And then he leans in to kiss her cheek, and I lose it; I'm done.
I shove my chair back loudly, loud enough that she breaks just for half a second and jerks her head my way. I need to get the fuck out of here; need to get away from this before I detonate.
I'm shoving my way through the restaurant, and I'm just barely able to hear her laugh once more at something that douchebag says; “I need to go use the ladies room; don't go far, handsome!”
Fuck that, I'm out of here.
“Where the hell do you think you're going?”
I ignore her voice outside the restaurant, a scowl on my face as I continue on into the shadows by the side of the building.
“Hey! Will you fucking stop?”
I stop and whirl around to Peyton; “What?”
“Excuse me? 'What'? How about what the fuck was that back in there?”
I can feel the rage roaring inside but I force it down as I narrow my eyes at her; “That? That was fucking bullshit is what that was. I wasn't going to just sit there watching you flirt with that piece of shit.”
She rolls her eyes, which has the simultaneous effect of getting right under my skin but also perking my arousal with the sexy way she pushes her long blonde hair back from her face; “Oh, right, because I want to have dinner and get hit on by dipshits like Anderson. This isn’t about you or me, Bryce. It's about me getting my brother back.”
“We can't do this, not like this and not with that fucking guy.”
She narrows her eyes and smirks; “Oh, and why is that, Bryce?”
I snarl; “Because! Because he's- he's-”
“He's what, flirting with me?” I grit my teeth and say nothing, and she rolls her eyes again; “I should get back in there.”
“Fine.” I turn and storm down the dark and deserted side street next to the restaurant, heading back towards the hotel.
“Jesus, Bryce! Jealous much?”
I whirl; “You're Goddamn right!” It's bubbling over, and I can't stop it now. The lid of me keeping my cool is popping off and I can't get it back down, even if I wanted to.
Peyton freezes, her lips just parted enough, her eyes blinking wide in the soft light as she looks up at me. Her tongue darts out over those soft lips, and I think of every laugh that I miss; every smile, every kiss, every touch.
And then I think of his hand on hers, and it's a ubiquitous “his”. It’s Anderson, or Hugh, or any other fucking guy that puts their hands on her.
And it's more than I can fucking stand to even think about.
I do it before I can even stop myself. My arms slide around her, I'm pulling her close before she can even process it, and I'm kissing her.
Jesus fuck did I miss those lips.
She whimpers as I crush my lips to hers, like they're medicine I so desperately need to survive. I kiss her like I'll drown without her lips on mine; like she's my last breath of air.
Break it. Break the kiss and slap me, or push me away or something to stop this before we both lose control.
But she doesn't do any of those things. Instead, she moans, and that's fucking it for me.
I push her back against the wall behind us, mashing my body to hers and feeling her warmth radiating under my skin as she presses her body against mine. I'm rock hard and growling into our kiss as my hands slide down her sides, down to the edge of that sexy dress she put on tonight, for someone else.
She's panting, whimpering into the kiss as I slide my hand up her thigh; not going right in, but letting my fingers remember the skin there that they missed for so long. We're moving like a whirlwind, right here in the shadowed dark of the side-street, but I don't even care. It's been entirely too fucking long, and my lips need to remember hers; my hands need to remember the warmth of her skin. Her breath catches as I get higher; higher up the outside of her leg until I growl as I feel the lace edge of her panties.
And then suddenly, I can feel her freeze beneath me, and I know before another second passes that it's over just like that. I know the moment is broken, even before I feel her pull away from my lips with a gasp and feel her hand flat against my chest, pushing me away.
“No-” She says quietly, her hand pushing against my chest.
I know it's over but I can't let go just like that, and I growl as I lean into her once more.
“No!” She's shaking her head then, and stepping back and out from under my arms; “Stop it, just-” She shakes her head; “Just stop it.”
“Peyton-”
“This isn't going to happen, Bryce!” Her eyes are wild as she looks up into mine, that blazing fury of hers that I can't get enough of lingering and bubbling right beneath the surface; “You don't get to just step in like this and-”
“What, because I can't watch you with that fucking assh-”