Page 56 of With the Assist

“No, I don’t think so. We get along fine. I’m just nervous they’ll see through this charade. It’s embarrassing.”

I lean in, my forehead resting briefly against hers. “Go with me here,” I murmur.

My head lowers until our breath is mixing. Her breathing hitches when she realizes what I’m about to do, but she doesn’t back away.

I close the distance, letting my lips brush against hers. It’s brief and controlled. It’s not nearly enough to sate the need for her that’s screaming through my body. But this is fake, so one brush against her soft lips is all I can take.

Until her hands slide into my hair, fingers curling as she kisses me again, deeper this time. It’s the kind of kiss that makes my brain short-circuit. My grip tightens reflexively at her waist as I sink into the feeling.

I pull her to my body, every curve of her fitting perfectly against me in a way that drives me crazier. It’s heat and want, shooting straight through the resolve I’ve been carefully holding onto.

She breaks away first. My heart is pounding, and my hands feel like they don’t belong to me anymore. She grins easily up at me, but there’s something guarded behind it.

“That should sell it.”

I lift my lips in a small smile even though my head is spinning. “For sure.”

She bumps her hip into mine before stepping back, reclaiming enough space to remind us both what this is.

The rest of the night is unbearable.

All I want to do is taste her lip balm again. Instead, I mix and mingle, half-heartedly listening to conversations.

If Wesley feels even a hint of what I am, she hides it easily. It’s like the kiss didn’t affect her at all. She laughs when she should and adds to the conversation with ease. Meanwhile, my eyes keep finding their way to her.

I remind myself that it’s okay to stare. I’m supposed to be her boyfriend. We want people to think we want each other. So, I let myself want her openly.

I sit closer. My hand laces with hers while my thumb traces shapes onto her knee at the booth. Except no one can see that.

When the bar starts to thin out and people begin to gather their things, Wesley leans into me, head resting briefly against my shoulder.

I freeze, pulse stuttering.

Eventually, she offers me a small smile. “Ready?”

“Yeah,” I say, even though I’m not sure I am.

At some point throughout the night, my location was leaked to the media. Paparazzi line the sidewalk, and the cameras start going off the second we walk out.

We rush onto the sidewalk, both focusing on my car parked a couple of spots down the road. My grip tightens on her hand, and she leans into my shoulder, letting me guide her through the crowd. Their voices get louder the longer we ignore them, but neither of us takes the bait.

Once I get her safely into the car, as a good boyfriend would, I head for my side. In the ten seconds it takes for me to walk around the car and climb in, I replay the feel of her lips, the sound of her laugh, and the way she leaned into me when we sat at the booth.

Either she’s phenomenal at acting, or this is turning into something I’m not prepared for.

15

Wesley

Airports are designed to make people feel anonymous.

Everyone is in motion, everyone is looking somewhere else, and everyone has somewhere to be that is not here. I booked my flight less than twelve hours ago, standing in my kitchen with my phone in one hand and my keys in the other, heart still racing from a kiss that had no right to undo me the way it did.

A couple of days at home for the holiday is the practical excuse. It's a family obligation. No one questions that.

Even if it is unplanned and completely out of character.

My knees press against the seat in front of me, and my backpack barely fits under my feet. The woman beside me is already asleep, leaning toward the window with her headphones in. I envy her ability to shut the world out so easily. The man on my other side is eating chips that smell like feet. Right now, I wish I were a male athlete who could charter a private jet or some shit because the next three hours sandwiched between two total strangers is going to suck.