The Impact of You

Jase

I need get my control back before I do something stupid and try to kiss her. If I do that, I won’t be able to stop. Turning away, I adjust myself in the suit pants. “I got you something today.”

“You did?” I hear the smile in her voice, and I’m at least grateful that things aren’t weird between us now. She follows me across the room to my dresser. I pull open the top drawer, then point to the bed. “Sit.”

She does.

“And close your eyes.”

Her lips curl into a smile and her eyes drop closed. She makes a grabby motion with her hands. “Gimme.”

I chuckle and place the small object in her palm and with her eyes still closed, her fingers explore. “A whistle.”

She smiles up at me and the urge to kiss her is so strong, I take a step back. “If you need anything, you just blow that, and I’ll come find you.”

Her expression gets soft and she grips the whistle in her hand. “Where were you when I was in high school?” she asks, her voice just above a whisper. She looks down at the silver whistle in her hands and I can tell her thoughts are far away.

What happened to turn her into this sad, broken girl? Not kissing her was the right move. “Trust me, you wouldn’t have liked me then.”

The air hangs heavily around us, the music faintly audible from the party below, and Avery remains sitting in the center of my bed. But since I know I can’t kiss her, I need to get my thoughts back on track.

I loop the red string over her head so the whistle rests between her breasts. “Should we go back downstairs?”

She gives me a tight nod.

Avery

the whistle?” Madison asks once I re-join her and Noah in the living

sense to

living room with Stacia. Ugh. She’s in a figure-hugging red cocktail dress and they’re in what appears to be in an intense conversation. Their faces are just inches apart; her hand rests on his forearm and he’s bent down speaking near her ear,

want to see if Jase will really come running to me. But I do no such thing. I just stand there, numb, watching their way too

Jase notices what caught her attention

Whoa.

do I feel the need to punch something? We’re just friends, I remind myself. He can talk to whomever he wants.

into the kitchen. “I need something to

if it’s this stupid outfit that soo isn’t me, or the fact

not like he’s mine. Who he goes off

frat brothers pours us each a shot. I lift the

tell the guy.

and helplessness I just felt watching him with Stacia. I down the second shot and slam the glass down on the counter. My eyes tear up and I’m not sure if it’s from the liquor or the strange emotions flooding my system. It’s been so long since I let myself be

me, his fingers clutching the exposed skin of my hip,

show of it. “Where’s Stacia?”

“She left. Wasn’t feeling

I’ll give him that. He stands over me; his presence alone sending chills of awareness through my body. I

steps closer, intensity rolling off him in

she could throw

to get outside my comfort zone. What’s the problem?” I tap the shot glass against the counter, waiting for my next

what kind of crazy is unleashed. If I was him, I wouldn’t pour me one either. “Fuck, Avery.”

hitting me. Jase pulls open the sliding door and the cool night air is a welcome reprieve. It cools

coaxes my lips apart to deepen the kiss. His tongue touches mine and all sense of right and wrong is lost. This is heaven. His other hand finds my butt cheek, and gives it a none-too-gentle squeeze. I can feel everything in this one kiss…how much Jase wants me, how badly I wish I could do this… My brain is screaming at me to stop,

Jase

my shirt in her fists. Her ass fits perfectly in my hand and I grip it, holding her firmly against me so she can feel

hand against my chest and breaks the kiss. “Jase.” Her eyes are alight with

Shit. I don’t know what I did wrong – and whether to apologize or hush her fears with more kisses. This is why I didn’t kiss her earlier. I shouldn’t have taken it that far. But Avery arouses in me things I’ve never