One that smelled really good — too good.
Memories assaulted me, and then finally, I licked the seam of her lips. With a gasp, her mouth opened. I hadn’t planned on kissing her at all, let alone kissing her the way I was.
But, damn it, she wasn’t kissing me back.
And I was proving a point.
And she was ruining it by not responding.
Her soft moan was all I needed to hear and, when she pressed her fingertips into my biceps, I knew she was enjoying herself. Kissing another woman wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be.
It felt different.
But not bad.
Not like cheating.
Then again, I was too confused about everything and too upset that I’d scared her to even feel anything but relief that she wasn’t running away screaming. I was used to dealing with strong women. Women who knew how to fight back, even physically if need be.
Hell, if I pulled a gun on Trace she’d probably shoot me first.
Mil would laugh while kicking her spiked heels into my forehead, and Mo would slit my throat before I could even apologize.
And Andi.
Andi would have tried to tackle me to the ground and choke me out.
Val was just starting to respond, her tongue tentatively touching mine, when I pulled back.
Andi, Andi, Andi.
What the hell was I doing?
Val still looked afraid.
And the kiss had affected me in ways I wasn’t ready for.
My lips buzzed while my body craved the nearness her soft curves promised.
Damn it, I was a changed man. A man who finally knew what it was like to have someone to share the horrors of life with — and a woman who had no choice but to say yes to me at the altar.
“Sorry.” I apologized again. “I was just…” I refused to let her think it was more than me proving a point, so that’s exactly what I said. “Proving a point. See? No gun.” Except for the one in my pants, what the ever loving hell? When had that happened? My dick strained against my jeans as horror and astonishment washed over me.
With a gruff curse, I motioned to the door and muttered, “We good?”
With a confused stare, Val opened her mouth then pressed her fingers to her lips and gave a mute nod. Pieces of dark hair whipped across her cheeks, and I stared longer than necessary at her lips. Again. And then at her face, which was a really bad idea, because I was looking at the full picture, the lips with the eyes, the cheeks, the innocent bow-shaped cherry lips.
Damn it.
“Great.” Just freaking great. How the hell had a simple kiss turned me on?
It was wrong.
So horribly wrong.
Yet my body was ready — and screaming about the rightness of it all.
Hell.
“We should get back to the house, unless you wanted to watch the movie?” Please don’t want to watch the movie.
“House,” she said in a hoarse voice. “House sounds good.”
We sat a foot apart the entire taxi ride back to the neighborhood, and when the car screeched to a stop, she jumped out and ran inside the house, slamming the door behind her.
Which left me on the doorstep after I paid the driver.
With no choice but to call the guys and see if they could make sense out of the mess I’d created.
“I’m a piece of shit,” I blurted the minute Tex answered with his gruff voice asking who I killed and if I needed cleanup.
Tex burst out laughing on the other end of the phone. “This may be my favorite conversation we’ve ever had. Please continue. Should I be recording this? Hold on, I’m putting you on speakerphone.”
“You son of a bitch! You said you were alone!”
“He’s the Cappo, he lies for a living,” came Chase’s amused voice. “So, you’re a piece of shit, and…?”
The phone crackled like they were playing hot potato with it, taking turns listening to my embarrassment.
Funny, the rage wasn’t even present in that moment.
I was too damn confused and irritated to feel even the slightest bit of anger, which, if I thought about it too long, made me feel even more unsettled.
Anger had always been available.
And now, it was out of reach.
Because of a stupid kiss.
And the words that had followed.
I groaned and slammed my hand against the cement stairs, my palm stung as little pieces of cement stuck to my skin. “I pulled a gun on her.”
“And?” Nixon asked.
“You too? Really?” I rolled my eyes and looked up to the sky hoping like hell Andi was enjoying the show. Grab popcorn, sweetheart, it’s about to get much worse. I could almost hear her laughter ringing in the air.
And for the first time in a while.
It didn’t make me want to commit suicide.
Progress?
Or maybe just insanity.
I’d take either. Both?
Over the confusion, I felt in the pit of my stomach as though I’d just marched into completely unfamiliar territory and lost the map that told me how to get back to the safe zone.
“Was she in trouble?” Chase asked.