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

even to me, and I know it would make even less sense to someone else.

I finally spot him again, he’s standing across the 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

to blow the damn whistle and call interference so bad my entire body is shaking. I 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 comfortable interaction. Her body angles toward his, and his hand brushes her lower

her features. When Jase notices what caught her attention – me gaping at them – he

Whoa.

punch something? We’re just friends, I remind myself. He can talk to

dancing with a group of sorority girls, and deciding he won’t miss us, I drag Madison into the kitchen. “I need something to drink.” I lift my cup so she understands over the

it’s this stupid outfit that soo isn’t me, or the fact that I just saw Jase

goes off with should be

pours us each a shot. I lift the glass to my lips and drop my head back, letting the liquor

I tell the

a surprised look. Jase is watching me and I want him to feel the same confusion 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 interested in

fingers clutching the exposed skin of

a show of it. “Where’s

pull together. “She left. Wasn’t

me; his presence alone sending chills of awareness through my body. I wave him off. “Give me another,”

closer, intensity rolling off him

throw him. His good deed of getting Noah inside earlier is obviously

my comfort zone. What’s the problem?” I tap the shot glass

is unleashed. If I was him, I wouldn’t pour me one either.

two shots already hitting me. Jase pulls open the sliding door and the cool night air is a welcome reprieve. It cools my flushed

stalks forward. He cups the nape of my neck and angles my mouth to his, before leaning in to kiss me. His mouth is soft at first, but when I kiss him back, he groans low in his throat and 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

Jase

my shirt in her fists. Her ass fits perfectly in my hand and

eyes are alight with

eyes. They’re blazing green and swimming with emotion. 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 felt. It’s insane. She’s not even mine, and I’m