From this.

From me.

From whatever this was.

I blinked. “You came back.”

“You knew I would.”

I did. I really, really did.

I stretched out on the bed, arching my back just slightly, because I was awful and I wanted to see what it would do to him.

Blake’s jaw ticked.

I bit my lip to hide a smirk.

He shut the door behind him and walked toward the bed, his movements slow, careful, like he was debating every step.

I watched him, my breath uneven.

He sat down on the edge of my bed, one knee bent, his fingers tapping against it. “B, I’m freaking out.”

I swallowed. “Why?”

“Because—” He ran a hand through his hair, that stupid buzzed hair that still made me irrationally upset. “Because you’re looking at me like you want me to do something.”

I blinked, caught off guard by how true that was.

Blake let out a low chuckle. “See? That. That right there.”

I huffed. “I’m not doing anything.”

“You don’t have to,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Jesus, Beverly.”

“Blake.” I reached out, curling my fingers into the fabric of his shirt, tugging lightly. “Just come here.”

He swallowed. Shifted. Turned toward me.

And before I could process it, he kissed me again.

It wasn’t like before. It wasn’t desperate or rushed.

It was slow. Soft, like he was ruining himself in real time.

My breath hitched as he slid between my legs, his body pressing against mine in a way that was too much and not enough at the same time. I shivered as his hand slid to the back of my neck, his thumb tracing my jaw—slow, careful, like he was memorizing me.

A soft, shaky sound left my throat as I rocked against him, just slightly, just enough to feel him push back.

Blake exhaled sharply, his forehead dropping against my shoulder, his fingers digging into my skin like he was trying to hold himself back. I made a sound I didn’t recognize, something needy and wrecked, and that was all it took. Blake pressed closer.

I leaned in, my lips brushing the shell of his ear. “You like it, don’t you?” I whispered. “You try to fight it, but you can’t, can you? You like when I can’t help it. When I need you this much.”

He shuddered in response, and I wasn’t even thinking anymore. I moved, swallowing as I felt the way his body reacted to me, the hard, undeniable proof of it pressing against the inside of my thigh.

A rush of embarrassment crawled up my spine, but then he kissed me lower. His lips dragged down the column of my throat, slow, teasing, like he was trying to make me lose my mind.

My thighs clenched together instinctively.

Blake hummed, like he enjoyed that reaction.

Like he wanted more of it.