Summer's End (Wildflowers #5) - Jill Sanders Page 0,26

tonight, the others already know.”

Elle sighed again then left the apartment.

“So,” Aiden said from behind her, “if this is just sex, why haven’t we had any for more than six months?”

Chapter 8

Aiden could no longer hide the hurt. Now that they were alone again, he watched Aubrey closely. He’d hidden his pain and feelings from his cousin since he didn’t want her pity. Nor did he want the entire story to get back to the rest of her friends or the camp.

“That’s because you were trying to turn it into something else,” Aubrey said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Was I?” he asked softly, suddenly feeling too tired to debate the facts.

“You know you were.” She started pacing again.

“I remember just saying I loved the feeling of being inside you.” He moved closer. “Which I do. Along with loving the way your body fits against mine, the taste of your lips, the smell of your sex when you come for me.” He moved even closer to her. She’d made him so hard earlier that he’d spent the entire evening readjusting his suit pants.

“Aiden.” Her voice was just shy of a moan.

“I think it’s the word love”—she winced when he said it— “that you have an aversion to.” He reached out and brushed a finger down her arm and watched her eyes go foggy again. “Don’t you love the feeling of me touching you?” he asked as his fingers continued to slide over her soft skin.

“Hm,” she said then shook her head quickly and tried to pull away.

“I can stop if you want,” he said, trying a new tactic as he pulled his hand all the way away from her. When she swayed slightly towards him, he smiled and lifted his hand once more. This time, he brushed it over her dress, across her nipples, and watched as they puckered through the thin material for him. “Parts of you love my touch,” he said with a smile. “I bet there are lots of ways your body loves to respond to mine.”

She sighed and swayed again as his hand moved lower until he brushed a hand over her thigh. When she slid her legs apart slightly so that he could cup her through her dress, he chuckled. “Don’t you love being touched?” He continued to use the word that she hated so much, hoping, knowing, she would someday get used to it. “What if I did this.” He slid up the material until his palm ran over her bare skin. She arched and grabbed hold of his shoulders to steady herself. “Don’t you love the feeling of skin on skin?” He traced her neck with his mouth. “Love me kissing you?” His hands moved up to cup her outside of her underwear. “Love being touched?” He shifted slightly so he could pull the slight material away from her. “I bet you’re going to love me sliding my fingers into you.” He nudged the material further away from the goal. But instead of touching her, instead of doing what he’d just told her he would, he pulled back completely, leaving Aubrey standing in the middle of the room swaying as she looked at him with confusion.

“When you decide that we can use whatever word we want to describe what’s between us, you know where to find me.” He desperately wanted to kiss her, to sweep her up into his arms and haul her to her bed and do what he’d been dreaming of to her for the past six months, but he knew he had to make this stand if they were going to go anywhere beyond just sex-friends.

Walking out of her apartment was the hardest thing he’d had to do in his entire life. He knew it was the right thing. If he was going to prove to her that there was more between them, then he had to remove sex from the focus. He needed to prove to her that she wanted him in all the other ways. Which meant sex was going to have to be off the table altogether.

He believed that was the only course he could take to convince Aubrey to take a chance with him on a more personal level.

He’d expected her to suffer, but the following week, he was the one who had grown more frustrated. Aubrey had kept busy with her friends, filling in for Zoey while she was off for her honeymoon.

He had only bumped into her a handful of times, but each time,