Overwhelmed by You (Tear Asunder 2)

Then I noticed Ream standing in the doorway, his eyes watching me. Had he heard what I said? Did it matter if he did? Except now he’d know that I hadn’t slept with Lance.

The heat in the kitchen went up a thousand degrees, and I breathed with my mouth open. I wanted to lick my dry lips but couldn’t because all I was thinking about was Ream licking them for me. Having his eyes on me was like him running his tongue across my skin.

“You haven’t slept with him yet?” Ream’s voice was strung tight, and it was super sexy. I was attracted to his scariness and wanted to suck it right out of him.

I noticed the sudden silence as Emily and Logan stopped talking and unpacking containers and looked at Ream and me.

“I’ll get the plates,” I said, trying desperately to keep the quiver from my voice. What the hell was wrong with me? I never acted nervous, but Ream standing there with his deliciously tight ass in those jeans, his lips slightly parted—lips that had been hard against mine.

I reached up into the cupboard and my hands had just touched the plates when I felt him beside me. His scent caused a carnival to break out on my insides, and it was like I was riding a roller coaster in a haunted house.

He was standing so close that our arms brushed against one another. “I have them,” he said as he picked up the plates.

I kept my voice low, so Emily and Logan wouldn’t hear. “I’m capable of doing it myself. What do you think … I’m going to drop them?”

His whispered words drifted like a warm breeze across my cheek. “Oh I know what you’re … capable of, Kitkat.”

My hands fell from the edge of the plates as I stared at him, mouth agape. He quirked a half smile then took the plates and walked into the dining room.

Fuck. The image of me on top of him was plastered in my head like a flashing billboard sign. Every emotion I felt back then was being catapulted into the forefront of my brain, and I wanted to knock it back to Forgottenland with a friggin’ wrecking ball.

“Oh Chinese,” Georgie said as she barged into the room. “I hope you ordered chicken balls, hot stuff.” She nudged Logan with her hip and grabbed a piece of broccoli from one of the open containers then popped it into her mouth. Then she was jumping up and down with her mouth open yelling, “Hot, hot, hot.”

Crisis came in after her and went straight to me, putting his hands on either side of my waist, palms resting on my hips. “You’ve lost weight, sexy. Were you pining for me?”

I laughed. “Yeah, must be that.” Crisis was a touchy-feely guy, and I got that because I was too. He never pushed the boundaries, and not once had he asked me to sleep with him. We were strictly platonic, and yet for some reason Crisis was in the habit of flirting with me especially in front of Ream. Of course I didn’t do anything to stop it because when a guy flirts with you, it makes you feel pretty damn good inside, and I had been missing that lately. So flirting back, I wiggled my hips and Crisis moaned, “Yeah, sugar. You still have it.”

Ream didn’t find it funny—at all. “And that shit … ends now,” Ream stated from the doorway.

Crisis laughed, but didn’t let me go. We’d been through this before. Ream usually said his piece, we’d argue, then he’d storm off. This time he was looking like he was going to remove Crisis from my person if he didn’t let me go.

“Ream,” Logan’s voice bit into the air.

Ream’s eyes never left Crisis as he spoke to Logan, “I told you what was going to happen.”

“And I told you to cut it loose if she doesn’t want it.”

“Not happening.”

Crisis slowly stepped back from me. “About fuckin’ time, shithead.” Crisis turned to me with a broad grin. “Looks like it worked.”

“What worked?”

“Sweetcakes, I love you. I love touching you, but Ream’s my best friend. I’d never touch what’s his. Now, he’s finally picked up his balls and is claiming you.”

“Claiming?” The voice that blurted the word was unrecognizable. “I’m not something to be claimed.” And what happened to the friends thing? What was Ream playing at?

“Damn right you are. And looks like the other guy hasn’t done it yet,” Ream said as he strode into the room toward me. I felt trapped. He took up all the air in the kitchen, and I couldn’t breathe properly, his words ringing in my head like a gong.

I heard Emily’s breath hitch and Logan’s grunt just before Ream reached me. I thought he was going to kiss me, and I backed up until my lower spine hit the kitchen cabinet. “Ream …”

He moved in until his chest was up against mine and then … he reached up and over my head into the cabinet and grabbed another plate. “Forgot one.” He hesitated, the feel of his rock hard thighs pressing into me. He backed off achingly slow, and I locked eyes with him. He winked and I swear my stomach hit the floor. This Ream I was scared of. Terrified. Because my snarky sass couldn’t beat him. I knew it and he had figured that out, and it was frightening to my resolve.

I breathed a heavy sigh as he disappeared back into the dining room. Oh my God. I was pathetic. What the hell was I doing? I was way better prepared to deal with Ream when we argued. This … this was wreaking havoc on my emotions, and I was losing the battle.

“Holy bajoodles,” Georgie said as she grabbed a bunch of utensils from the drawer. The clang of them hitting each other felt like my insides sparking off. “That man is hazardous to the libido.” She smacked her lips together. “Who’s taking bets he has her in the sack by nightfall?”