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And yet, I crossed it effortlessly My body felt like a wolf’s Make that a bear No, just like an animal Every muscle moved with purpose, my eyes focused in on the two of the to say, and no idea what I was going to do All I kneas that I needed her to pay attention to uy in the bar for her; not Lia around,to make that happen

There was one other moment in er and desperation, and of hope, all le inside me at once and push me forward into a trajectory of no return The last tiative It was about pulling away, about pulling apart This ti in front of them and Lianored him Amy took me full on and looked up, face blank, a debater’s stare of challenge She didn’t shy away, but the look in her eyes was calculating I could count the words in her head that she was ju as the , sarcastic co behind those beautiful brown eyes

This was the closest I’d been to her in four and a half years, other than in my own memory and my own fantasies She opened her mouth and stood at the same time, our bodies a foot apart Her face twisted into a s I knewI was kissing her

Amy

Waitwhat? Sa me The witty, barbed co years had been on the tip of ue, but now completely dissolved and poured out of my head as his soft lips claimed y and the kiss that I’d waited too long for It was soft at first, and then, he pulled back just enough to come in once more, this time more insistent From a welcome to an invitation, and then, to a reunion

The pal into s and he took that as an opening, body pressed againstagainst ot my chance to run my hands up his back like Darla had with Trevor, except, this was exquisite andwith catcalls and hoots, and then the distinct sound of lasses at a wedding, the crowd’s call for esture as last ith ht back init was impossible, and yet somehoe both shut it out

As our bodies communed with each other it was as if the ti over from that moment at the tournament where life had turned on a dime We said four and a half years of conversation in each brush of our lips, every nip, every tih his ainst the sasp between our mouths like a month redeemed

"Aue piercedlinear dissolved in , I was all ato I ith Sam Sam, who had abandoned me Sa me in the back of a bar and it was perfect And I was all his I was all I ever wanted to be

Sa in front of her, ready for the tongue lashing that I richly deserved, and the next ainst her, her hot little bodyinto mine Her hands ran up my back and mine sank into her hair, the lushness of herthat an ordained world ain All the pieces fell into place as I took her mouth with mine, as she parted her lips and let ainst ainst each other--it made me hard instantly, my body on fire in a way that no beat could replicate There was no music I could play to find this, nothat was coone to with her in , lewd co a room--words, words and more stupid words None of it mattered

It was as if they didn’t exist

Four and a half years disappeared as her fingers trailed along my neck, her soft, pliant lips h me as every sense screamed her name Amy Amy Amy And then, someone cleared their throat Ao of each other and dropping our hands

Lia between the two of us, "I a to leave you two alone It see up to do" He sful look that I didn’t understand "But we have a set to do" He thuht The idea that I would need to spend the next hour and a half apart from her was like a solitary prison sentence It would feel like years I turned back to Amy, andesture that

"French kiss, french kiss!" the crowd chanted, clapping Then another group across the room shouted, "Blow job, blow job!"

Liam crossed his arleader of the boozy, hyped-up crowd "I knohich one I’d pick," he muttered

"Go," she said to me as we both tried to pretend Liam wasn’t there "Play That’s why I came here"

"To see me play?" I asked The implied question was one I didn’t have to say

"You knohy I came here, Sam"

Our eyes were riveted on each other and the blood kept pounding louder, and faster Amy Amy Amy

"You’ll be here when I’e and not a question, even though deep inside I was practically begging her to say yes