Page 53 of Wicked Temptations
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”
“There is no more.” I pushed at his arm. He didn’t move and he was too rock-solid for me to dislodge him. “This is what we do, Ash. We fight on stage, we fuck after, and then we go our separate ways. That’s the deal.”
“I never agreed to a deal.”
“You didn’t have to. It’s implied.”
Ash scoffed and rolled his eyes. “By who? By you? There’s two of us in this, Jude.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Ash.”
The response was instant. Ash growled, his body jerking as he pushed his hand against the door harder. It shook against my back. “Don’t you take that tone with me.” It shouldn’t have been hot, but fuck it was. He’s face was in mine, his breath warm and heavy on my skin and I’d never felt smaller in my life.
“How about your jealous bullshit, huh?” he demanded. “That’s not exactly casual, is it?”
My heart hammered against my ribs. He was saying everything I’d been trying not to think about. Making it real byspeaking it out loud and it was going to curse us. Break us apart and shatter everything we’d built. “You’re overthinking this.”
“You’re under-thinking it!”
“Ash. Just—”
He stepped closer, further closing me in, both hands now bracketing my head.
I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t stay here with him so close while looking at me like that.
And then Ash leaned in.
His mouth ghosted over mine, tentative and questioning, lips parted just enough that I could feel the heat of his breath ghost across my skin. One of his hands slid from the door to cup my jaw, thumb brushing the hollow beneath my cheekbone.
Gentle. Too fucking gentle.
Like I was something fragile he needed to handle with care instead of the disaster I actually was. This wasn’t how we did this. We didn’t kiss like this. We bit and bruised and fought for dominance until one of us gave in. This wasn’t us.
Every part of me wanted to sink into it. To give him what he was asking for. To let this be more than just bodies colliding in the dark.
But that was the trap. That was how people got hurt.
I ducked under his arm and shoved past him, putting distance between us before he could close that final inch.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
He blinked, hand still raised where my face had been a second ago.
“Stop trying to complicate this, Ash. We have a good thing going. Don’t ruin.”
Ash dropped his hand and turned, and only then did I realize my mistake. By moving away, I’d relinquished my spot by the door. The same door that Ash now leaned again, blocking the only exit from the room.
“It’s already complicated.” He sighed, while staring me down.
“Only because you’re making it that way!” We were getting louder. At least I was, my voice raising to a shout that echoed in the tight space of the closet. I needed to get the fuck out of here.
“Only becauseyourefuse to admit what’s going on here.” He took a step towards me, and I mirrored it backwards. “You’re acting like you’re terrified of wanting me.”
The accusation hit too close. My chest tightened, panic clawing its way up my throat. He was right. He was absolutely right and I couldn’t let him be right because wanting him meant vulnerability, and vulnerability meant pain, and I’d already been through that too many times. I’d already failed at this enough for one lifetime.
“I’m not terrified of anything.” I shoved at his chest, all by egging him to fight me. “You just need to quit looking for something that isn’t there. We’re fuck buddies, that’s it.”
“We’re more than fuck buddies and you’re too chickenshit to admit it.”
