What I Need

My mouth twitches. Christ, she's damn cute when she's stressed out. “I don’t think we need to go that far with it,” I counter. “Your brother knows you’re living with me. If you start cussing me out in there, that might raise more suspicions than if we’re sitting together.”

“So, you think we just need to act natural,” she says, more as a statement than a question.

“Sure. Why not?”

“Okay.” Riley twists her upper body so she’s facing me, sits up tall, and gives me an easy smile.

I give her one back. A second later, my eyes fall to her tits that are pushing out thanks to her change in posture.

Goddamn. I want to put my face all up in that.

“CJ!” she snaps.

I lift my gaze. Riley’s doing this wide-eyed glare thing, tipping forward and pinching her lips together. “What?” I ask, looking out the windshield. I’m expecting to see Reed standing at the front of my truck, pointing Ben's gun at me. He isn't. “What’s the problem?” I turn to look at Riley.

“You can’t act natural. You were just staring at my boobs. If that's natural for you, we're going to have major problems at this shindig.”

I cock my head. “We're alone, darlin',” I remind her. “Unless you go in there and tell your brother I was just checking out your killer fucking rack, he won't know I was doing it. I can be discreet when I need to be. Right now, sitting with you in my truck is not one of those times.” I give her a smile, take my hand out from behind her shoulder and brush my knuckles along her cheek. “Riley, babe, I think you’re worrying a little too much about this,” I tell her. “It'll be fine. Trust me.”

Seriously. What does she think I’m going to do? Bend her over the table and fuck her right there in front of everyone?

I mean, obviously, I'd wait for Reed to step out of the room.

Riley leans back, blinking. “You won’t have a problem keeping things friendly in there?”

“I think I can handle it.”

“Well, I might have a problem,” she’s quick to say, eyes widening in panic. “I'll want to kiss you. I know I will. You'll do that thing where you look at me . . .” Riley’s voice trails off, then she drops her head and turns away, shyly tucking her hair behind her ear as her teeth rake across her lip.

“Where I look at you?” I chuckle. Riley jerks her shoulder. Holy fuck, she’s serious.

Just me looking at her gets her going? Nice.

Grinning, I unlatch her seat belt, wrap my arm around her waist and yank her against me so she’s pressed to my side. I drop my mouth beside her ear. “Maybe we should get it out of your system then. That way you’re not fighting it too much,” I murmur, pinching her chin between my thumb and finger and turning her head. My lips graze her cheek. I want Riley to take this opportunity. Take what she needs from me. “Nobody’s out here,” I remind her. “Nobody will see us.” I press my lips to the corner of her mouth. Her jaw, when she tips her head back. I hear the quickness in her breath. “Kiss me,” I say.

Riley leans forward on a gasp and seals our mouths together, moaning like she’s desperate and dying for this. Her hand curls around my thigh while mine cups her cheek. I tilt my head, taking what I need from her too. I can’t help it.

I told her I’ll be able to handle this but the truth is, I don’t want to have to. I want to kiss Riley whenever the fuck I want, in front of whoever I want. I want to put my arm around her and hold her hand and watch her from across the room. I want people assuming we’re going to sit together because we are together. I’ve been keeping this shit to myself for what feels like a goddamn lifetime, and I really don’t want to do that anymore. I don’t want to go in there and pretend I’m not completely insane for this girl. I don’t want to act like we’re nothing. Fuck that. I think I can handle it? That’s a damn lie. `Cause I have no fucking idea how I’m going to get through this.

Riley pushes up, pressing harder as her tongue flicks inside my mouth. She tastes like the peppermint she sucked on before we left the house.

She tastes like she’s mine, and I gotta go in there and act like she isn’t.

“Fuck,” I rasp. “Let’s just tell him. Let’s just fucking say we’re together.”

Riley shakes her head, murmuring against my lips, “No. No, we can’t. Not yet.”

“Riley—”

“We can’t,” she insists, pulling back an inch to look at me. Her eyes jump between mine, and she grabs my face, begging with an anxious voice, “Please. We can’t tell him, CJ. Not today. Not here.”

I pull in a deep breath. My jaw clenches beneath her palms. Fuck. That’s not what I want to hear.

Riley must see my bitter disappointment, because her eyes soften and her lips pull down. “This will be the first time Reed is seeing us together since I told him I’m living with you,” she reminds me. “I want to see how he reacts to that first, you know? I want to make sure he’s okay with it, `cause the first time he saw Richard and me together, he wasn’t. Reed acted like he couldn’t stand either one of us. And I just . . . I want to make sure he’s good with seeing us together, okay?” She drops her hands to her lap and shakes her head. “I don’t like this either,” she says, sounding defeated. “I don’t. But Reed . . . he said he’s not going to be shy about hating the next person I date. He actually said that to me. And I just think easing him into this might be better. I’m sorry, CJ. I want to go in there and tell everybody. I do. Please don’t be mad at me.”