“Hmm.” She wet her lips, her heartbeat picking up speed. “You’re right. I definitely should.”
But instead, she stepped back and let the door open wider. His gaze slid down, slowly, slowly, taking in the Long Acre Crusaders T-shirt that barely reached her thighs and her bare legs beneath. He stepped inside. “You should put some clothes on, too. Some pants and maybe a parka.”
“Yes. Good thinking.” She bumped the door shut behind him and moved closer, putting her hands on his chest. “Wouldn’t want to give you the wrong idea.”
He hissed out a breath at the contact and let his hands slide over her waist, making her T-shirt gather up higher, revealing her cotton panties beneath. She got the sense that she should be more worried about that or question how quickly things were moving, but she couldn’t grab on to either feeling. And when he leaned in and kissed her, she didn’t want to.
She moaned into the kiss, her fingers curling into his shirt and her body going from simmer to boil. One of his hands slid into her hair and he gripped her, tilting her head back and taking the kiss deeper. Breath and lips and tongues mingled, hungry, desperate. He murmured her name in between, and she responded in kind with a panted please. That was all she could manage, but he must’ve gotten the message. They moved across the room in an awkward tangle of kissing and touching until the backs of her legs hit the edge of the bed.
They tumbled onto it, his big body pressing into hers as he continued to worship her mouth and then moved down to her neck. She tipped her head back and arched against him. “Liv,” he said, scraping his teeth along her shoulder. “Tell me you want this.”
It’d been so long. Not just since she’d been with a guy. But since she’d felt like this. This pulsing, all-encompassing need for a man’s touch. For Finn’s touch. “I want you.”
With that, he shifted and tugged his shirt over his head, revealing finely honed muscles and a dark dusting of hair. No sign of the scar she’d expected from the gunshot. She let her fingers trail over the spot. “There’s no—”
“Shh.” He cut her off with a quick kiss. “Now you.” He reached for her and pulled off her T-shirt, leaving her in only her panties. He gazed down at her with hungry eyes and brushed the back of his hand over her breast, sending hot shivers along her skin and bringing her nipple to a tight peak. “You’re so goddamned sexy, Livvy. I just want to touch and taste you everywhere. Lick every inch.”
Her heartbeat pounded, her body aching to grant him that wish. “Yes. That. Let’s do that.”
His hand traced down slowly over her ribs, across her belly, marking a trail of intention and driving her out of her mind with anticipation. His fingers played at the edge of her panties, and she fought not to arch into his touch.
“I can see how much you want me,” he said against her ear. “We’ve waited so long.” He tugged at the waistband and let his hand slide beneath, touching her where she needed it most.
She moaned when his callused fingers found her slick and wanting, her whole body going aflame. Her eyelids fell shut. Yes.
He nipped at the lobe of her ear, his fingers stroking her deep and slow, and whispered. “But we’re going to have to be fast, or we’ll miss that test in chemistry.”
“The—” Her eyes popped open, her thoughts scrambling. “What?”
But now instead of seeing grown-up Finn, the fresh-faced high school version was looking down at her, all eager and urgent. His skilled, sensual touch from before turned fumbling and less sure. She froze, trying to figure out what was happening, but then the banging on the door started again, this time loud and threatening.
Teen Finn yanked his hand back and turned his head. “Dude, what the hell? Give us a second.”
Liv tried to back away, the panic rising. “No.”
“Livvy, it’s okay—”
The scent of pine cleaner burned her nostrils. “No!”
The door to the hotel room swung open, and Joseph Miller stepped in with a satisfied smile. Seventeen. Angry-eyed. Deadly. “Well, look what I found. My favorite jock and another desperate girl trying to get his attention. Hope you had fun because time’s up, asshole.”
Joseph lifted the gun, the barrel looming huge in Liv’s vision.
A scream ripped through her, trying to warn Finn, trying to do something. But her voice wouldn’t come out. Her hands wouldn’t move.
A click. A smile. An explosion of sound.
Then the blood.
Finn collapsed on top of her, his entire body going limp, eyes vacant.
The scream escaped now. Over and over, racking her body with its force.
Joseph stalked toward her, finger on the trigger. “Good news is, no one will care that you’re gone.” He put the gun to her head. “Bye, now.”
* * *
The shrill scream tore through Finn’s sleep and jolted him awake. He sat straight up in bed, heart pounding, and blinked into the darkness, sure that he’d woken from a nightmare.