Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74298 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74298 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“At least one of those things,” I said.
As the guy walked off, I let out an exhale I hadn’t realized I’d been holding onto.
“We nailed it,” Tris said.
“Never thought I’d hear you call me that,” I murmured.
“What?”
“Baby,” I said in a teasing voice, turning to him. “Is that what you call your girlfriends?”
“No, actually, that’s just for you,” Tristan said, a slight smile coming over his lips as he teased me right back. “If I’m going to pretend to be your boyfriend, I’m going to do it right.”
“Pretty sure real boyfriends do more than just call each other ‘baby.’”
Tristan was looking up at me, his eyes all half-lidded with a glimmer of mischief behind them. I couldn’t tell if it was the alcohol or the roleplaying, but he sure as hell seemed to be enjoying himself.
“Real boyfriends would have danced even closer than we did,” he offered, looking at me with some challenge in his eyes. Sam really had been right when he’d said Tristan had a James Dean look going tonight, and now that my usual filters were breaking down, I couldn’t deny how fucking hot he looked.
I looked him up and down, letting out a breath. “I mean, if you were really my boyfriend, I’d have dragged you home to fuck by now,” I said. My insides felt molten the moment I said it. This was not the kind of thing I typically said to Tris, no matter how honest we were with each other.
But when his eyes flared wide and the mischievous smile returned to his face, even wider, now, relief flooded through me. I hadn’t freaked him out.
In fact, now he was biting his lower lip and looking at me in a way that was going to make me fucking hard, right here in public.
“Well, you certainly were the one who taught me never to do anything half-assed,” Tristan said a moment later, his voice low.
He put his hands to either side of my face, softly, before closing the distance between us, and my heart rocketed inside my chest like I’d just stepped off a cliff.
I liked him holding my face like this. Really liked it. Way too much, actually.
I was paralyzed for a moment, frozen in place, watching his mouth, which was impossibly close to my own face. He cocked his head to one side, those gorgeous eyes looking at me like I was the only person on Earth.
And then, all of a sudden, Tristan’s plush lips were on mine.
My body caught up way before my brain did. At first, all I could focus on was the warmth of his mouth against my own, how soft his lips were, and the faint scent of summery beer mixed with his familiar smell. He was fucking kissing me. A soft, slow, almost sensual kiss, where he let his mouth open a little to mine in a rush of wet heat.
And I was lost immediately.
It didn’t just feel good to kiss Tristan—it felt completely right, and before I could think, some deep part of me just wondered why we hadn’t been doing this all along. Why we hadn’t been kissing each other for years. Why we didn’t do it every fucking day.
It was intoxicating. I leaned forward a little, totally involuntarily, like my body was on autopilot. I reached out for him, pulling the bulk and warmth of his body against the front of mine. A low groan escaped me as my tongue slid against his and I gripped him even closer, my insistent hard-on accidentally pushing up against his thigh.
And then my brain caught up.
I was rutting my cock up against Tristan.
Tristan was kissing me.
This was my best friend, not some random drunk dude on a dance floor.
I broke off and moved back a few inches, my lips still slick and hanging slightly open as I breathed deep. My eyes were fixed on Tristan’s, and for a moment we just hung there, the moment blooming outward as we both didn’t say a thing. I had no idea if he’d felt my erection through both of our jeans, but I’d have guessed it was pretty hard to miss.
“How’d I do?” Tristan finally asked, his voice still low and sultry. He licked his lips, still looking at me like he was ready to pounce on me again. I couldn’t figure out if he was still just playing a role and fucking around, or if his voice just naturally sounded like that when he was kissing somebody. I almost didn’t want to know.
I cleared my throat, blinking, trying to snap back to reality. “Um,” I said, “I’d say you did pretty good, Tris.”
Finally his recognizable charming smile started to appear again, the sides of his eyes crinkling upward. “Oh yeah?” he asked. “You approve?”
“Yep,” I said. “Pretty sure it was a ten out of ten. You’re, uh, a really good kisser.”