California. Timbuktu. I want to live literally anywhere but here. I just don’t have it in me to dash her dreams tonight.

I adjust my T-shirt and smooth down the front of my high-waisted jeans before pulling open the door of The Oak.

It’s my fourth time walking through this door over the last few weeks, but tonight, everything feels different.

I’m on fire.

And I want nothing more than for him to squelch out every flame that’s been building inside me since I pushed him against the clock tower.

As soon as I walk into the bar, our eyes meet, and he freezes where he stands. He’s holding a bottle of something in one hand, and I watch, entranced, as he runs his other hand through his blond hair before giving up a subtle smirk just for me.

As I come closer, he wraps up what he’s doing and backs up in front of an empty barstool. I take his cue and hoist myself up on the seat he’s standing in front of, holding my breath and counting down the seconds until he turns around and faces me.

Our eyes meet, and my heart leaps into my throat.

It’s the way he holds himself. The way he looks at me. I sit silently under his assessment as he appraises me.

Finally, he speaks.

“I like your shirt.”

I bet he does.

I’m wearing the oversized Archway Prep lacrosse shirt he loaned me last weekend. But I’ve twisted it up and secured it with a hair tie in the back so it’s fitted across my chest and shows off a good amount of the tanned skin of my stomach.

I glance down and feign surprise, then look back up to meet his gaze.

“Oh, this old thing?” I catch my heels on the base of the barstool, then rise up to get as close to him as possible. Whether he realizes it or not, he matches my posture, leaning in until we’re just inches apart. “It’ll look better on the floor of my bedroom tonight.”

His pupils blow out, and he lifts his fist to his mouth and shakes his head.

“Tonight,” he whispers, the one word lighting up my insides and confirming everything I’ve been dreaming about for weeks.

Tonight, he’s mine.

25. Dempsey

Chapter 25

Dempsey

“I don’t know if we’ll make it to the bed if you keep touching me like that, princess.”

Her hands are everywhere—caressing up my arms, scraping down my abs, encircling my neck, and brushing over my fully hard erection. I’ve got her pinned against the wall, letting her explore freely now that we’re in the privacy of her house.