He grabbed my wrists, pinning them over my head so our bodies were flush. One hand pinned mine in place. The other hooked my leg over his hip. I whimpered into his mouth, hips grinding instinctively at the friction—his cock hard, pressing right where I needed it most. My body reacted, remembering the hallway. The wall. His hands. The way he made me feel like I was seconds from falling apart. Except this time, it wasn’t almost. This was happening and I didn’t know how to stop it.
I wanted to die.
No, I wanted tocome.Fuck.
When we finally broke apart, both of us breathing heavily, his forehead rested against mine. “Tell me this is real,” he rasped.
“It is,” I replied, mine shaky but sure. “Fuck.” My hips rolled against his as we breathed each other’s air. He groaned, his eyes closing for a brief moment.
But real didn’t mean safe. Real meant consequences, headlines, team contracts. It meant pit chasers and fake smiles, not fanfiction girls who got the fantasy, but instead the fallout.
I couldn’t keep resisting but I also knew what would happen if I caved.
As the fog of the kiss lifted, reality came crashing back with brutal clarity. The flash of the camera was etched into my mind, and the panic settled in like a lead weight. Shit, I felt like I couldn’t breathe—between the panic and the kiss that left my body hot and bothered, and all the ways we were touching…
“Callum, I can’t,” I said again, my voice trembling as I struggled against his hold. He released me, and I stepped out of his reach. “If this gets out, if Luminis?—”
“Auri, wait,” he said, his hands reaching for me but stopping short. The nickname, normally so infuriating, sounded like a plea.
“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice breaking as I turned and hurried away, tugging my dress back in place. My heels clicked against the tiles, the sound as deafening as the dull roar in my ears.
I wanted him. That was why I taunted him all night, why I almost caved upstairs in the hallway. But once the alcohol started to wear off and I realized all that was at stake?
God fucking damn it.
The world couldn't bend around us. It wouldn't. It never had, not for women like me. Not when one wrong move could be the end of everything.
I didn’t stop moving—up the stairs, grabbing my clutch, out the door—until I was outside hailing a cab. The city lights softened as tears stung my eyes, a thousand what-ifs and what-nexts spinning in my mind.
I couldn't give him the chance to stop me, because if he asked me again, I would say yes.
He felt like everything I’d ever wanted.
But it would costme everything I’d built.
And worse, he might never forgive me for walking away again.
The moment she left,I should have let it go, forced myself to be fine throwing back another drink and letting her have the last word.
But of course, I didn’t. I wasn’t done, so I drank more than I should have. I’d feel it tomorrow.
All night, I couldn’t stop watching her, wanting her,needingher. She just fucking left me after everything. The groping by the bathrooms. The fight. The dancing. That kiss, like I wanted to ruin her, and she let me.
I was fucking lying to myself. I hadn't just been feeling this tonight. This had been going on for so long that I didn't think I could ever want someone else besides her.
Marco and Kimi laughed, we took a couple shots, and they were completely unaware of the war zone in my head. The ache she left behind. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her. Felt her lips on mine, her hands in my hair, her body melting into mine.
Maybe it was the alcohol. Or maybe I’d just run out of rational thought hours ago. But before I could think about what aterrible fucking idea it was?—
I was tossing my keys to Marco without a word.
I found myself in the back of a ride-share, knee bouncing the whole way there, muttering her name almost nervously.
Stumblinginto the hotel lobby with tunnel vision andzerochill. The concierge gave me a look that said he was about to call security, and I didn’t blame him.
I braced my palms on the counter and said, “I need Aurélie Dubois's room number.”
He blinked. “Sir, I?—”
