Friends with Benefits - Nicole Blanchard Page 0,23

ours together. He’d certainly never made my pleasure a focus.

Not how I was imagining it’d be like with Tripp.

I let my mind wander, letting myself consider being with him in a way I never had before. How gentle he’d be, but at the same time, how thorough and demanding. There’s no way he’d ever let me stop without coming first, like he’d said. I could almost see the intensity his expression would hold as he watched me tip over the edge.

It was wrong.

But it felt so right.

I shifted on the couch beside him, glancing to make sure he didn’t see how clearly turned on I was becoming. Even in the thin camisole and yoga pants, I was overheating. Thankfully, he was engrossed in the game on the TV and wasn’t paying me any mind.

At some point, his arm had drifted down to my shoulder, and he’d begun twirling my hair in his fingers. This time, I couldn’t stop the shiver. Automatically, he shifted closer as though to share his warmth to alleviate the chill.

The fireflies in my stomach doubled. No, quadrupled.

Did it make me a terrible person because I wanted to lose myself in him? I wanted those strong arms around me, wanted to wrap myself in the comfort he offered, to blot out everything going wrong in my life. Aside from the twins and my friends, he was the one bright spot. How had I not seen it? Maybe I’d been too afraid to look too closely.

“You’re staring at me,” he said, and I blinked. At some point, he’d stopped watching the game. Probably around the time I had started fantasizing about him.

My cheeks heated. “I’m sorry. I’m totally zoning out.”

“That’s alright, angel. You’ve got a lot on your plate.” His trademark Cheshire grin softened, and I made a split decision.

I kissed him.

I blamed the fireflies.

The moment our lips touched, I knew it was a mistake, but that didn’t mean I pulled away. No, pulling away was an impossibility. I was helpless to correct it.

I’d be lying if I said I’d never fantasized about kissing Tripp before. Especially in the beginning, when it was harder to resist him after we first met. But this kiss? This kiss…was worse than anything I could have ever imagined.

Because I never wanted to stop.

Tripp, however, didn’t have the same problem. His hands, which were buried in my hair, cradled my head as he shifted backward. “Ember?” He opened his mouth, but no other words came out. It was as though he knew if he said anything else, it would break the spell that had surrounded us since our lips touched.

A heartbeat passed, and the sound of it blotted out my sense of reason.

We reached for each other at the same time, a synchronized movement we hadn’t planned. Our lips met, needy and inevitable. Desperation superseded finesse, and I climbed into his lap without any thought for grace or seduction.

The announcer on the TV blared in the background, but as Tripp’s hands drifted down to dig into my hips, the sound faded into oblivion.

There was only us, and nothing had ever felt so right.

Tripp broke off, breathing heavily. “Wait, stop. What are we doing?”

I tugged him down, twisting so that his weight was on top of me, pressing me into the couch. When he dodged my lips, I made do with his throat. His skin was salty and sweet. Like caramel popcorn. I loved caramel popcorn. I licked up his throat to his ear. When I reached it, I breathed, “Shh. Less talk, more kissing.”

“Em, you don’t mean that.”

My hand found the vulnerable skin at his waist that was bared by his shirt. I slid my hand underneath, my fingers grazing the dusting of hair on his belly that I knew would be golden brown. God help me, but I wanted to nuzzle in it. Lick my way down beneath his jeans. I wondered if the hair there was dirty blonde, too.

“I mean it, probably more than I’ve meant anything in a long time.” His words ended on a harsh inhalation as my hands found his waistband and danced underneath. “You’re confused because of Chris. Ember, don’t. You’re going to regret this tomorrow.”

He looked down at me with a stern expression, but I barely heard what he was saying. “I’m not confused about anything,” I insisted.

When my hands continued to explore, he growled and pinned them on either side of my head. “Think about it. You’re kissing me. You. Kissing me. The one who