Chasing Ivy (Oak Hill 1)

I paused, my back to him, heart coming to a complete halt in my chest.

Fiddling with my keys, I unlocked my door and stepped inside, thankful that my house was, in fact, dry and all cleaned up.

I could feel Dawson behind me. His warmth and masculine scent wrapping around my body like a vine creeping along a tree trunk. I slowly spun around, swallowing my desire, and asked, “Did you already install my 5-star security system or should I go ahead and buy about fifteen deadlocks so she can’t murder me in my sleep tonight…”

Dawson’s face twitched, a small grin playing along those luscious lips. He stepped closer to me, causing me to walk further into my house and shut the door behind him.

The sun was setting in the background through my living room window, but the rest of my house was dim. Shadows danced along the far wall, sinking further and further away as the sun threatened to disappear for the day.

“I didn’t tell her I kissed you.” He swallowed, taking another step towards me. “She told me she didn’t want to know.”

My heart climbed in my chest and my legs clenched together. Dawson’s tone didn’t hold his usual playfulness. In its place was something that came from my wildest and sexiest dreams. His voice was guttural sounding. Throaty.

“So what exactly did you tell her, then?” I asked, whispering.

Dawson took another step towards me, causing my heart to go into triple speed. My back pressed along the wall as I stared into his darkened eyes.

“I tried to tell her what had happened but she basically beat me to the punch, saying she knew that she and I could never be what she wanted and that she knew there was something lingering in my feelings for you.”

I nodded slowly. That was good. She already knew, and that made me feel a little better about what had happened Saturday. But at this point, looking up at Dawson’s hooded expression, I didn’t care what she thought. I wanted Dawson in the worst way possible. I hated that I didn’t care, but no one’s perfect and if being with Dawson was wrong, I never wanted to be right again.

And I didn’t just want him to satisfy the burning desire I felt within, I also just wanted to feel… free. I wanted to go back to feeling happy and carefree, like I was free-falling.

I tried to make a joke, “And then she tried to kill you?”

“She simply told me to go for it.”

My brows crinkled. Wait, what? Breanna told him to go for it… with me?

That didn’t sound right, but right now, I didn’t want to start dissecting it.

“I’m sorry I kissed you, Ivy,” he said, taking the final step over to me.

Nervous flutters filled my belly just as my heart took off in my chest.

“I’m not,” I said, surprising myself and him. The tilt of his head and the way his eyes grew dark were a visual that I would never get out of my head. His mouth twitched upward for just a second, and then he brought his strong arms and anchored them beside my head, resting them along the wall.

“Are you ready for this? Are we ready to put a stop to this friendship bullshit and take a hold of what we both want but for some reason can’t admit?”

GOD, YES.

I looked up into the endless blue of his eyes, dreamily hoping and praying that this was really it.

That I wasn’t dreaming. That I wouldn’t wake up tomorrow and come to a realization that the feeling inside of me wasn’t real and that I was somehow stuck back in my mundane life, pretending that I was happy and high on life.

Because I wasn’t.

I thought I was. I thought I had it all figured out, but I was so, so wrong.

“Yes,” I breathed, and then every single thought was taken away from my brain and thrown onto the floor.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Dawson

This was it.

Every last hope and dream that I had buried deep within, underneath several layers of denial, was emerging so fast I would never be able to push them away again.