I sink into him, my heart shattering for having to keep him at an arm’s distance when we both know that’s not really what I want, and it sure as hell isn’t what I need, but I simply can’t risk it. He has the power to break me like no other, and until I’m confident that won’t happen again, I can’t risk my heart. “I know,” I tell him, my fingers threading through his, holding on to him with everything I am, desperate for the way he makes me feel so at ease. Without even trying, he has the ability to calm me, to be the light in the middle of a hurricane. “But if you want to be technical, we were never actually together in the first place. You were just the asshole next door who couldn’t resist me, no matter how hard you tried.”
Tanner’s lips pull into a smirk. “You’ve never been so wrong,” he tells me, his eyes sparkling with silent laughter. “We have been together since the moment you told me to shove Riley’s cock down my throat, you just didn’t know it.”
A laugh bubbles up my throat as I lean into him, brushing my lips over his. “Ahhh, so is that all it takes to convince the King of Bradford to stop being such a manwhore playboy? Interesting. Who would have known the thought of sucking off your best friend was such a turn-on for you.”
Tanner’s eyes bug out of his head as he tightens his arms around me, pulling me closer to his body. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” he says. “It’s that smart fucking mouth of yours.”
“Oh yeah?” I question. “Is that all?”
“It’s so much more,” he murmurs, his eyes sparkling as his hands trail down my back to grab my ass, firmly squeezing and making me even more desperate for him. “It’s this. It’s your reaction to me, the way your body craves me just as I crave you. It’s the way you so quickly put me in my place but then turn around and need me to tell you that everything is going to be okay. It’s that fire that burns in your eyes and the way you’ve so effortlessly fit into my life. You light up every time you look at me, even when you’re screaming about how much you despise me. And your fucking smile, Killer. Fucking hell. You’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on, and you’re making me feel things that … that I don’t understand.”
My arms fall around his neck as I kiss him again, my heart racing faster than ever before. I pull back to meet his soft stare, his warm eyes taking me in as though I’m some kind of mystical goddess. Biting down on my bottom lip, a nervous wave crashes through the pit of my stomach. “Are you falling in love with me, Tanner Morgan?”
His lips pull into a cocky smirk as his hand sails up my spine until his fingers are curling around the back of my neck. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Holding his stare, I shake my head as a soft smile pulls at my lips. “You’re a mystery to me,” I murmur just as he draws me back in. His lips press to mine, kissing me gently at first before deepening the kiss. The words he refuses to say out loud are clear in his actions, clear in the way he holds me.
Tanner Morgan is in love with me, and there’s no denying it.
“Come on,” he says a moment later. “Let me take you inside, and I can show you all these tricks that are going to blow your mind.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Uh-uh, Mr. Jockstar. You’re not getting off the hook that easily. You think you can whisper something sweet in my ear and expect me to spread my legs? That’s not how these things work.”
A pout rests over his delicious lips and he gives a subtle shrug of his shoulders. “That’s how it’s worked for me in the past.”
“Seriously?” I grumble. “You want to flaunt how much of a manwhore you were before meeting me?”
Tanner laughs, his fingers brushing over my skin. “Are you jealous, Killer?”
“Jealous of a bunch of girls who got tossed aside before you’d even finished wiping the cum off the end of your dick? Nah, I’m good.”
Tanner smirks and draws me back in, his fingers clutching at the back of my neck. “You fucking amaze me, Bri,” he murmurs, his lips gently moving over mine. “But don’t be fooled, I have every intention of wearing you down until you can’t possibly resist me.”
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “My tolerance threshold for dealing with horny assholes is pretty high. Take Riley for example.”
“Good point,” he says. “But the difference between me and Riley is that he gives up far too easily. One shot to the balls and he’s down. That’s not me, baby. I’ll be there night and day, getting under your skin, wearing you down until you don’t know whether you want to shoot me or fuck me.”