“I’m Amber,” she whispers. “Royal Grounds regular. And I’m pretty sure you aren’t Miles.”
Maggie laughs, finding her voice again. “Amber, yes. Amber.” She lets out a breath. “This is Griffin. He’s a first-timer.”
Amber winks at Maggie and shifts her eyes to meet mine. “Sorry ‘bout the door, dude. Rookie mistake. Maggie should have known better than to let you stand so close. Something must have distracted her.” She grins and winks at Maggie again, and in the pale streetlight I see Maggie’s cheeks turn pink. Totally worth the bruised shoulder.
Maggie squeezes my hand and leads me into a dimly lit hallway, Amber disappearing without another word as soon as she guides the door closed behind us.
“Emergency exit,” I say. “Nice. How did she know you were coming, though? Were you supposed to be here with Miles?”
She purses her lips, hesitating before she nods.
“But you cut him and his boyfriend loose for me?”
“Excuse me, but you were pretty insistent on giving me a ride home. Were you not?”
I watch her pale flesh turn pink again, enjoying the sight.
“Touché, Pippi. I guess we’re both busted.”
We make our way into the main hallway lined with movies already in progress.
“So she’s kind of on-call for you?” I tease.
“Something like that.”
“Top secret information?”
“I could tell you…” she starts.
“Yeah, yeah. But you’d have to kill me. I got it. We all have our secrets.” I’m only partially joking when I say this, and the brief faltering of her expression confirms I’m not alone. I don’t know this girl, and she doesn’t know me. That doesn’t change the ease of clasping her hand, of teasing her, of wanting to kiss her again. Whatever this night is feels different from any other night with any other girl, and it should paralyze me, make me run as far from this place as possible. Instead I move forward, her hand in mine. And when I read the marquee above the theater door, a stupid grin takes over any expression of doubt.
“You’ve got to fucking be kidding me. Gladiator? They’re showing Gladiator?”
She mouths a shhhhh as she yanks open the door, but she’s grinning as big as I am, pleased with her choice of films—pleased, I hope, that I feel the same.
I behave myself for what’s left of the film, a full hour, but once the credits roll, I’m right back where we were before getting nailed in the shoulder by the emergency-exit door.
“About those ground rules…” I say as she turns to face me, and without another word, my hands cup her cheeks, and she grabs my hoodie without hesitation. And shit, she still tastes so good, so much that I crave her even when my lips are on hers, when her tongue tangles with mine. She’s right here, yet I can’t get enough, and it’s this realization that has me pulling away, panting, a smile forced to disguise the fear.
“What’s next, Pippi? Still too early to take you home?”
Her expression mirrors mine, a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Not until daylight…if you’re up for it…in which case we have a few more hours.”
She doesn’t hide the hesitation in her voice, and I pause before I answer, knowing the best thing for both of us would be to end the evening right now. Because I’m buzzed on her presence already. If I stay with her till dawn, I’ll be downright drunk, which means any decisions I make at that point will be far from what’s best for either of us.
But it’s too late. I’ve had a taste, am already impaired. Even on a good day, I don’t necessarily do what’s right, but I do what I want. And I want her.
“I’m up for it.”
This time her smile is real, all the way to those gorgeous hazel eyes that keep their secrets, but I don’t give a shit. We’re all hiding something. Tonight I want to be the one who makes those eyes smile.
Tomorrow I’ll force myself to forget her like I do all the others. It’s what I’m good at. But for the next few hours, I’m a fucking goner.
Chapter Five
Maggie
I can’t stop kissing him. Admitting the problem is half the battle, right? Then I can take the steps needed to cure myself. I scoff out a laugh under my breath.
Right. Because healing happens so quickly.
“What’s so funny?” Griffin asks, catching up to me.
I guess I have to work on my timing. His wide-eyed expression made me think he’d sit there in the driver’s seat, stunned or too nervous to join me as I hopped out my door, wandered around the block, and into the alley. But here he is, next to me. It’s been his M.O. all night—being there. It’s what I asked him to do, and him saying yes, that made me kiss him, that taught me I don’t want to stop kissing him, even though I should. I have a hard enough time keeping drink orders straight. Someone like Griffin is a disruption to my routine, and routine gets me through the day.