The silence in the kitchen turned deadly.
Ethan’s eyes moved between us again slowly, suspiciously, while Adrian stood beside the island looking far too calm for a man who had almost kissed his best friend’s little sister thirty seconds ago.
Meanwhile I could still feel Adrian’s hand on my waist.
Still feel the warmth of his body against mine.
Still feel how wet I was from absolutely nothing except tension and frustration and the way he looked at me like he wanted to ruin me quietly.
God.
I needed to get out of this kitchen.
“What?” I asked finally, trying to sound normal.
Ethan frowned harder. “Why do both of you look weird?”
Adrian answered before I could.
“She almost dropped a glass.”
His voice was smooth again now.
Controlled.
Like he hadn’t just been breathing against my mouth.
Liar.
Ethan looked at me. “Seriously?”
I forced out a laugh. “Yeah.”
Another lie.
But Ethan seemed distracted already, muttering something under his breath while patting his pockets.
“Where the hell is my charger?”
Adrian reached into the pocket of his jacket hanging over one of the stools and pulled it out casually.
“This?”
Ethan groaned dramatically. “Bro, I’ve been looking for that for ten minutes.”
“You could have asked earlier,” Adrian said.
I hated how normal they suddenly sounded.
Like the last few minutes hadn’t happened.
Like my entire body wasn’t still overheating.
Ethan grabbed the charger before walking toward the living room again. “Are you staying or leaving?”
Adrian’s eyes flickered toward me briefly.
Too briefly for Ethan to notice.
Long enough for my stomach to tighten anyway.
“I’m leaving,” Adrian said.
My chest did something stupid at those words.
Disappointment.
Which was ridiculous.
He should leave.
Actually, he needed to leave before Ethan noticed something was seriously wrong.
But my body clearly disagreed.
Because the second Adrian started walking toward the door, heat spread through me again.
Like my body already missed him.
Ah, pathetic.
Ethan disappeared into the hallway again while unlocking his phone, completely unaware that his best friend had almost pinned me against the kitchen counter five seconds ago.
The second he vanished, Adrian looked at me again.
And just like that;
The air changed all over again.
God.
It was unfair how quickly this man could affect me.
“You need to stop looking at me like that,” Adrian said quietly.
I folded my arms over my chest. “You keep saying that while staring at me like you want to ruin my life.”
His jaw tightened instantly.
That reaction alone sent another pulse between my thighs.
Jesus Christ.
He took one slow step toward me again.
“Careful, Sienna.”
That low warning voice nearly destroyed me.
“Or what?” I asked softly.
Another mistake.
His eyes darkened immediately.
“You really wanna find out?”
The words hit low in my stomach.
Filthy.
Dangerous.
Exactly the kind of thing that made me incapable of thinking around him.
I tried to act unaffected.
Failed.
Completely.
Adrian noticed too.
Of course he did.
His gaze dragged slowly over my face before dropping lower again.
My nipples tightened painfully beneath the thin shirt instantly.
God.
I hated how obvious my body was around him.
“You should go to bed,” Adrian said.
“But you don’t want me to.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
A heavy silence followed.
Then Adrian laughed softly.
More like frustrated.
“You’re playing a dangerous game tonight.”
“Maybe I’m actually tired of pretending.”
That hit him.
Hard.
I saw it immediately in the way his expression changed.
Less controlled.
More hungry.
For one terrifying second I genuinely thought he was going to kiss me anyway.
Instead he stepped closer until my back touched the counter again.
My pulse exploded instantly.
“Your brother trusts me,” Adrian said quietly.
The words surprised me.
I blinked. “What?”
“He trusts me around you.”
His voice sounded rough again now.
Like he hated talking about this.
“Then maybe you should stop cornering me in kitchens,” I whispered.
That almost made him smile.
Almost.
But it disappeared quickly.
“Do you have any idea how hard I’ve been trying not to touch you?”
Heat rushed through me so fast it made me dizzy.
No.
No no no.
He could not say things like that while standing this close to me.
Especially not while my body still ached from the almost-kiss earlier.
“You act like I’m making this difficult alone,” I murmured.
Adrian stared at me for a long second.
Then his hand suddenly grabbed the edge of the counter beside me again.
Hard.
“You are.”
The deep roughness in his voice nearly made my knees weaken.
God.
Every conversation with him felt like foreplay.
I swallowed hard. “Then stop wanting me.”
Silence.
Then Adrian leaned closer slowly until I felt his breath near my ear.
“That’s the problem, sweetheart.”
My breath caught instantly.
He had never called me that before.
Never.
“And what problem is that?” I whispered.
His eyes dragged slowly down my body again.
“Can’t.”
Fuck.
Actually fuck.
The word settled directly between my thighs.
I shifted slightly without meaning to.
Big mistake.
Adrian noticed immediately.
His eyes sharpened dangerously.
“You have no idea what you do to me.”
I stared up at him breathlessly.
“And you have no idea what you do to me either.”
That seemed to snap the last thread of his control.
Because suddenly Adrian’s hand landed lightly on my hip.
Not enough.
Nowhere near enough.
But my body reacted instantly anyway.
A soft breath escaped me before I could stop it.
His jaw flexed hard at the sound.
“Sienna.”
The warning in his voice only made me want him more.
I hated this.
No.
Another lie.
I loved this.
Loved how tense he became around me.
Loved how his breathing changed whenever I got too close.
Loved knowing Adrian Cross; calm, controlled Adrian, was losing his mind over me too.
My fingers curled lightly against the front of his shirt before I could think better of it.
His entire body went still.
Oh my God.
I should stop.
Immediately.
Instead my fingers tightened slightly.
Adrian looked down at my hand slowly.
Then back at me.
Dangerous mistake.
Because the look in his eyes almost melted my brain.
“You keep touching me like that,” he said quietly, “and I’m eventually gonna forget how to behave around you.”
Heat flooded my stomach instantly.
Maybe I wanted that.
Actually no.
Definitely.
The realization terrified me a little.
Then footsteps suddenly echoed down the hallway again.
Adrian stepped back instantly.
The loss of him hit me embarrassingly hard.
Ethan walked back into the kitchen holding his phone. “You still here?”
Adrian grabbed his jacket calmly. “Was literally leaving.”
“Mhm,” Ethan muttered distractedly. “Let’s have a drink.”
I looked away quickly before
Ethan noticed my face was still burning.
Adrian slid his jacket on before looking at me one final time.
And God.
That look.
That look should honestly be illegal.
Slow.
Dark.
Hungry.
Like he was already thinking about the next time we’d be alone.
Then he opened the penthouse door.
“Night, Sienna.”
The deep roughness in his voice wrapped around me instantly.
“Goodnight,” I answered softly.
He held my gaze for one dangerous second longer before finally leaving.
The door shut quietly behind him.
And somehow the entire penthouse immediately felt colder.
Ethan stretched lazily beside me. “You okay?”
No.
Absolutely not.
I could still feel Adrian everywhere.
On my waist. In my head.
Between my thighs.
“Yeah,” I lied.
Ethan narrowed his eyes slightly. “You look flushed.”
Panic flashed through me instantly.
“I’m tired.”
Thankfully Ethan just shrugged.
“Go sleep then.”
If only it were that easy.
Because later that night, alone in bed beneath tangled sheets, all I could think about was Adrian’s voice against my ear.
Can’t.
And somehow that single word kept me awake for hours.
