Page 2 of Scoring Zone
“Maybe,” I hedge. Benz kept talking about how to manifest love on New Year’s Eve by spending it with the person you want to end the year with.
Austin stares at me, and there’s a shift. A confusing rush. His piercing blue eyes enthrall me, and I instinctively reach for him. It’s as if he’s staring into my soul and seeing me from a different perspective. With anyone else, I would assume it’s attraction. But Austin is absolutely straight, and instead of cupping his face to ask him what’s going on, I slap his shoulder and brush party glitter off his forehead.
It's audacious and presumptuous to allow myself to think of him as more than a friend.
So I don’t.
Not until this second with his eyes on my mouth.
He licks his bottom lip, and it takes every ounce of self-restraint not to bite it and work my way down to his prominent Adam’s apple. I imagine gripping his short, spiky blond hair and not letting go.
What the fuck is happening?
Chapter 2
Austin
Grayson has that look again, and I hop off the table, pushing my way through drunken teammates. He gets this lost expression, as if he doesn’t know where he belongs, and tonight I want to fix it.
He assumes he owes me for his job and being a good friend, but the truth is, I couldn’t function without him. I don’t have to be in charge or pretend to be happy around him. I can just be.
Gray is the light that keeps my darkness locked away where it can’t hurt anyone.
I hope to get a smile, but he says he’s going back to his room. Tonight, he has seemed distressed ever since Benz talked about starting the year with specific intentions.
The lights play off his long hair, and I’ve never noticed how shiny it is. It’s glossy and loose around his shoulders. Gray has the kindest brown eyes that draw me in and make me feel safe. He’s the type of person other people will confess to for forgiveness. But under the compassion, his eyes hold pain.
His usual light is dim, and I long to be the one to relight it.
He reaches for me, but his hands change course, and he swipes my forehead. My skin tingles in the wake of his touch. He hasn’t shaved in two days and it accentuates the bow of his upper lip, enticing me.
The seed of temptation bursts from where he touched my head to a full-blown bodily need for him.
The lock on everything I’ve been holding in breaks free, and my darkness seeps out, morphing into a cavern of endless desire that I don’t question because it’s Gray.
It consumes me, and the only thing that could possibly fill it is him. I’ve never been interested in men, but he’s all I see. In the past, I’ve been apathetic about sex, but my body is on fire for him. No one has ever made me feel this way. I thought this level of attraction was movie-made, not based in reality.
My world shifts, and everything becomes clear.
Grayson is mine.
We’ve always belonged together, but I didn’t see it.
His eyebrows scrunch in confusion, and I can tell he’s biting the inside of his lip.
The irrational emotions swell inside me. I should be the one biting him, tasting every part of him.
The right thing to do would be to walk away.
I can’t do that.
I should ask his permission or consent, but I don’t.
All instinct and no thought, I grab the nape of his neck and steer him toward the secluded back-area of the VIP lounge. Unfortunately, I’m not the only one with this idea, but before my patience disintegrates, I find an alcove and shove him against the wall.
The depths of his eyes hold confusion and something else. I take a second to pause, mentally confirming that this is what I truly want and not the alcohol talking. Alcohol or not, mybody has never burned for someone else so completely that the thought of walking away is not a feat I can accomplish.
I’m not myself as my fingers twine in his long, brown hair and tug, bringing his mouth to mine to devour. It doesn’t matter that I’ve never kissed a man. My body buzzes with excitement, and his solid chest connects with mine, taking us higher.
