Page 47 of The Rival (Looking to Score 2)
When he swallows, his dark eyebrows rise in pleasant surprise. “That’s good.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never had hot chocolate with peppermint liqueur.” Surprised, I shake my head in disbelief. Back in college, I would make a whole pot of it on the stove for my roommates. It’s the perfect mixture of chocolatey and minty, without being too boozy.
“Can’t say I have,” he says with a chuckle. “But I like it.”
With that, Alex sets the drink aside and leans over, pressing his beverage-warmed lips against mine. He tastes like dessert, and I can’t get enough. I sigh against his mouth, enjoying how he threads one free hand through my hair, and teases my lips open with the tip of his tongue. We taste each other, slowly and sensually, without a care in the world.
But just when it seems like time has stopped, questions start racing through my mind again.
What happens when we get back to Boston? What if we can’t figure out how to just be friends, and end up treating each other like strangers? What if everything I’ve found in myself this summer, everything I’ve come to love about myself, fades away?
I think of my newfound sexual confidence, the desire Alex has awakened within me. I think of the way smiles come easier to me these days, now that I’m no longer burdened by a toxic partner. I think of how comforting it is to finally be accepted for who I am, instead of being criticized for who I’m not.
What if I lose all these positive changes the second I lock up the cabin for the last time?
A log in the fire snaps, and I grip the front of Alex’s shirt, deepening the kiss with a throaty moan. He indulges my urgency, embracing me with equal passion. But when he pulls back, a look of concern is etched across his features.
“What is it?” He runs his fingers over the hand I’ve buried in his shirt, soothing me with the softest of touches. “You’re shaking.”
I blink and drop my chin, escaping his penetrating gaze. “Oh. I think I just got stuck in my head for a moment there.”
“What were you thinking about?”
“Going home, I guess.” The vaguer the better. I don’t dare admit how afraid I am of losing him and the intimacy we’ve shared for the past few weeks. We made a deal, after all. Just for the summer.
“What about it?” Alex caresses a soft line in my cheek. “Are you worried about finding a new place?”
“Um, yeah. I guess I am.” I can’t unload the truth on him. Not now. Not when our whole arrangement was my idea. “I think I’m gonna have a hard time leaving here.”
“I know what you mean.” His gaze meets mine, and I’m pretty sure there’s some hidden meaning behind those eyes of his.
I snuggle against his firm chest, watching his fingers as he plays with the ends of my hair. We fall silent for a moment and listen to the crackle of the fire. After a while, my mind wanders, and I think about what a future with Alex might look like.
Would we have long, rainy nights like this, content to just rest in each other’s arms? Would we weather the struggles of life together well as a couple? Especially with him traveling as much as he does during hockey season and being surrounded by countless puck bunnies?
Or would it end like it did with Dale? Like it did with Eden?
“You wanna know something?” Alex asks suddenly, pulling me out of my spiral and back down to planet Earth.
“Yes, of course.” I caress his forearm with my fingertips.
“This has probably been the best summer of my life.”
My hand stills on his skin. Is he screwing with me?
I pull back to look him in the eye, but his expression is open and honest, reflecting the warmth of the fire. “Why do you say that?”
Alex shrugs, lifting a strand of my pale hair and rubbing it between his fingertips. “I haven’t always felt like I could be myself, you know? Back home, it’s like everyone has already decided who I am. But here with you, I can be the kind of man I want to be.” He pauses, a thoughtful look in his eye. “I suppose there’s something centering about being out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a beautiful woman to distract you.”
I blush, pushing his shoulder playfully. “Charmer.”
“I mean it, though,” he says with a roguish smirk, but there’s something insistent in his voice. “This summer could have been hella awkward. Or at best, boring. But it wasn’t, because you didn’t dismiss me as some asshole you had to keep tabs on from a distance. For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t seen as a time bomb. I got to be a person. I got to be just Alex. And I—” He starts to say something but seems to think better of it before settling on, “I’m glad it all turned out the way it did.”
