GRAYSON

For the five days before spring break, Nessa all but moved in with me.

Brodie didn't return, texting that he needed to be home with his mom. Understandable. I was still wrapping my head around his situation, anyway. Still wrapping my head around the fact that I'd actually met the asshole his mom had been dating. I'd met Bren's dad.

Madie was still recovering from what that man had done to her, and she stayed in Fresno with Bren. Beau came back to take a midterm, but then he packed up his shit and headed out, too.

Which just left us.

I hated it as much as I loved it. She was such a sweet torture to have around.

We didn't see each other often during the day, staying busy with our exams. But we ate dinner together every night before crawling into my bed, squished on a tiny twin mattress. Nessa didn't seem to mind, though. One night she spent two hours with her chin on my chest, pulling up all of John Williams' movie scores on her phone to prove to me that he was the superior composer over my man Hans.

Nessa made the tightness in my chest from all the stress lately disappear. She made me feel more level-headed. More normal.

At least until she jerked her ass into me in the middle of the night, anyway.  Then I felt winded—like I'd run a marathon with blue balls. My heart would pound, and my groin would ache for more of her. For more of something.

She claimed it was an accident, but I suspected she did it on purpose. Because Nessa, my little whiskey girl, had taken to teasing the shit out of me.

"I can't believe I'm fucking saying this, but if you're going to sleep in my room, I'm going to need you to put some more goddamn clothes on."

Sprawled out in my bed the night before spring break, Nessa had on that football shirt she stole from me. And nothing else.

"What's wrong with this?" she asked coyly, stretching out so that the shirt lifted up, revealing the pair of black, skimpy underwear she had on.

Okay, so I supposed she was wearing one other thing. But I'd be damned if she had a bra on, judging by how her nipples peaked beneath my shirt.

"You know damn well what's wrong with it," I growled, shoving my hands in my pockets.

And I knew damn well why she was doing it and what she wanted. But like hell was I going to give in without hearing her say it.

Nessa made a purring noise in the back of her throat as she tossed one leg over the other. I didn't say anything else. The only words that were flitting through my brain right now were so dirty. So fucking dirty. And I refused to break my promise when I knew we were so close to not needing it anymore.

Instead, I let my body do the talking, leaning against my desk and flicking my gaze over her. She did the same, studying me with dark, hot eyes that lingered on my growing erection.

Fuck, she was making this hard.

Dragging a hand through my hair, I heaved a sigh.

"I'm going to the practice rooms. And when I come back, you better have pants on."

I didn't miss the disappointment in her eyes as she watched me turn around, but I refused to cave. All she had to do was tell me what she wanted, and I was hers. That kiss she gave me, that sweet, soft, perfect kiss—it wasn't enough. I needed words. I needed explicitness. I wasn't going to do a goddamn thing until I was positive we were on the same page.

A page that read I'm yours, Grayson.

I didn't mind waiting to hear it because I knew it was only a matter of time. But I wasn't going to wait with her lying there half-naked.

Swinging my backpack over one shoulder, I retreated out of the room and stalked my way across campus until I reached the performing arts center. It was dead, not a soul in sight as I found the practice rooms at the back. They sat in a row, a bunch of soundproof cubicles that were bare inside, designed to make ears ring with the absence of noise.

I needed to brush up on my saxophone fingerings because I knew that was one of the instruments we'd be reviewing after break. And this was as good of a time as any to do it. While I was avoiding Nessa.

My restraint where she was involved was verging on nonexistent.

Sighing, I pulled out the alto sax, running the pads of my fingers over the pearly keys. When it came to learning new instruments, being a pianist made everything easier. My hands already knew how to play in sync, and reading both treble and bass clef came naturally after years of tickling the ivories.

I could also visualize everything, see the notes in their physical form. I could press a single key on the piano, and there was a guarantee it would be the right note. Woodwinds were the same, but it wasn't a single key; it was a whole-ass combination I had to find. That was the problem I was working through today.

After warming up, I played until I felt frustration setting in. Scales and more scales left me with a headache. Resting the sax back on top of its case, I nearly jumped off my chair when the door to the practice room jiggled. Glancing up, I saw Nessa's face in the long, skinny window and raised my brows in surprise.

She whipped open the door, leaning on the frame.

"This building is a maze," she heaved, hand on her chest. "I almost gave up on finding you."

"What the hell are you doing here?" My heart was working overtime, trying to catch up after having stopped at the sight of her.

Nessa didn't answer the question. She was too busy narrowing her eyes on the saxophone. "Really? Another instrument?"

I shrugged. "It comes with the music education territory."

She dragged a hand over her face, mumbling. "I don't know why I thought I would somehow be able to resist you."

That pulled a crooked grin onto my face. "I don't know, either."

Nessa closed the door, slouching back against it with an exasperated sigh.

"You still haven't told me why you're here," I said. "Is everything okay?"

Nessa blinked, looking at me. When she didn't say anything, my smile faded, and I started to push off my chair.

Nessa raised a hand to stop me.

"Everything's fine, Grayson," she whispered. But then she clamped down on her lip, and I could see her brain backpedaling. "Actually, no. Everything is not okay. It's definitely not okay."

