His gaze dipped again, this time the movement making my heart stop before punching wildly in my chest. Biology may not have been my best subject in school, but I knew the exact positioning of every part of my body, and Ryan’s focus on my lips was as clear to me as the twinge in my pants. And that flare in his eyes that followed… suck me hard and make me blow, but Ryan Broadwater wasinterested, as in eyeballing my mouth and looking like he was ready to pounce.
While I knew exactly what I wanted to do with that, the question was, should I?
CHAPTER10
RYAN
Between the boozebuzzing through my system, being reminded about my future, and the constant thrum of need burning me since Nate arrived, I was close to combusting. That, or I would make a tit out of myself, since all I wanted to do was lean into him and steal a kiss.
That thought had played on my mind for weeks, even before seeing him in the flesh. When he’d stepped off the plane, my attraction had solidified. Since then, the need had grown enough to make me antsy.
But neither truly sealed the deal of whether or not I should go for it.
No, that had happened the moment I’d made tonight’s winning shot and immediately sought him out. Nate’s gaze had already been on me when I located him in the jumping, cheering crowd. My breath had caught, and that warm, awe-filled smile directed at me, the sheer joy on his face, was it.
It was the moment I’d decided that as soon as we were alone, I was going to kiss the shit out of him, go all in, and deal with the fallout should there be any.
“You okay?” Nate asked as we stood side by side in the elevator, heading to the suite.
I bobbed my head and offered a short “Yep,” not confident I could manage anything else without taking what I wanted.
Heat flushed through me when we were just one floor away.
This was it. Fuck, I was nervous, though the wave of excitement, the tingle of possibility, sat right there alongside my dry mouth.
When the ping sounded, the doors slid open, and I stepped out, Nate close behind me.
My breaths were heavy, seeming too loud in the quiet corridor. Soft-footed steps sounded behind me, each movement sending a fresh shiver through me.
He felt something. I was sure of it. I’d heard it in the calls, had seen it in his soft smile in our video calls, and every second since we’d finally been together.
Being wrong was a possibility, but I hoped to God I wasn’t.
We stepped into the room in silence, nothing but the hammering of my heart and my too-loud breaths filling my head. Nate stepped past me once the door was closed and headed to the high stool alongside a bench in the small kitchen space. He sat and kicked off his shoes, eyes on the task, and quite possibly avoiding me since I’d made the last five minutes super weird. “Sit down and let me grab some ice for your ankle.”
Ignoring him, I took a step in his direction and reached out and took his hand in my own. The sound of his shoe hitting the floor punctuated the movement. Brushing my left thumb over his palm, I was tempted to close my eyes and absorb the moment, but I was sure that would be weird as fuck and make him wonder what the hell I was doing.
A quick inhale, and I darted my gaze to him. His eyes were fixed on our hands, a soft pink obvious on his cheeks. It felt like an age before I could release a breath and work out what my next move was.
That he hadn’t pushed me away was one thing, but with my thumb still stroking his hand, his own breathing changing pace was all I needed to know.
“Nate, I—” My words were stolen by Nate as he brushed his lips against mine, ripping a gasp from me. His hands were on my waist, hauling me close, his thighs spreading wide to accommodate me. I’d barely found my feet before he held me tight and fused his mouth with mine.
He was bold and brave and so fucking beautiful. And everything I wanted. And that he’d made the first move after my fumbling and my overthinking…? Nate could take the lead any time he wanted.
My head swirled with the intensity of the kiss, the rightness of it. The spark flaring between us was almost unbearable. Energy buzzed through my veins, my limbs, forcing me to grip the back of his shirt, hold on tight, and deepen our kiss even further.
Never, as in, honest to God ever, had I ever reacted this way to anyone before. Desire pulsed through every inch of my body. Need for Nate licked at my skin.Only Nate.It felt as if the whole of my life was leading up to this, and I didn’t even have the will to roll my eyes at that overly romantic bullshit. Because it was true, and wasn’t that a heartfuck.
The notion brought me back momentarily to reality. I almost scoffed at how ridiculous I was being. Yes, Nate was an amazing kisser, everything I’d imagined and so much more, but the idea of us being cosmically linked, soul mates of some sort….
Not realizing that I’d actually stopped kissing Nate, I became aware of his concerned gaze. A slight frown played across his brow, making me want to reach out and remove all traces of worry and doubt.
“I can stop if you want me to. I just thought this was—”
Hell to the no.
I didn’t give Nate the chance to finish. I angled and kissed his sexy-as-sin mouth, deep and hard. He growled lightly in response, urging me on. I locked my fingers behind his neck and tugged him closer.
