I could deny it. Could tell her I had no idea what she was talking about. But I knew I wouldn’t. I was going to be honest with her—too honest.
“A few weeks.” I finally took a step forward, enough for her to see my outline but not enough for her to see my face fully.
I wasn’t hiding. She already knew what I looked like. And I’d committed every part of her to my memory.
“Why?”
I shrugged. “Because I wanted to.” The silence stretched between us until… “How long have you known?”
She shook her head, her fingers rubbing at her temples. “I...I’m not sure. I thought I was being followed the other night and—"
“It was me,” I interrupted, stepping closer to her. “It’s always me.” My stomach dipped the closer to her I got. “I can’t...I can’t stop myself from wanting to be near you.”
She glanced up; her head dipped back so she could meet my stare. “I…” Her chest heaved on another breath. “I should be scared.” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “Why am I not scared?”
My lips quirked into a smirk. She knew she was meant to feel a certain way, but that didn’t mean she actually felt like that. Her body was telling her one thing and her brain another, I could see the war raging in her eyes. The same war I’d been battling since I first saw her.
“You’re not afraid,” I told her simply, taking one last step toward her. There were only centimeters of space between us. One move and I could be touching her.
“I’m not,” she croaked out, her gaze not leaving mine for even a millisecond. She was captivated by me, just like I was with her.
I didn’t hesitate. I knew it was now or never. Fate has stepped in our path and demanded something from us. I was simply fulfilling its demands.
My hand met her bicep and she gasped at the soft touch. My knuckles were swollen thanks to going too hard in practice today. “I’ve wanted to do this for what feels like forever.” I let my palm drift up to the side of her neck then kept it there.
“What’s your name?” she whispered, her body leaning forward.
I stared into her light eyes, needing them to keep me grounded as I told her, “Nixon.”
“Nixon,” she repeated, wrapping her lips around the syllables in a way I’d never heard before. “It…” She blinked as I pressed my body to hers, feeling her curves against me and wishing we weren’t standing next to a trash can. “It suits you.”
Her shaky hand pushed some hair behind her ear, her tongue coming out to swipe against her bottom lip.
“I’m gonna kiss you now,” I told her, not giving her the chance to deny me. “I’m gonna kiss you like I’ve imagined every day since I first laid eyes on you.”
She nodded, her lips parting at my words, and I didn’t waste another second. I slammed my mouth against hers, yanking her body even closer to mine, and taking what I’d craved for what felt like years.
Her soft lips relinquished to mine, her soft sigh lighting me on fire. I traced my tongue against her lips then swiped it along the tip of her tongue.
She groaned as I wrapped my arms around her, and without hesitating, she boosted herself up, her legs locking around my waist.
Kloey’s tongue trailed along mine and my hips shunted forward from her touch. She was making me lose myself in a way nothing else ever had.
I wasn’t sure how long our lips stayed fused together, but at some stage we ended up back in the shadows where I’d been waiting for her—where I was most comfortable.
“More,” she begged, pulling away just enough to get the word out.
I knew what she wanted, not just because of what she was saying vocally, but because her body was begging me to touch it.
I reached for the bottom of her T-shirt, my gaze fixated on her eyes, but something stopped me. Something told me to wait.
“Nixon?” Kloey frowned, blinking rapidly. “What—"
“Not here,” I said, pressing my forehead to hers. I wanted to kiss her again. I wanted to touch between her legs. I wanted to see her naked. I wanted to press against her and make her feel things she couldn’t have dreamed about.
But…
Not here.
I’d lived in the shadows for too long, and now the prospect of coming out of them was...too much.
I slowly let her legs down, making sure she was steady, then backed away.
“What’s happening right now?” Kloey asked, the confusion on her face clear as day.
“I…” I swiped my hand down my face, growling in frustration. I’d waited for her. I’d waited for this moment for weeks. And now...now I was the one who was bailing. “I need to…” I couldn’t explain it to her because I didn’t understand it myself.
So I spun around and darted away from her, keeping in the darkness of the shadows where I felt most at home.
Chapter Twelve
Kloey
I didn’t understand why.
He’d admitted to following me for weeks.
He’d driven me home a couple of nights ago.
But now he was walking away.
He was bailing on me and I had no idea why.
My stomach rolled the farther away he got from me, until finally I couldn’t see him, couldn’t hear him, couldn’t...feel him, anymore.
I lifted my fingertips to my lips, remembering how he was both hard and soft all at the same time. He taken what he wanted—what I wanted to give—and I wanted more.
No.
I needed more.
Closing my eyes, I leaned against the scratchy brick wall, hoping that wasn’t the last time I would see him.
It couldn’t be. He wouldn’t just walk away now, not after that. Not after he’d been watching me.
Right?
My heart hammered in my chest, hope building that this wasn’t the end.
I shook my head. How could it be the end when nothing had really begun?
Was I
