Page 81 of Hopeless
Not sure I’ll be able to walk away after that.
“Ignore them.” I rake my fingers through her hair on the side where people congregate, trying to break her line of sight.
We stay locked in a tense, quiet moment. My hand in her hair, my arm over her back, caging her in.
“Ignore them,” I say again as we trend back up again.
“It’s hard,” she whispers against my ear, sounding a little broken.
When we’ve passed the crowds and head back up into the evening sky, I ask, “Do you mean this?” I guide her hand between my legs to my cock.
She sucks in a breath but doesn’t pull away. Her hand grips me through my jeans almost instantly, like she just can’t help herself.
“Or do you mean how hard I’m going to bite you for the hickey you left on my neck last time?”
I don’t give her a chance to reply before I latch on to the tender flesh of her neck. One hand travels under her skirt, gripping her ass hard enough to leave marks there too.
The sharp gasp that rushes from her sifts through my close-cut hair and over my neck. I pull away and stare at the red spot blooming on her neck before meeting her sultry gaze. Bailey’s previously worried eyes are now full of fire.
“Impulsive looks good on you, Bailey,” I rasp before lifting her strap back onto her shoulder, then opting to hold her against my chest for the rest of the ride.
Holding her seems safe enough. Safer than kissing her again, than biting her again. Better to pull back now before we both lose our minds and go altogether too far.
23
Bailey
Ican’t sleep. I’ve tried.
When I close my eyes, I see Beau.
I smell Beau.
I taste Beau.
I hear Beau.
I feel Beau’s hands touching me like I’m his for real. I feel his cock hard forme.
My brain is all Beau, all the time. I feel like I’ve got a song stuck on repeat. One I can’t get out of my head.
My brain keeps missing the memo that this thing between Beau and me is fake.
It’s cute how I thought getting out of bartender mode to fall asleep was hard.
But this is worse than the sensation of going around in circles all night long that usually follows me to bed.
So much worse. I’m spinning alright, and it’s a downward spiral that I’m too horny to stop.
I check my phone. It’s 1:54 a.m. and I have my alarm set for six minutes from now. So, there’s no point in trying to sleep. I’m mentally preparing myself to walk across that hallway and slap on a cheery facade. One where I pretend I didn’t grope his dick in public, at a family-friendly event.
I’m not even sure if Beau is here. After the fair, he walked me to the house, ushered me inside, and said he was going to Cade’s house. Then locked the door behind me.
So, I’ve been alone and left to my devices. To my vicious thoughts.
My head took me down the rabbit hole of how the town will spin what we did. They’ll chalk me up to being a cheap whore. And Beau will be the poor, sad soldier just trying to find his way.Rightfully blowing off some steam, they’ll say.
I can just hear the way the old biddies who meet for morning coffee at Le Pamplemousse will talk about it.
