All The Wild Ones | Wildfire Series

Heads or Tails?

GRAYSON

Nessa housed this innate, powerful ability to turn me on. Ever since the day I met her, I've felt it. Something about the way her lips twitched when she teased me. About how she tried to hide all her little thoughts and secrets so I wouldn't know the truth. And every time she ever attempted to push me away, it only served to sink that hook deeper under my skin as she unknowingly reeled me in.

But seeing Nessa turned on so unashamedly, and by me, no less, was a desire-filled sucker punch to the gut. Holy hell, I wasn't going to make it through dinner with her looking at me like that.

I wanted to say it was the whiskey that was changing Nessa into an open book, one that was hot and sweet and witty, like a steamy rom-com. One like the one her mom had told me about at dinner the other night when she'd been fresh out of an audiobook recording session.

But I knew it was more than the whiskey. Nessa had been giving me sneak peeks of this chapter all week long. I couldn't just chalk it up to a stiff drink.

It felt so unlike her and yet so familiar at the same time. This side of Nessa had always been there, but it had just taken me almost a year to find it. And now that I had...God, it felt good.

How she looked at me and talked to me and touched me.

How loving her finally didn't come with a warning label that read might get your heart broken, man.

I loved her. And not only did I love her, but there was a chance that I could tell her, and she wouldn't run away.

Purple and pink hues leaking from the sunset kept catching on the side of Nessa's face as she read the menu, and it was hard to rip my eyes away from her to browse the selections for myself. When she hunched over in thought, her tits squeezed together in her tight top, and all I could think about was how I wished I'd taken her up on the offer for dinner in bed.

Feeling a trickle of sweat drip down my back, I decided to shed my suit jacket and roll up the sleeves of my stiff dress shirt. When I finished, I looked up to find Nessa leaning across our tiny table toward me, eyes glowing.

"Have I ever told you how handsome you are?"

Warmth spread through my chest.

"At least once." I grinned wolfishly. "When you thought I was sleeping."

She sat back with a giggle. "That was the night that I decided I should try to trust you. Just a little."

"Yeah? You like it when I sit still and look pretty, baby?"

Another giggle. Nessa shook her head, though.

"No, I liked that you were a little bit vulnerable. Made you seem more...human."

"Oh, I'm all human, Adler. All flesh and blood and bone."

"Trust me." She lifted a brow. "I know."

The tension between us swirled and dipped and crashed against invisible barriers. Unpredictable, like the ocean at the back door. Clearing my throat, I tried to brush that all away.

"Tell me about the music class."

Her face lit up, and then she bit her lip in thought. "Well, I've only been to two classes so far."

I chuckled. "Let me rephrase the question, then. Tell me why you signed up for the music class."

Nessa sat there for a second. She fiddled with her water glass, and her chest moved up and down slowly. Like she had to think about breathing to remember to do it.