“So, you didn’t have a crush on me.” He almost looks disappointed.
“Eh…” I shrug and let out a hard exhale. Hardly convincing. I absolutely had a crush on him. Me and every other sexually aware girl and woman and gay man on the planet. Hell, I bet there are plenty of straight-ish guys that would make an exception for a man like Carson.
“Eh?” He digs, face lit up. It’s hard not to just stare at him and sigh dreamily. “Here, I’ll tell you my most embarrassing fear. Then you can laugh at me and tell me what ‘eh’ really means. Deal?”
I scrunch my face into an exaggerated wince and nod. “Okay, fine.”
“Squirrels.”
I give him a questioning look, wondering if I misheard him. “Squirrels? As in tiny, gray, and noisy? Aren’t they just like… tree bunnies?”
“See,” Carson laughs. “I told you you’d laugh!”
“I’m not laughing,” I say with a giggle. “I just don’t know how you develop a phobia like that.”
“By opening a trashcan and having one fly at your face.” Carson shudders. “They’re fluffy little rats, and they have those black voids for eyes… And let me tell you, they donotlike to be interrupted when they’re scrounging old popcorn.”
“I can imagine,” I laugh again, but now Carson is watching me expectantly. I’m not going to get out of this.
“Okay, fine. But you can’t laugh at me!” I can’t believe I’m about to admit this to his face. “Yes, I had a crush on you. But seriously, who didn’t? Doesn’t?” I correct myself. “My friends had Henry Cavil, but you were my hall-pass.” I’m waiting for the teasing or maybe a chuckle, but the smile on his face grows more serious. Crap. Now I sound loony. “I mean, I didn’t think I’d evenseeyou in real life, let alone—” I hurry along but he interrupts me.
“But if you had…” Carson’s eyes are assessing me. Focused intently on my face. “If you were out with your—" his voice falters, but picks back up, “—boyfriend and ran into me in a dark bar…”
I shrug and blush. “Hypothetically… I wouldn’t have said no. Those are the hall pass rules, right?” Carson’s smirk returns in full force. “But you weren’t real,” I continue, trying to explain that I’m not some crazy stalker. “It was just this wild, ridiculous thing that we joked about. It’s different now that I know you. You’re not just an idea anymore.”
“Can I ask you something wildly inappropriate?” Carson’s voice is rough as he leans in.
“Considering I just dumped my entire sordid history on you? Yeah, I think that’s fair.” I’m trying to get my cheeks to stop burning after my confession.
“Who do you warn?” His eyes, so deep I could fall right into them, search my face. His eyes are tight, almost… tortured. “Who gets to wake up next to you?”
I blink, trying to slow my skittering heart. God, the way he’s looking at me… I open my mouth, trying to form the answer, but a sharp bark cuts through the tension, slicing like an invisible blade through the moment. Carson and I both jump as Bubbles scrambles to her feet. She whines, walks to the door, and whines again.
“I’ll take her outside,” I offer, blinking at him as I stand on wobbly legs. Carson nods, running his thumb over his bottom lip thoughtfully. I jog up the stairs, trying to shake the feeling that I just missed out on something incredible. I open the sliding door and Bubbles takes off. She’ll run off some of that crazy energy, do her business and come back. I step outside to wait, trying to clear my head, but a hand grabs my wrist, spinning me around.
“Carson—"
I didn’t realize he’d followed me, but from the way his momentum carries us out onto the deck, he must have been moving fast. His chest presses against mine, our bodies locked together all the way down to our thighs. His eyes are burning with a heat so ferocious that it steals the breath from my lungs.
His fingers slide into my hair, his palms cradling my jaw, tipping my face up toward his. “Say, ‘no one.’” His voice is gravely; hard with emotion, but his eyes are almost pleading. It takes me an eternal second to realize what he’s saying.Who do you warn? Who gets to wake up next to you?
“No one,” I whisper, excitement runs up my spine, making every tiny hair on my neck tingle. That full-body shiver raises goosebumps on my skin. I shake my head in small but emphatic motions. “No one.”
Carson exhales, and then his mouth is on mine. He tugs at my lower lip, biting it softly. My eyes flutter shut, but a moan works its way up my throat. He devours it. He devours me. His tongue soothes the bite and teases the seam of my lips. Eagerly, I part them, letting him in. Coaxing him in.
Strong fingers press at the back of my neck, pulling me as close as he can. When that’s still not enough, his arm bands around my back, tugging our bodies together. I wrap my hands around his waist, my fingers roaming his back. He groans, the rumble burrowing into my soul.
“Aria.” He murmurs my name against my lips like a prayer. He kisses me so hard my head swims, but who needs oxygen when we havethis?