“So you thought you could be a dick and make that go away?” I frowned at him, trying to understand.
“I thought I could trick myself into hating you, but that clearly didn’t work. Now, I’m tired of fighting.” He leaned in to kiss me, his tongue sweeping through my mouth. His lips were soft yet strong as he deepened our kiss, bringing my sore body back to life in a way that only he could.
I lifted my hand, wanting to wrap my arm around his neck, but he broke our kiss and pulled away quicker than I would’veliked. He let out a sigh as he leaned back, making it clear he wasn’t allowing us to go any further. His hands moved to my shoulders, where he began to massage them gently.
“You should relax. You need the rest.”
I didn’t know what that meant, but I didn’t want to argue either. My body was sore, and I was tired.
I rested my head beneath his left collarbone, and I closed my eyes. My mind started to drift to the following day and what was in store. The woman he’d spend the evening with popped into my mind, and I opened my eyes. I was no longer relaxed.
“So… the woman you were with earlier?”
“She’s just an old college friend.”
“You’re not interested in her?”
“No. She went through a tough breakup and knew that her ex would be attending this wedding. She didn’t want to show up alone.”
“She’s not interested in you either?”
He didn’t reply.
“Have you two ever hooked up?”
I felt his chest expand when he took a deep breath. “We used to have an on and off thing back in the day,” he finally answered.
I sat up and spun around to face him. “Did anything happen with you two last night?”
His head tilted to the side as he looked at me. A hint of a smirk played at the corners of his mouth. “Are you jealous?”
I rolled my eyes. “Just answer the question, Elliot.”
His brows lifted in surprise, but he didn’t mention my anger. “She tried for something. I shot it down. I wanted you. The end.”
I didn’t know why, but I believed him. His words instantly made me feel better. My shoulders fell as I exhaled all of my anxiety.
He grinned wider and took my hand in his. “You’re cute when you’re jealous. Did you know that?” he asked, pulling me onto his lap where our lips met again.
“I promise you, Evie, you have no reason to be jealous. I’m here with you because this is where I want to be.”
I melted against him.
This was where I wanted to be too. I pushed any other thought out of my head and focused on this moment. The one that mattered.
ELLIOT
We’d been back home for about a week, and I hadn’t allowed myself to touch her since the night I ripped away her virginity.
I knew her body needed to heal, and the only way it was going to do that would be for me to stay the fuck away from her. She had a lot of work to catch up on once we returned anyway, and I needed to put things into perspective. If I thought I was fucked before I’d had her, it was nothing compared to how I felt after I’d been inside her.
Every damn day was a struggle to stay away, but I knew that’s what was best for both of us. The more time I spent with her, the more I fell for her. She had me wrapped around her little finger from day one. Looking back, I was wrapped around her finger when she was just a kid. Of course, it wasn’t anything sexual back then.
I told myself that I felt drawn to her because I wanted to be a teacher. I thought of her as a sister. I wanted to guide her, protect her, and I did until things came crashing down around me.
The first day I saw her all grown up and on campus, I knew life as I knew it was coming to an end. I still felt that pull betweenus, but it had changed in unspeakable ways. It wasn’t just the student/teacher relationship. I no longer looked at her as a little sister either. I felt that pull, and I knew exactly what it was.
My mind wouldn’t stop until I took what I wanted. Once I had finally done that, once I had finally crossed every line put in place, I realized that it wasn’t enough. Having her once didn’t work her out of my system. Having her once only made my addiction stronger. For the last week, I was like a fucking junkie jonesing for his next hit.
