“Completely.”
“So you’re saying if I tried to kiss you right now, you wouldn’t let me?”
“Are you asking permission? You never cared about it before,” I tossed back.
“Irrelevant. Yes or no, Fawn?”
I kept my mouth shut.
When he slowly stood from his chair, I forced myself not to move. We both had a point to prove, and neither of us considered the consequences.
After all these months, he still hadn’t learned that I would never make it easy for him.
I could already feel Houston’s kiss intensifying the ache Loren had started between my legs. We both still had morning breath, for fuck’s sake, but it didn’t matter when he was this close. I was trapped against the counter with his hands on my hips. The tiny shorts I wore did nothing to protect me from his warmth.
Houston was a blazing inferno, and I was the match that lit him.
“Last chance, Braxton.”
“Go to hell, Houston.”
Smiling, he took his time, letting our lips meet. He was giving me the chance to make a choice, and I was still pretending I didn’t have one. It was irresponsible. Neither of us wanted to take the blame for what happened next.
He kissed me slowly and gently. The way he stroked my tongue with his reminded me of lazy Sunday mornings spent in bed with the sheets twisted around our tangled legs.
It was not at all what I expected.
With one kiss, Houston proved that he was the storm and the calm, and I, the destruction he left behind. As our lips continued to dance, my hands found his bare chest, moaning at the hard muscles there. I wanted him wrapped around me.
Feeling him pull away, I whimpered. If I weren’t too far gone, I would have been embarrassed. So much need in such a broken sound. I didn’t want to leave this dream world.
When I opened my eyes, he was staring down at me, mistrust and desire swirling in his green gaze.
“Play your stunts, Fawn. I do enjoy making you sorry.”
Undoubtedly, if there were a girl out there more daring than me, of the three, Houston would be the hardest to conquer. He considered himself responsible for his friends and what remained of everything they shared. Letting someone in meant lowering his guard and taking a chance that the person didn’t mean them harm.
I ached at the thought even as I spoke.
“Then piss me off, Morrow. That shouldn’t be too hard for you.”This was getting weird.
But not in the way that made me think shit was totally fucked. The hope stirring in my gut was real, and it wouldn’t go away. Each day it grew stronger. Before, it never lasted past noon because my friends were jerks.
Whether she knew it or not, Braxton had taken up our cause.
Houston was suspicious and fearing the worst. Loren was still convinced he only wanted to get his dick wet. He claimed he was allergic to commitment, but I think he craved it more than he knew. At some point, we start to believe a certain perspective of ourselves, and no evidence otherwise can change our minds. The strongest illusion was delusion.
Loren looked at Braxton like she fed his soul, and he was eagerly waiting for just a little more. It wouldn’t go over well when he finally realized it. He’d rather be told he had terminal cancer than to hear that he was falling for our insatiable rebel.
Right now, he was too occupied with Braxton’s lips to worry about his heart. It was all I could do to keep my gaze forward while Houston navigated Dallas. Security trailed us in separate cars while we did this little outing. Braxton had invited us to go sightseeing, and none of us had the willpower to say no. Even if it was weird as fuck.
“Headstrong” by Trapt started to play, and Houston turned up the volume. I was pretty sure he was trying to drown out the sound of Loren and Braxton making out in the back seat. It didn’t matter how high he cranked the volume, though. We were too tuned in to every move they made.
Even now, I could hear clothes rustling, followed by Braxton’s soft sighs.
“It’s a shame,” Loren muttered when they finally stopped sucking face long enough. “I could be knuckles deep in your pussy right now, but you insisted on bringing food to a buffet.”
Yeah, he was definitely taking a dig at Houston and me.
“How will I ever survive?” Braxton returned.
Loren chuckled, but I knew him. He didn’t find it all that funny. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him glowering at his phone.
I was just relieved it was over.
Braxton was no longer hiding that she was attracted to all of us. Before we left, she’d kissed me good morning while Houston and Loren looked on. I saw their jealousy when she pulled away, but they hadn’t said a word. I didn’t know what it meant that we weren’t acting on it. We’ve never so much as double-dipped inside of a groupie, and now we were sharing our guitarist?