The Hardest Fall

Resting my forehead against hers, I licked my lips. We were standing so close, I tasted hers too.

“I missed you,” she whispered. “I missed you so much, you have no idea.”

“I think I do,” I said, just as quietly. The whole world had disappeared, and it was just us. “You’re just mine, then?” I asked, just to have another confirmation.

She pulled her head back a little to look into my eyes. “You’re my best buddy—who else’s would I be?”

I kissed her again, slower this time, sipping instead of chugging. Still, I didn’t think I’d ever get my fill of her.

“I’m so angry at you,” she whispered in between my kisses. “Still so angry.”

“Why?” I bumped my nose to hers and she ducked her head to kiss me, licking my lips when she was done. I dipped one of my hands down and put it on her butt, pulling her a little lower. When she felt how hard and ready I was for her, she closed her eyes, bit her lip, and groaned, trying to move her body against me. I stilled her and kissed her neck, licking and sucking as I rolled my hips.

“How could you just leave like that?” she asked in a gasp when she could find the words.

I stopped moving against her and my hold on her tightened again. My gaze took in her flushed face and met her glazed eyes.

“How could you not come after me?” I croaked.

“I’m an idiot. What’s your excuse?”

I smiled and let my forehead drop to her shoulder.

“You’ve called me an idiot a few times tonight, so I’m guessing I’m your other half, just as big of an idiot, if not bigger.”

“Then we’re perfect for each other, huh?”

“We are best buddies, aren’t we?”

Her grin took me by surprise, and I found myself lost in another kiss until the door behind us was pushed open and I had to carry her weight to protect her.

Lindy’s head poked out from the opening and she winced when she saw us.

“Sorry to interrupt, Dylan, but I could really use you out there. Brian isn’t really the biggest help at the moment, so if you…”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Just give me another minute, okay? I’ll be right there.”

She nodded and offered me a small grin. “Yeah, sure.”

When it was just us again, I slowly let Zoe’s feet touch the ground, and she tried to fix her clothing. When she looked up, I exhaled and grabbed her face to press a kiss to her swollen, dark pink lips. She smiled up at me, and my chest felt heavy.

“We still need to talk, Zoe. I need to know everything.”

She lost a little bit of her smile but nodded.

“Where are you living?”

A quick shrug. “I’ve been staying with Jared for now. I’ll need to find a place or a roommate after the semester starts.”

“I’m staying with Benji. He moved in with another guy and I’ve been sleeping on their couch. You’re not going back to your friend’s tonight,” I stated.

Still smiling big, she shook her head. “I won’t.”

“And you’re waiting until I close up. You’re sitting right in front of me until then.”

“I am. I won’t move—I won’t even look away.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Zoe

After every single customer had trickled out, then everyone in the kitchen, every waitress and bartender, it was just me and Dylan alone in the place. It looked so big with everyone gone, so quiet, every table empty with the chairs turned up. Dylan had already turned the lights off, all but the small decorative lights that hung above the mirror behind all the alcohol. I thought it was romantic. I was still sitting in the exact spot Dylan had planted me in, on the same stool, and I was wide awake. The only time I’d looked away from him for more than a few seconds was when I texted to Jared to let him know I wasn’t coming back and everything was okay again.

I looked up when I sensed Dylan coming down the stairs he’d told me led up to his boss’s office. My breath caught in my throat and my heart lurched. He was the best-looking guy in the world, at least he was in my eyes, and I’m pretty sure you’d agree with me if you saw him. His eyes never wavered, and I never looked away. He was wearing black slacks and a simple long-sleeved, dark gray t-shirt that had the bar’s logo on his right pec. He looked incredible, ready to be devoured. Basically, he looked and tasted better than pizza. He also looked like someone I’d never thought could be mine. He was the kind of guy who would get you pregnant just from looking at him for too long. When he made it to my side, he picked me up as if I weighed nothing and sat me down on the bar. I immediately put my palms down to steady myself then he opened my legs and sat between them on my empty stool. His hands moved up and down on my thighs, leaving goose bumps and shivers in their wake.

Having trouble stopping myself, I leaned down, put my hands on his shoulders, and kissed him, just a small, gentle kiss he easily turned into something more, leaving me breathless.

When he pulled back, I just stared at him with the biggest grin on my face. It was like seeing him for the first time and falling for him all over again. He was the dream, the one you always wanted to end up with, the other half of your soul, if you believed in that kind of thing. I was willing to bet Dylan Reed would check every single box every single woman had on their must-have list, and yet there he was, standing in front of me, smiling at me with a crooked grin.

“What? What’s that look for?” he asked, his hands moving again, more insistently this time around.

I laughed. “What look?”

He just kept staring into my eyes, and I melted a little more with every passing second.

“No one has ever looked at me like that before, you know,” I admitted, having a little trouble holding his gaze.

He moved closer—arms resting on my thighs, hands around my waist—and my eyes closed on their own. “Like what?” I felt him kiss the edge of my lips, then my cheek.

“Like…that,” I repeated lamely in a whisper against his lips.

He smiled then brushed a soft kiss right next to my ear. “Can you be a little more specific?”

“Nope.”

I felt his chuckle deep in my bones more than merely hearing it. “Okay.”

Then he kissed me. Our lips molded together, gently, nothing more than a whisper in the night, up until he spoke.

“You should keep me then. No one else can look at you the way I do.”

“That’s not what I said, was it?” I protested with a small smile of my own, and I opened my eyes to find him gazing up at me. My heart soared. “So cocky,” I whispered.

His thumb moved over my lip, but he didn’t look away from my eyes. “Keep me, Flash. I’m a good catch.”

I grinned, my heart skipping all over the place. “You know what? I think I will.”

His smile got bigger, and I felt out of my mind with happiness.

Hands still around my waist, he stood up. I held his face between my palms and rested my forehead against his. “I’m happy again,” I offered out of nowhere.

“Were you miserable without me?”

I thought it was just a throwaway question, didn’t think he expected me to give him an honest answer because he reached for my mouth again, but I pulled back before he could drown me in him.

“I was miserable, Dylan. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t talk to you. Then when I could, after the last game, I couldn’t find you. You blocked me,” I accused him. “Not that I can blame you, but I guess I still will. I missed you. I missed you like I’ve never missed anyone in my life.” I put my palm on my heart and tried to ease the ache. “I have this ache, right here, and every morning I woke up these last two weeks, I would have this moment, that first second after I opened my eyes, where I thought, Get up, Zoe, get up and see Dylan. Get up and go to his bed. Get up and have breakfast with him—he’s waiting for you in the kitchen. Then I’d realize I couldn’t do any of that.”