“Don’t give me that bullshit, Jackson. I’m so tired of you acting like a possessive asshole yet you won’t do anything about it.”
I frown. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You act like my boyfriend, yet you won’t touch me. Or you will touch me, but you never take it too far. Afraid you might break me or whatever,” she says, her words hot. Girl is mad. I kind of like it. “I won’t break, Jackson. I’m tougher than I look. I can handle you. I’ve been handling you for years.”
“You haven’t handled all of me,” I boast, unable to resist.
She socks me right in the chest again, and this time, it kind of hurts. “See? It’s shit like that. You flirt with me. You’ve kissed me. You freaking felt me up in the car last night, yet you won’t do anything else. I don’t understand you. Glaring at Carson like you want to rip him apart when he talks to me. It’s stupid! You’re being really, really stupid right now, and you need to stop. Or—”
Ellie presses her lips together, cutting off whatever else she was going to say.
“Or what?” I ask when she remains silent. I press both hands against the door, caging her in, standing so close to her you probably couldn’t slip a piece of paper between us. I can feel her heat, her chest rise and fall when she breathes. She’s beautiful, even after working a long shift, even with God knows what staining the front of her shirt. She’s even more beautiful than usual because she’s all worked up, pissed off at me, and God help me, I like it.
“I was going to say, you need to do something about it,” she admits, her voice small. “You know how I feel about you. There’s no point in my explaining it. But I don’t know how you feel about me.”
“I care about you, El. You’re my fri—”
She shakes her head, the look on her face making me snap my lips shut. “We have more than friendly feelings toward each other, and you know it. Admit it.”
I remain quiet. To admit what I feel for her could change…
Everything.
The silence stretches, and I can feel her withdrawing. I don’t want that. I want her into this. Into me. Yes, I care about her. Yes, she’s my friend. I’ve thought about more with Ellie before. Of course I have. And the way I feel about that little prick coming around her is confusing. My raging emotions have me tied up in knots.
So tight, I’m afraid the only one who can untangle them is her.
“Make a move, Jackson,” she says softly. “Or let me go forever.”
I stare at her, frozen, her words o
n repeat in my brain.
Make a move? Yeah, no. I remember what Chuck told me. What I’ve told myself. This is a girl I shouldn’t mess with. No matter what she says, I know in the end…
I will hurt her.
“Well?” She lifts her chin, her dark eyes blazing into mine. “What’s it going to be?”
The words flicker through my brain at the same exact moment my lips find hers.
Fuck it.
Sixteen
Ellie
Oh God, Jackson is kissing me. What I said to him actually worked. I figured he’d bail as usual and I’d be left all alone with my thoughts, bitterly disappointed in him yet again.
Instead, his mouth is on mine. Hungry. Insistent. I’m pressed in between the door and his muscular body, and there is nowhere else I’d rather be. He kisses me stupid, his tongue searching my mouth, his hand dropping from the door to land on my hip, pulling me closer to him.
I can feel what I’m doing to him. Wait a minute. Is that his—
Oh my God, it’s huge.
He winds his arm around my waist, his hand finding my butt and holding me close. A whimper sounds, and I realize it’s me.
I’m whimpering.