The Curve Ball - Samantha Lind Page 0,34

she opens for me. I lick my way inside her mouth. The moment our tongues collide, I swear fucking fireworks start to explode.

We finally break the kiss, both sucking in lungs full of air. Riley drops her forehead to my shoulder, her hands resting against my bare abs. I feel her tense in my lap at the same moment her fingers still from tracing the ridges of my abs. She pulls back, sitting up straight and moving off of my lap and standing up quickly. She almost trips over my feet, so I reach out, grasping her hips to help steady her. I don’t need her falling and getting hurt.

“Riley,” I say her name. It comes out in a half growl, half plea. “Look at me, please,” I ask, tugging on her hand. She sucks in a deep breath before turning around to face me. I can see the confused look on her face. The one that tells me she wants more but also is confused about what just happened between the two of us. “Talk to me.”

“Wh-what are we doing? That can’t happen again, JJ,” she whispers, and brings her other hand up until her fingertips rest on her lips. I can still feel her lips against my own, so I can only imagine that she feels mine.

“We were being two consenting adults exploring this spark between the two of us. One that I’m pretty sure you can feel just as much as I can.”

“We can’t,” she states, not very convincingly.

“Why not?”

“For so many reasons, JJ,” she tells me, pulling her hand from my grip. “You’re my brother's best friend. Your life just got turned upside down. You don’t do relationships, and I’m not about to indulge in a one-night stand. And most of all, you’re my boss, JJ. We just can’t.”

Before I can reply, Riley pivots and runs from the room. I sit there a bit stunned, a bit pissed, but most of all I’m fired up. I’m ready to toss all of Riley’s reasons out the fucking door and show her that if there's something real between the two of us, that none of those reasons matter and we can make something work if it's meant to be.

Game fucking on.

Ten

Riley

I close the door to my bedroom, flicking the lock on the knob. Not because I think that JJ will try and come in here after me, but because I’m afraid that I’ll run right back out into the living room and tell him to take me to bed right now. I can’t believe that he kissed me just now. The feel of his lips against my own, the way his hands caressed my skin was more than I could have ever thought that it could be like. I’ve only ever dreamed of being kissed like that by a man. The few guys I’ve kissed and made out with were nowhere near as experienced as JJ was just now.

The reality as to why JJ was so much more experienced hits me like a bucket of ice water. He’s a manwhore to the core. Hell, the night that Derek and I came over here when Evie was dropped off, he’d been initially on his way out to go party it up, and I’m sure that one of the things he’d planned to do that night was find some random chick to fuck.

I scrub my hands over my face and groan into them. Why didn’t I tell him no or to stop when he gave me the out? I think I was just so shell-shocked that he was touching me, seeing me in that kind of light, that I just froze. When he walked back out without a shirt on, I’m surprised my chin didn’t literally hit the floor. The man has more abs than I knew existed, and my traitorous mind went right to what it would be like to trace all those ridges with my tongue. What it would feel like to have all that skin against my own.

It’s not fair, really. I’m so sexually frustrated, and I’m trapped in this house with a god of a man. One that I can’t touch. I push away from the door and head for the bathroom. If I can’t give in to my desires with JJ, I can for sure use that kiss as fodder to get myself off in the bath.

I plug the tub and start filling it, grabbing some bath salts from my toiletries bag. They were part