Breaking Stars (The Celebrity 2)

He waited for the sound of her boots shuffling against the wood floor to signal her departure before he stepped a little closer and pleaded once more, “Say it, Paige. I need to know.”

“Need to know what? How much I want you? Is that what you want to hear? Because I do. I’m so attracted to you and I’ve wanted to kiss you for forever, but I never know what you want or how you feel. I’m drawn to you, Tatum, in ways that make no sense to me at all. Sure, we’re from two completely different worlds and I’m pretty sure we can never work out, but right now,” I said, pausing to take a deep breath. “Right now I don’t care. Now all I care about is getting you to finally freaking put your lips on mine, and feel your hands against my skin. Because I want you. I want you so—”

Tatum quickly closed the little distance left between us and pressed his lips against mine, moving them slowly at first, as though he was taking his time in tasting every inch of me before the hunger spread. My lips parted at the feel of his tongue pressing against them, begging for entry. At once we became frantic, devouring each other like the moment might be lost forever if we stopped. Tatum cupped one hand around my ass while shoving the other in my hair and holding on for dear life. I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders and squeezed, digging my nails into the skin beneath his shirt.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been nice to you,” he said softly against my mouth, trying to kiss and talk at the same time.

“Shut up.” I gripped the back of his neck and forced his mouth back against mine. I didn’t want him going anywhere, and I’d be damned if I let him get away before I was ready. Our mouths continued to feast on each other as our tongues slowly moved in and out. This was hands down the best kiss of my life, and I completely forgot we had an audience until the clapping and hooting started.

“Shit.” Tatum pulled away slowly before giving his friends an embarrassed wave and pulling me out of the bar.

I couldn’t keep my hands off him as I ran my hands over his shoulders, his chest, his back. Screw my celebrity status; I didn’t care what anyone thought. I wanted to touch all of him at once.

The warm night air greeted us as we burst through the bar’s double doors. Tatum pulled me toward the side of the building where the streetlights didn’t shine as brightly. Pushing me against the wall, he tangled his fingers in my hair and pulled my mouth toward his. His tongue demanded my attention. He moved from my mouth to my neck, where he sucked and kissed me tenderly. His fingers splayed across my back and held me tight.

“You’re gonna break my heart,” he confessed against my ear.

I gasped and pulled away slowly before responding carefully, “I think you might break mine.”

“I don’t ever want to.”

The hunger in his eyes should have scared me off, the passion and intensity reflected there unlike anything I’d ever experienced before, either on screen or off. Looking at him now made me question whether any feelings I’d ever experienced before had been real. It almost felt as if they’d been acted out on a set or scripted for good publicity. But this…

Right here.

Right now.

With Tatum.

It was as if my world violently came to life around me in that moment, as if I’d been living my life before in black and white, and now everything was suddenly lit up in vibrant Technicolor. Tatum woke me up from the slumber I didn’t even realize I was in. This was the most alive and real I’d ever felt in my adult life.

The Kiss That Erases All Others

Tatum

Kissing Paige worked me up into a frenzy. I’d been trying to deny my feelings for her and shove any sign of them back into the hole in my chest where my heart once lived, but tonight had been too much. She pushed me too far. Seeing her body pressed against Troy’s took all of my willpower. I wanted to rip him limb from limb just for touching her.

An immature notion, I know, but I still felt that way.

Once the craziness took over my body, I knew I needed to confess some things to her. Paige needed to hear that I didn’t want her dancing with anyone else. I didn’t want her touching any other guy in this town. Hell, I didn’t want her touching any other guy in any town. Ever again.

Note to self: Good luck with that request.

When Paige told me she wanted me, I nearly lost it right there in that bar. She’d said the words I hadn’t allowed myself to think when it came to her. I’d spent so much of my spare time convincing myself that a girl like Paige would never be interested in a guy like me. How many hours had I wasted being foolish?

No more.

She was still talking, and all I wanted to do was silence her. So I covered her pretty little lips with mine. They were so soft, and her tongue tasted like whiskey and sweet-and-sour mix. I’d never enjoyed the taste of whiskey as much as I did in that moment. I wanted to drink her in forever. My life before kissing Paige had just ended. Kissing her changed everything, and I knew it the moment her lips touched mine.

“You’re gonna break my heart,” I told her, wanting her to know how hard I planned on falling for her.

She gasped and pulled away from me. My mind instantly went to worst-case scenarios, and I figured I’d just blown the whole thing. Hoped I enjoyed kissing her, because I’d never get to do that again.

“I think you might break mine.” Her words sent fireworks shooting through my chest and ricocheting across my heart.

“I don’t ever want to,” spilled from my lips, and damn if I didn’t mean it. Every single word.

“Take me home, Tatum.”