The Roommate Agreement(35)
“Now that’s the scary part.”
She laughed, lightly swatting at my arm and swaying. She gripped my arm to keep herself upright. “Wow. Okay, maybe there was more wine than I thought.”
It was my turn to chuckle. “You think, smartass? You sure you’re good in here?”
She nodded resolutely, her bun bouncing on top of her head. “I’m good. Wait.” She paused. “Yep, I’m good. Thank you.”
“All right.” I half-smiled. “See you in the morning.”
“Night, Jay.” She leaned over, and at that exact moment, I turned to go.
And her lips touched mine.
They were so soft, just like I’d imagined them to be. It was barely even a kiss, but my arm twitched because all I wanted to do was reach out, wrap my hand around the back of her neck, and pull her in close to me. I wanted to curve an arm around her waist and hold her body flush against mine so I could kiss her properly and thoroughly, make her feel the way I felt right now.
Like my veins were on fire.
Like nothing had ever felt this good.
But I couldn’t. She’d been drinking, and she’d gone for my cheek—at least, I assumed she had.
So I went against every single instinct in my body and stepped away from her, letting her hand fall from my arm.
She instantly covered her mouth with her hand and blinked at me. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
I swallowed, ignoring the harsh thumping of my heart. “It’s fine. You went for my cheek, I moved… It was an accident.” I checked my Fitbit on my wrist for the time. “I have to go to bed. Work.”
“Right, right.” She pressed her hands against her stomach and took a couple of steps back. “Night, Jay.”
“Night, Shelbs.” I turned and hightailed it out of her room, making the sharp turn to my door that was only feet away from hers. I shut it behind me a lot more calmly than I felt and leaned against it.
Fuck.
She’d kissed me. By accident, but she’d still fucking kissed me. No matter how short and sweet and mistaken it was, there was no way I’d forget how it felt.
It was the longest three seconds of my life.
I rubbed my hand down my face and pushed off the door, then tore my shirt off over my head, tossing it in the direction of the laundry basket. It landed on the edge, mostly in, and I sat on the edge of the bed.
Going on a date with Tess last night had been the first step in my plan of getting rid of how I felt about Shelby, yet it’d ended up making everything worse. If I hadn’t gone, I wouldn’t have seen my parents, and I wouldn’t have ended up at dinner with Shelby tonight.
She wouldn’t have drunk wine with my mom and grandmother. She wouldn’t have gotten drunk, and she wouldn’t have accidentally kissed me.
Leaning forward, I buried my face in my hands and groaned.
This was a problem.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN – SHELBY
Everyone Needs Their Own Space
I was never drinking again.
I swear. That was a promise. It wasn’t going to happen. Never, ever again, not after what I’d done last night.
I’d kissed Jay.
Freakin’ kissed him.
Why had I gone in for the cheek? Why had I done something so silly? I never kissed his cheek. I’d only ever done it on birthdays and Christmas to say thank you for the presents. I’d never done it before bed.
What was wrong with me?
And I’d told him one of the voices wanted to have sex with him and that the voice was mine.
I was so glad he hadn’t made me breakfast like he’d originally said. I couldn’t begin to imagine the conversation.
Morning, Jay, I’m sorry for accidentally kissing you and telling you I wanted to have sex with you.
I rested my forehead against the fridge and groaned. My phone rang, and I reluctantly moved to get it. Brie’s name flashed on the screen.
“Hey,” I answered.
“Wow, what’s wrong with you?” she said instantly.
“Nothing. What’s up?”
“I just took lunch to Sean at the gym because I was out getting mine and Jay was miserable as hell. Sean said he’d been like it all morning. Do you know what’s up with him?”
I groaned, sliding onto one of the island stools. “Me. It’s me.”
“What’s you? What did you do? Did you finally have enough of him and tell him to move out?”
“No. I kissed him.”
The sound of choking came down the line, followed by a big wheeze.
“Brie? Are you okay?”
“You kissed him?” she rasped after a second. “Why did you do that?”
“It was an accident!” I snapped.
“Whoa, okay,” Brie said. “Calm down.”
I took a deep breath and let it back out again. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just super stressed over it.”
“Okay. What happened?”
“We went for dinner at his parents’ last night. I had wine with his mom and Grams, and I was a little tipsier than I thought. He helped me into my room, and when I went to kiss his cheek goodnight, he turned, and I caught his lips.”
“Oh, shit. That’s not awkward at all.”