I frowned. "What's wrong? Is there a problem I can help with?"

Her face split into a massive grin, broader and brighter than I'd ever seen on her face before. I relaxed into my chair, my worry slipping away.

"Yes," she said, voice airy and barely audible. "Yes, there definitely is."

"I'll do anything, Nessa."

As soon as I said the words, my gaze collided with hers, and something skipped in my chest. Because I knew. Somehow I knew what she was about to say.

"I can't do this anymore," she said, taking a step forward.

Well, shit. Take that back. I definitely hadn't expected to hear those words.

"I can't fight this. Us." She waved her hand between us, and I came back from the edge she'd thrown me to a second ago. Leaning forward, I watched as Nessa took another step forward. She tossed off her light jacket, and beneath it, she still wore my shirt. It was haphazardly tucked into a flowy, black mini skirt. Like she'd gotten dressed in a hurry.

Hottest outfit I'd ever seen.

Putting one hand on my shoulder, Nessa pushed me back in my chair. Nearly all the air in my lungs vanished, and I gasped the next question.

"You can't fight it, or you don't want to?"

Nessa made a face like she didn't get why it mattered. But it mattered. It mattered to me.

"Both," she admitted, swinging a leg over my lap and straddling me. Immediately, I gripped her waist to yank her closer, and Nessa gasped before tipping her head down and saying the best goddamn thing I'd ever heard.

"I need you to kiss me, Grayson. I need you to touch me. I just need...you. To be mine." The words were whispered over my mouth, and Nessa grabbed both sides of my face, tilting it up as if I needed help with what I was about to do. "For fuck's sake, Wilder. Touch me."

"With pleasure," I groaned right before crushing my lips to hers.

I was convinced her mouth was made for mine. They slid together so perfectly, so effortlessly. Like it was a choreographed dance that we knew by heart without ever having practiced.

Nessa kissed me back without restraint or control. She bit my lip, thrusting her tongue in to tangle with mine, moaning deep into my throat. She was so fucking wild, and I loved it.

Palming her bare legs, I gave them a squeeze, and Nessa writhed in my lap. She bucked against my growing erection, and I barely resisted bucking back.

She'd given me free rein to touch her, but after so many weeks of hot tension, my body was primed to take her. Not touch her, but take her. The last thing I wanted was to move too fast again and fuck it up, though.

"Grayson," she whined, rubbing needily against me. Her arms wound around my neck, holding on to me.

Goddamn.

I broke from her lips with a growl. "When you say my name like that, Nessa, I can't take it. I just can't."

"You can," she insisted, gasping as I reapplied myself to kissing down her neck. "Whatever it is, you can."

"Shit, Adler. You're asking for it."

Her words were sinking into my limbs. One of my hands inched toward her breasts while I nipped at her collarbone.

"I am. Touch me."

Sucking in a breath, I coasted one palm up to cup her tit, digging my fingertips into her shirt and wishing that there was nothing between us. I found her nipple with my thumb and brushed across it. Nessa gasped, and my other hand slid beneath her skirt, clutching onto fleshy thighs.

"Impatient girl," I murmured, slowly kissing my way back toward her mouth. She squirmed beneath my hands, and a wide smirk grew on my face. "I've been waiting for this, Nessa, so you're going to have to let me take my time."

Nessa's head tipped back, her eyes fluttering closed as I found a sweet spot on her neck she seemed to like, sucking gently. "God, you're so annoying," she groaned.

I chuckled. "You like it."

Dipping her head down again, her eyes caught mine. And that look had the power to completely control me. Especially when she admitted, "I do."

Goddamnit, this girl. I slammed my mouth back onto hers, and Nessa groaned, letting me kiss her like I was starving, and she was keeping me alive.

I slid my hand up beneath her skirt further, needing more of her. Finding the lacy edge of her underwear, I toyed with it.

Nessa whimpered impatiently.

"You wanna know something, Adler?"

She shook her head, kissing me into silence instead. I grinned beneath her lips before using my free hand to cup her face, tilting it back, breaking our lips apart. And then she watched me beneath her lashes, eyes glittering, cheeks flushed.

"When you play the saxophone," I said softly, breathing across her lips, "you have to make sure the reed is nice and wet before you start. Adequately soaked."

I traced one finger over the center of her underwear, feeling how damp it was. Nessa bit her lip.

"When it's a reed you've used before, it only takes a minute or two. But with a new one, sometimes it takes up to twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes?"

I leaned in, brushing my lips across hers. "Yeah, twenty minutes of sucking on it to make sure it's wet enough."

Slipping my tongue into her mouth, I wrapped it around her, tugging on her tongue with mine. Sucking. Nessa made a throaty noise, her hands flying to my shoulders and gripping them hard.

"It's wet enough," she gasped when I released her.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Should I find out?"

I'd been dying to find out for a long ass time how wet I could make Nessa Elez. If she said no now, I'd probably explode.

But she let out a needy yes, and I grinned wickedly.

"Here?" I asked, slipping a finger beneath her soaked panties.

"There."

💗

i promised there'd be progress, and here we are
xoxo amelie