Page 208 of Composed
My mouth twitches at the reminder of the words I said that very first day. “No. That’s not it.”
“Then why?”
“Because you told me your friends called you Hendrix.” I inch forward as her mouth drops open. “I knew from the second I saw you I could never be just your friend.”
I stop when our shoes touch.
“How could I, when you traipsed into that classroom with all those fucking piercings, named a metal guitarist as the greatest of all time, and stole my breath away with a single look?”
She reaches her hand out, pinching the sleeve of my jumper between her finger and thumb.
“I’ve been in love with you since I was fourteen years old,” she says, pushing up onto her tiptoes and tugging me down until we’re eye to eye. “You’re not one of many choices for me, Cole.” Gold flickers in her misty irises. “You are the only choice.”
I wrap my hand around her hip.
Water seeps into my already icy skin, but I don’t pull away. “Rixie—”
“Iloveyou.” She breathes, her mouth slanting over mine. “I’ve loved you for half of my life. I tried not to. God knows, I fucking tried. But there’s no escaping you. You’re a part of me.”
I cup her rosy, wind-whipped cheek.
“If we do this, you can’t walk away, Rixie.” I slip a hand through her hair, my fingers grazing her nape. “When it gets hard, and itwillget hard at times. You can’t just disappear. We can’t live in a cycle.”
“I know. There’s a lot of things I need to deal with and face if we’re going to figure this out properly.” She presses a feather-light kiss to my lips. “Probably need a fuck ton of therapy, if we’re being honest.”
I chuckle at her dry tone, my forehead brushing hers. “Yeah, probably.”
“You’re not supposed to agree.” She grins.
I squeeze her hip, and she shivers.
My eyes slide shut as she runs her palm along my cheek. Her breath heats my skin, her eyes wet as they search the depths of mine.
I drag her closer. “What the fuck am I gonna do with you, Rixie Moore?”
“Love me,” she whispers, kissing the corner of my mouth. “Always.” The other corner. “Forever.” My lower lip. “And even after.”
She steals my breath as she claims my lips.
Her fingers sink into my hair, nails skating over my scalp, and I fucking tremble. I snake my arm around her back and lift her into me. Her legs lock around my waist.
I move without thought.
She gasps when I prop her on the edge of the half-pipe.
I slide my tongue in her mouth and tangle it with hers.
She trails her hand down my jumper before pushing it under and over my thumping heart. Her fingers are like ice.
I nip her lips, she moans, and I shift.
My hips buck against her.
I press open-mouthed kisses along her jaw, up her cheek, and over her earlobe.
“Do you remember when we were eighteen, and we were here? It was the middle of the night…” My lashes shutter closed as her nails dip beneath my waistband. “I didn’t know you had an exhibitionist kink until that day.”
She sucks in a greedy breath, sliding into my boxers. “That’s not my kink, dude.”
