we’ll do it again.
The enormity of him in height and girth sends me slightly off balance because I can lean into him and not be self-conscious about how tall I am.
We melt together.
Snug against him, I forget about my insecurities about my size. About the past and future.
I was wrong about Hudson. I was wrong about a lot of things.
This kiss definitely means something.
38
HUDSON
Leah surprisesme by turning the tables and taking control of the kiss. It’s wonderfully intense as our mouths press together, our breathing turns staccato, and the electrical current sparks between us.
What else should I have expected?
Certainly not how we sync together.
Then again, maybe I’m mistaken and this is what we’ve been resisting because we both knew once we started, we’d never stop.
She tugs on my shirt and her palms run over the ridges of my muscles like she’s not sure where to land and maybe doesn’t want to.
It’s like we’ve both danced around this desire for weeks. Well, she may have been in denial, but I’ve caught her checking me out. Have noticed lingering looks and felt moments crackling between us.
I’m not sure if she feared she’d be betraying my brother or if it’s something else. Now that she’s mauling me, I say the wait was worth it.
Her hands dig into my hair as she presses herself flush against me, sending my head spinning. My brother is an idiot forpassing up Leah. She’s ferocious in the best kind of way, giving back in the kiss as it deepens and expands.
We don’t run out of gas, though we do slow down and fall into a gentler, smoother pace as we each find our breath, slow the wild groping until my hands grip her jaw and hers lace around my neck. It’s like the initial shock of the kiss had us desperate to give and get whatever we could, but we settle into it together.
For all the sharpness of Leah’s claws, she’s the softest, gentlest kisser now that she realizes I’m not going to try to stop this.
No, I’d like to do this for a long time.
So we do.
Later, while Leah unpacks some of her things, I consider the conversation we had in the living room. I should’ve already told her everything that happened back in high school, but I’d hardly remembered and figured it was irrelevant.
I had no idea I’d hurt Leah so much and feel terrible. This partly explains why she became so sassy and guarded.
She’s always been such a baddy, yet a buddy among the guys that I didn’t think she’d even care, but her feelings run deep. Mine for her, even more so.
