The Perfect First (Fulton U, #1)(36)

“Why did you let her talk to you like that?”

I turned and Reece was way closer than I expected. My mug bumped against his chest. I backed up, but there was nowhere to go, my butt hitting the door and making it rattle in the frame.

“Like what?”

He got even closer. The backs of my fingers pressed against his chest. His heartbeat drummed against them.

“Like a total bitch.” His eyes bored into mine.

“She’s…” I shrugged. “Alexa.”

“She’s an asshole and I don’t like her talking to you like that.” Anger radiated off him and he stared at the door over my shoulder like he had laser vision.

Lifting one hand, I cupped his cheek. “Calm down, it’s okay.” I ran my thumb across his cheek. “Yes, she’s a bitch, and yes, I should stand up for myself more, but sometimes it’s just easier to give in.” My shoulders dropped and I lowered my hand.

He caught it before I could pull it away and held it there, his hand holding on to the back of mine. “You can’t let people run all over you, Seph. You think it’s easier that way, but it’s not. Don’t ever let someone treat you worse than you deserve to be treated.” His gaze locked with mine like this was something he didn’t just want me to hear, but to really know.

I nodded and he stepped in closer, bumping my hand. The coffee spilled over the edge of my mug and he hissed, backing up.

“Sorry.” I darted to the side and put the cup down on my dresser. Opening the top drawer, I grabbed the first thing I saw and used it to wipe at his chest.

“It’s okay. It’s my fault. Not like I didn’t know you were holding it.” He covered his hand with mine and pulled the fabric out of my grip. All the blood drained out of my face as he held it up in the air.

Please not the underwear I just bought. Please not the blue cotton lace. It was my first foray into exciting and bright colors beyond my hat. I lunged for them, but he held them up above his head.

“Give them back.” I grabbed for them, jumping up onto my tiptoes to reach.

“My, my, my, Persephone, look at you taking a walk on the wild side.” He stared up at the underwear dangling from his fingers in the air.

I jumped as high as I could and caught the edge of the fabric between my fingers. Reece’s arm came around me and wrapped around my waist. His hand skimmed under my top and landed on the bare skin at the small of my back. My stomach, exposed from my top rising up, landed flat against his. Our struggles stopped. Had the acoustics in the room changed or was that my heart pounding like a drum in a marching band? We stared into each other’s eyes.

An undercurrent pulsed between us. His other arm dropped and the electric blue underwear were forgotten. He lifted his hand and ran it along the exposed nape of my neck. My fingers sank into the softness of his skin, pressing into his firm, muscled chest.

My tongue darted out and ran along my lips. There were too many points of contact between us for me to think straight and not enough to satisfy the new craving I’d developed over the past couple of weeks. It would only be satiated by the one thing he’d told me I couldn’t have. Him.





14





Reece





Normally, after a girl had just puked her guts out, I wanted to be nowhere near her, let alone her mouth, but Seph had never been just a girl. Plus, she smelled minty fresh right now. My fingers were splayed across her back and her body pressed against mine.

I hoped the half boner I was sporting could be chalked up to morning wood and didn’t scare her off. But damn, how do you put your lacy electric blue panties in a guy’s hand and not expect that reaction? On anyone else, I’d have thought it was a seduction technique, but with her I had no doubt she hadn’t even realized what she was doing—what she was always doing whenever she was around me: innocently tempting me in the worst ways, the ways that made me want to say, Screw it, I don’t care that your first time should be with someone slow and gentle with rose petals and shit.

Someone knocked sharply on her door and threw it open, like it was their place to barge into. Seph jumped back, breaking the connection between us.

“Hey, Reece.” Her bitch of a roommate stood in the doorway with her arm running up the wooden frame, leaning against it like it was a stripper pole. “Hey, Seph.” She barely looked in her direction. “Dan and I were going to grab some breakfast and thought maybe you two would like to tag along.” Her eyes roamed all over my body like I was a steak and she was slobbering dog.

“You’re inviting me to breakfast?” Seph eyed her like she’d barged in with an oversized Publishers Clearing House check and told her she’d won something.

“I thought it would be good for us to spend some time together. We almost never do.” Insincerity dripped from her every word.

I grabbed my jeans off Seph’s chair and tugged them on. Buttoning them, I turned around. That didn’t change the hungry look in Alexa’s eyes. I’d been ogled before—hell, I’d been straight-up groped—but this made me uncomfortable, especially in front of Seph. I picked up my shirt off the desk and threw it on.

“She’ll have to take a rain check. I’m taking her out and want her all to myself.” I grabbed Seph’s shoes and threw them at her. She caught them and slipped them back on.