The Happy List (Better With You #1) - Briar Prescott Page 0,68

I close my eyes, I can feel Gray against me. Above me. Underneath me. His lips on mine. His tongue in my mouth. His scent lingering on my skin.

His fingers in my hair. His teeth nipping at my lips. His cock pressing against mine…

Fuck!

Images of our kiss are so vivid in my mind that I can still taste him on my tongue.

The night did not go according to my plan. I was supposed to clear the air between us, but instead of standing my ground, I attacked him. And not even with my words but with my lips.

The worst thing is, now that I really know what Gray tastes like, I’m not sure I can ever go back to the way things were before. And the kissing wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was how he hugged me while we were lying on the floor. And the realization that I’d give anything to have him hold me like that for the rest of my life. The stupid, fucking useless hope is back like I haven’t just spent the last ten years doing everything in my power to kill it.

Nope. Instead, I’d seemingly fallen into some sort of false sense of security where I thought my feelings had been eviscerated when in truth they lay dormant, playing the long game, only to tumble back full force after one kiss. My feelings might as well have brought a banner with them, saying, Gotcha, sucker!

That’s a decade of work down the drain.

And I can already picture how this is going to go. Gray has been making a lot of changes lately. And now he says he wants me, and I believe he means it. I believe he thinks he wants me.

But in reality, he’s high on adrenaline. He’s ready to charge ahead and be this new version of Gray, and as much as I don’t like it, in this scenario I’m one of those new, exciting toys that’ll lose its shine once real life kicks in again. Gray wants to bring some excitement to his life, and kissing me probably feels new and different.

The problem with adrenaline highs is that they wear off. Sure, maybe it’ll take some time. He’ll have his fun with me, and he doesn’t even suspect it could end badly because he loves me. I know he does. But real life will kick in, and by that time we’ll have made enough damage that our friendship will be beyond repair, and I’ll lose him.

The smart thing to do would be to put a stop to it all. Have the talk again. Tell him all the kissing ends right here and now.

But now that I know what kissing Gray feels like, I desperately want more, and as experience has demonstrated already, I’m not that good at resisting him.

Shockingly enough, I don’t have a good solution at hand at—I glance at the digital clock by my bedside table—three in the morning. Fantastic.

I turn to my side, stuffing the pillow below my head.

The sound of footsteps outside my door make me shoot up from the bed like I’ve been hit by a bolt of lightning. There’s no consideration about whether or not this is a good idea. I don’t think at all anymore. I just do. My heart starts a wild gallop as I pull the door open and run straight into Gray.

His face is barely visible in the darkness of the hallway, but I don’t need the light. I know everything about Gray by heart anyway.

“Please tell me you don’t spend your nights creepily staring at my bedroom door.” The joke falls flat, even though Gray’s lips give the tiniest of twitches.

“Technically it’s my hallway, so I can do anything I want here, no matter the time.”

“I suspect your neighbors would oppose a midnight rave.”

“People might surprise you.”

Don’t I know it.

“Can I come in?” Gray nods toward my room.

He’s wearing a pair of sleep pants and nothing else. The power of the chest is so magnificent that I immediately step aside, letting him pass.

Every sane, logical thought I just spent hours agonizing over disappears because the possibility of seeing Gray naked outdoes everything else. Middle of the night is not a good time for making sound decisions. The late hour halts rational thought like nobody’s business.

“Couldn’t sleep?” I ask.

Gray shakes his head as he turns around to face me. He’s only inches away.

“And you want some company?” I stuff my hands beneath my armpits because I can’t seem to