The Payback (Team Zulu 2)

He leaned closer. I moistened my lips, and his gaze shifted there. “Care to test that theory?”

A pulsing ache blossomed between my thighs. I squeezed them together on instinct, which was a big mistake because they tightened around Brandon’s waist. His stare dropped to where my legs gripped him, and he growled like a savage. The sound only made my excitement intensify.

Holy shit.He was going to kiss me. And more shocking than that, I was going to let him. I wanted his mouth on mine so much that pushing him away felt as wrong as swallowing thumbtacks.

I’d kissed guys since Kieran, slept with some. It had never meant a thing. Butthis…withhim?It wasmore, and that was dangerous. It risked exposing me to every unwanted feeling I’d avoided for three years. My long-standing rules were simple and easy to follow. Don’t let anyone get close, and don’t get attached. That Brandon had somehow made me question them scared the ever-loving crap out of me because I never wanted to be back in the dark place I’d lived in after Kieran’s murder. Losing him had crippled me. No. It had destroyed me. I couldn’t go through that again.

I needed space. Time to think. But I didn’t have either of those things as Brandon’s lips inched closer to mine.

The doorbell sounded. Brandon paused yet made no move to answer it.

We remained frozen, locked in each other’s gaze.

A heavy knock rattled the hinges of the door.

I nodded toward it. “Want me to get that?”

“Not especially.” His thumb ran along my bottom lip, and God help me, I had the urge to flick my tongue out and taste him.

“Room service,” came a voice from the hallway.

Brandon’s shoulders sagged. “Are you hungry?”

I gave a swift nod and took the timely intervention as a sign to sort my shit out. “Yes. Very.”

Brandon raised one dark brow. “Like, for food, or…something a little more—”

I rolled my eyes. “Get the door, Brandon.”

His dramatic frown made me smile, but I couldn’t help feeling like I’d just been saved from making a huge mistake.