Quarter Mile Hearts(18)
The Subaru stops short of the barrier, and we can see the cars belonging to the racers and spectators start to leave, the faint beat of hip-hop in the distance. Cars start to file out one after the other and those who are old enough will head to The Three Monkeys, while those who aren’t will head to someone’s house to drink beer that an older brother has bought them or they’ve stolen from their parents. A few will head to make out central, the other hot spot that the town has to offer, and well… make out.
Max kills the engine, and we both sit there in silence. Well, almost silence; I try to control my embarrassingly loud breathing.
“You can’t keep avoiding me. Not now that we work together.”
“I’m not-”
“Bullshit.” He turns to me, and I feel the weight of his stare. “Remind me again why you hate me so much.”
“I don’t hate you.” Because I don’t. I’m not sure what I feel for him, but it certainly isn’t hate. “You just annoy the hell out of me.”
He laughs wickedly. “You give as good as you get.”
“What choice do I have?” I huff with exasperation.
“You could try being nicer to me,” he suggests, and I hear a hint of a sulk in his voice.
“Right back atcha.”
“Always so defensive.”
“Fuck off,” I grumble, and this is the way our exchanges always go. He pushes and pushes me until I snap and tell him to fuck off. He leaves my head spinning and unable to function properly.
Laughing harder, he asks, “How’ve you been, anyway?”
This throws me for a loop. “Excuse me?” And I wonder with suspicion what he is getting at.
“I’m making small talk. It’s what people do when they’re not insulting each other.”
“Fine.” I’m not sure what else to tell him; there isn’t actually much else to tell him.
“How’s work?”
Now I turn to glare at him. What the hell is he playing at? “Fine.”
“Is that all you can say?” His mouth curves into a smile.
“What the fuck, Max?” I throw my hands in the air in surrender, and I just wish he would tell me what he wants.
“Apart from that.”
With a huff, I cross my arms and glare out the windscreen, like a truculent child, which is exactly how he always manages to make me feel.
Not giving up, he persists. “Your dad says you work in an office.”
“Yeah.”
“Doing what?”
“You know, office stuff.” I shrug because there isn’t much more to it. “It pays the bills.”
“Sounds boring and … safe.” He says it with distaste.
“To someone like you, I suppose it is.”
“Some like me?” he repeats, the distaste in his voice more pronounced.
“Yeah, someone who takes unnecessary risks.”
“You don’t fool me, Storm.” I grit my teeth in annoyance, but his smile grows. “You loved every second of it. Your heart was racing, and your breathing picked up. It turns you on, and I bet your panties are soaking wet.”
With a gasp, I spin around to glare at him. “You’re a dick.”
Annoyingly, he chuckles. “Maybe I am, but I remember what it was like to have you squirming with pleasure underneath me. Wet and turned on while I was fucking you. That look on your face when you came.”
I suck in a breath, outraged at what he is saying, but turned on even more.
“Kind of how you look just now.”
“Bastard,” I hiss, but it just makes him laugh harder.
“Want me to refresh your memory?”
I turn to face him, my cheeks flushed with anger. Or is it lust? I don’t know anymore.
“In your fucking dreams,” I growl at him.
“Every fucking night, babe. Every night.” His smirk grows, and I really have to fight the urge to cause him some bodily harm.
“I told you. We are not happening again. You were a manwhore before I left, and I’m betting you’re an even bigger one now.” My breath is ragged, and I am shaking with temper.
Our faces are somehow inches apart, and his smile slips a notch. Even in the darkness, I see the flash of anger in his eyes.
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
“Whatever, Max. I have never been interested in being one of your hook ups, and I never will be. Despite what happened in the past.”
A low growl is the only warning I get before his mouth claims mine. His hand fists in the back of my hair and his hot tongue enters my mouth. At the first stroke, I lean into the kiss with a loud moan. My palms rest on the leg that is angled toward me. I slide one near his crotch and don’t stop until it brushes over the erection squashed in his jeans. Without thinking of the consequences, my fingers trace the outline through the denim. Max growls deep in the back of his throat and nips at the corner of my lips, trailing his mouth down my neck. The heat of his breath on my already too hot skin ignites a burning need deep inside me and I arch into him. With his free hand, he slides it down my side, over the curve of my breast and down to my waist. My whole body aches for his touch and when his hand disappears under my top and cups my breast through the lace of my bra, I grip his thighs as I melt under his touch.