In the meantime, I hand the food platter to Xander, who’s been moving through the crowd and making conversation. Then I head inside, through the side door leading to the kitchen. A few women are shuffling around in here, getting out buns for the burgers and hot dogs, slicing tomatoes and onions, wiping snotty kid noses.
“You looking for Lauren?” my cousin Suzanna asks. She’s Mom’s brother’s oldest daughter. “She went in the back, down the hallway.”
I nod my thanks and go down the carpeted hallway. Peer in each room as I pass. No sign of her. The door at the end, Xander’s bedroom, is cracked open, so I step inside. There’s a splash of water coming from the en suite bathroom, and a familiar small sniffle on the other side of the closed door.
I close and lock the bedroom door behind me to give us a few minutes of privacy without any kids barging in, then go to the bathroom door. Rap on it. “Lauren. Come on out.”
The sniffling stops, and there’s a pause. “I’m fine, Cole. Thanks. Go rejoin your family at the party.”
“Come out right now, or I’m coming in.” It might not be the time for The Talk, where we delve into what happened between us and why it all went off the rails, but it’s clear we need to say something to break this ice. This shit isn’t going to cut it anymore.
More water splashes, and she doesn’t answer.
I give her to the count of three, then turn the knob and come in.
“Cole!” she spins around, eyeing me. A small gray hand towel is in her hands, and under her eyes are streaked a bit with mascara. The whites of her eyes are red-lined, her lush lips quivering. She presses them together. “I’m…fine. Sorry. I’m— I know things went really badly between us, and I want us to be friends again. I want it so badly. It’s just all messed up right now.” She draws in a shuddering breath and drops her gaze to the ground.
I reach out and stroke her bare upper arm, unable to stop myself from comforting her. It’s clear she’s really tortured about this. Regardless of anything else, I know she loves me as a friend, and this is hurting her, too. I pull her into my arms, wanting to ease some of her sadness, and she melts against me.
“Shh, we’ll work it out,” I tell her, rubbing small circles on her back.
My attempts at comfort seem to have the opposite effect on her, though. She drops the towel on the floor and grips my shirt at the back, clinging to me with an agonized deep sigh. “I…I… This is so awful,” she says against my shirt, her body shaking in my arms. “I’m so sorry I fucked everything up. I’m sorry, Cole. I miss you so much it hurts.”
Something in my heart chips away at the sheer pain in her voice. No matter what, she is still my best friend, always has been and always will be. I hate seeing her like this. I tilt her chin up and press a kiss to her brow. “I miss you too, kitten.”
Her tear-filled eyes lock with mine, and she says, “Really? Because it doesn’t seem like it. You’ve been so distant lately, and…” She shrugs. “I never thought you and I would end up like this. It’s horrible.”
I slide my hand to the back of her neck and stroke the flesh there. So fucking soft. I should stop. I need to stop. But God help me, I don’t want to. I didn’t fully realize how much my skin has ached for the feel of hers against me until right fucking now.
She swallows. Her eyes drop to my mouth, and her pupils enlarge, her breathing growing shallow. Two spots of color rise on her cheeks. “Cole,” she whispers, and licks her lips.
My heart pounds against my ribcage. My whole body becomes so, so aware of her pressed against me. Her breasts full, her nipples growing to firm points. My cock swells, and she gives a tiny gasp as she registers it, then presses her pelvis against mine. Her eyes drift closed, and her mouth tilts toward me just a fraction.
Fuck. I can’t do this. I shouldn’t do this. But I want her, and she wants me, and I’ve been denying myself of her for two miserable fucking weeks.
I grip the back of her head, her eyes flying open, and take her mouth. Hard. Hot. Insistent. All my frustration, my agony, my anger, pours into my kiss. Her mouth opens for me, no hesitation, and her fingers slide up my spine, leaving behind small goose bumps in their trail.
Lauren pushes herself against me as far as she can go, her thighs straddling mine. I drop my hands down to touch her hips, telling myself one kiss, one fucking kiss, that’s all I’m going to take from her right now.
Then my hands brush bare skin—those fucking sexy thighs—and of their own volition, my fingers slide the skirt up one painful inch at a time.
Her whole body is shivering again, but it’s not sadness this time. It’s desire. I can smell her heat, practically hear the throb of her pulse in her veins. I’m so turned on right now I want to yell, want to pound into her.
“I want you, Cole,” she says in this sexy-as-fuck husky tone. “Please. Please don’t stop touching me.”
I’m powerless to stop now. An airplane would have to fall on the house to get me to stop. I grab her ass and haul her up on the countertop’s edge beside the sink. Drop to my knees and press my nose to her pussy.