STORY EXCERPT

Gavin

I glance toward the door and there she is.

McKenna Rafferty stands just inside The Pine Tap like the crowd moved back just for her. Tight jeans, boots, and a cropped sweater that shows the slightest peeks of skin as it makes my throat go dry. She looks nothing like the girl I sat beside in third grade when I was the awkward new kid and she quietly pushed half her sandwich across the lunchroom table. Or the tiny girl on the playground I threw fists for when some punk thought shoving her around would be fun.

McKenna’s eyes lift, and lock on mine across the bar as my chest tightens in a way I don’t let myself acknowledge. She’s been my best friend for longer than she hasn’t been, and I shouldn’t be looking at her like this. I shouldn’t be noticing the way her sweater clings, or the soft curve of her mouth when she smiles. But the truth is, most days all I can think about is how wrong it feels to want her and how impossible it is not to.

McKenna isn’t just beautiful and sexy as sin, she’s everything good I’ve ever known. She’s five feet of stubborn fire and green-eyed sweetness. She’s the girl who teaches other people’s kids all day and finds time to make everyone around her feel like they matter. She’s laughter on the worst days, and steady hands when the world feels too heavy. I’m the guy who wrestles down darkness with a badge and a K-9 at my side. She deserves better than that. Better than me.

She deserves someone lighter who doesn’t carry blood and brokenness home at the end of every shift. She deserves someone who doesn’t know the weight of a mother’s scream when you’re too late, or the sound of a body being zipped into a bag. She deserves a man who can give her warmth without shadows trailing behind, and who won’t wake in the middle of the night with sweat on his skin and ghosts in his head.

Regardless of all that, the sick truth is, I don’t want her with anyone else. I want her with me. I want to be the one who makes her laugh until her cheeks flush pink, and the one who pulls her close when the world feels cold. I want it so bad it hurts, and I hate myself for it because wanting her feels like setting fire to the one thing I can’t afford to lose.

I bury every smile that makes my chest ache, and every night I wonder what it would feel like to pull her against me and not let go. I shove it all down because I can’t risk losing her but every time she looks at me like maybe she feels something too, it nearly rips me apart.

I lean back against the pool table like I’m not two seconds from unraveling. Griff catches me and raises his eyebrows, as if he can read every damn thought on my face, and I shoot him a look.

McKenna starts weaving her way toward us, and I swear the bar tilts a degree in her direction, and suddenly, I’m not paying attention to a damn thing else. People greet her as she passes, but she keeps her eyes on me. It takes everything I have not to stand up straighter and give away what’s burning in my chest.

“Look who finally decided to show,” my brother Griff calls out when she’s close enough as he grins like the pain-in-the-ass little brother he is.

McKenna rolls her eyes, and her dimple flashes as she laughs. “Please, Griff…I had actual work to do today. Some of us can’t just play in the woods all day.”

“Training,” Griff corrects as he holds a hand over his heart. “Wildfire training. Big difference.”

“Uh-huh.” She gives a half smile and slides her gaze to me. “And what about you, Reid…you look like you’ve been parked here for hours.”

I shrug and the corner of my mouth tips up, betraying me. “Maybe I was just waiting for you to finally show up, Kenny.”

McKenna bumps me with her hip in that easy, thoughtless way she always has. I hook an arm around her shoulders and pull her against me. It’s casual as hell on the outside, but on the inside, it’s torture. Her warmth seeps through my skin and winds tight in my chest as I grit my teeth to keep from pulling her closer and giving away just how much she consumes me.

McKenna

The cabin smells of old smoke and old coffee, and my stomach churns. My eyes glance across every corner as Jared paces back and forth, muttering to himself about how we’re meant to be together, and how no one else could ever understand. He spins toward me every so often with a tight, manic smile.

“I know,” I say softly. “You’re right, Jared…of course you’re right. I’m sorry I didn’t see it before.”

Jared’s eyes light up as he sits heavily in the chair beside me and rubs his hands together. “You see, McKenna? You and me…we’re perfect for each other. Gavin… he doesn’t know how lucky he is to even know you. But I do…I get you.”

I nod again and bite the inside of my cheek. “I know…you do. You really understand me.”

Jared smiles, and for a moment his guard slips. I memorize everything. The small latch on the kitchen window, and the stack of firewood he uses to prop the cabin door shut. My eyes follow his every movement, noting the path to the window, and the slight slope of the hill beside the cabin.

“Go to the kitchen and get us food,” he mutters. “But don’t go wandering around.”

“Of course.” I keep my tone neutral as I walk in the direction of the kitchen and peek over my shoulder.

Jared’s back is turned as he loads more firewood in the stove. I wait. Ten, twenty seconds before moving slowly toward the kitchen window.

I test the latch. Clear. I press the window open and peer outside. The wind whistles through the pines, and brushes against my face, carrying both danger and possibility. My heart hammers, but I focus and steady myself like Gavin taught me. Breathe. Watch. Move!

ADULT EXCERPT

McKenna

Gavin’s mouth is on mine like he’s starving. His tongue slides against mine, and his teeth catch my lip as if he can’t get close enough. My silk robe slips from my shoulders, and bares me to him. His rough palms skim up my ribs and cup my breasts as he squeezes until my nipples tighten against his touch.

I gasp into his mouth and his groan rumbles against my chest. “Fuck, Kenny,” he growls as his thumb drags over one stiff peak while his other hand slides lower down between my thighs.

Gavin parts me with his fingers. He’s not gentle or tentative as his middle finger slides through my slick pussy and presses against my clit. He rubs slow, tight circles that make my hips buck off the mattress.

“Gav…” I clutch at his shoulders as my nails scrape his skin.

“That’s it.” He kisses down my throat and bites at the hollow of it. “Let me hear you…I need to hear you.”

Gavin pushes two fingers inside my aching pussy and curls them as his thumb works me harder. I cry out and arch into his hand, as my robe falls open completely. My breasts bounce against his chest as he pumps his fingers into me. Every drag of his fingers hits that spot inside me, wet and relentless, and my whole body trembles.

“Look at you,” he pants as he pulls back just enough to watch my face. “So fucking wet for me.

Gavin pulls his fingers out and shoves them into his mouth as he groans at the taste of me before grabbing my thighs and spreading me wide open beneath him.

“Gavin,” I beg as the emptiness makes me ache. “Please…”

He lowers himself between my thighs, and his big hands push my knees wider until I’m spread open on the bed. The cool air hits my soaked pussy, and then his hot breath follows, ghosting over my skin until I’m shaking.

“Fuck, Kenny,” he growls as he stares at me like he’s about to devour me whole. “You’re dripping for me…and…damn…your pussy smells so fucking good.”

In an instant his mouth is on me and his tongue licks a long, slow swipe from my entrance up to my clit, and my back bows off the mattress.