Zac

All night long, I'd been telling myself to keep my fucking distance. Again and again, I repeated in my head.

I'm here to attend Evonne and Bea's wedding.

I'm here to attend Evonne and Bea's wedding.

I'm here to attend Evonne and Bea's wedding.

Not to fuck around.

Yet, the moment I saw Babygirl, fresh from her shower, my resolve flew out the window. There was too much sensory overload. I was drawn to everything about her. Her naked body beneath the robe. The scent of honey and roses. Temptation to touch was overwhelming. It chipped away at my self-control.

Hour after hour, one thing kept leading to another, the beers definitely didn't help, and, before I knew it, our pool game got me all worked up. I managed to keep a poker face on, but, behind my mask of indifference, I'd been fantasizing about all the ways I wanted to fuck her. Throughout the game, I couldn't resist baiting Cate with my words.

Bend over.

Because I couldn't stop imagining how it might feel to pound her against the pool table.

Spread your legs a little more.

Because I wanted balls deep inside her tight, little pussy.

It was driving me crazy. The closeness of Cate. The feeling of her pressed against my body. Ever sinful curve. Every perfect dip. Fuck me but it made me want everything that I shouldn't want.

God, why was I so weak?

I shouldn't have changed my flight.

I shouldn't have helped her with all the wedding prep.

I shouldn't have created this opportunity for us to be alone.

I shouldn't have downed those beers.

I shouldn't have played pool with her.

And I definitely shouldn't have left the suite and followed her out to the beach.

Now, as we sat beneath a dark sky of stars upon the sand, surrounded by crashing waves and a cool sea breeze, it was impossible to remember why I needed to hold back at all. I knew it was all kinds of wrong the very fucking moment Cate's soft, sweet lips brushed against mine, but I didn't pull away. I didn't want to question it.

Instinct drove me to kiss her back.

I couldn't help it.

Babygirl drew me to her like the moon with the tide.

She always had this effect one me. Ever since I was twelve-years-old. I suspected she would probably always wield this kind of power over me.

I became helpless in Cate's arms.

I kissed her as though I had every right to do it.

I kissed her as though I'd never get a chance to touch her again.

Shamelessly, desperately, my hands came up to frame Babygirl's beautiful face. Again, she smelled like honey and roses. She tasted like heartbreak and true love. I pulled her close and crushed her lips to mine. Her fingers danced in my hair, tugging at the nape of my neck to draw me closer, too. I groaned blissfully at her touch. Our innocent kiss soon spiraled into a not-so-innocent make out session.

Cate climbed onto me, straddling my lap, and my hands drifted down to grip her hips, to worship the curves of her ass. She released a needy whimper, setting fire to my veins. It sounded like she wanted me almost as much as I wanted her.

Cate lowered herself onto me, rubbing against my cock. She was wearing a dress, not pants, not shorts, which meant that the fabric from her panties was the only existing barrier to heaven. I realized this in a heated daze. Little Zac sprung up, straining hopefully, painfully against my shorts. I couldn't help grinding my hardness against her softness. Fucking hell, she felt good. Too fucking good.

I grew harder than steel in the next second as Cate's hands started going everywhere, caressing my chest and shoulders without abandon. I didn't hesitate to explore her as well. My hands relearned the hourglass dip of her waist, gliding upwards to palm and massage her full, rounded tits. I dipped down to nibble on her neck, sucking on her skin until it grew darkened and reddened, sucking hard to mark her as mine.

Through it all, our lips teased and our tongues tasted as we continued to grope and fondle each other like old times. We were going way too fast. Zero to a hundred within minutes. At this rate, I was going to blow before we could get back to the hotel room.

A spike of sanity cut through my lust-ridden fog.

Reluctantly, I broke away from Cate and found myself pleading, "Wait."

Even though I didn't want to wait.

Even though my body didn't want to stop.

With a wide-eyed, flushed expression that likely mirrored my own, Cate frowned in confusion. She gasped, "Why?"

"Because," I replied, wincing as my cock continued to twitch and throb against her, "I... you... we..."

My thoughts rallied back and forth.

Did I want to keep going with Cate?

Or should I stop right here?

Kissing her had been a terrible idea. But it felt so damn amazing.

"What?" she pressed.

"I—"

I couldn't respond right away. I needed to think this through before I gave her an answer.

God, I wanted Cate so bad, I missed her so much, even while I still resented her for choosing Georgetown over Stanford. I was at Berkeley now. It was fine, it was a good school, I liked it, but Cate was supposed to be at Stanford. I'd planned to drive over on weekends to hang out with her. She broke my heart with Georgetown, and she didn't even know it. Worst of all, I couldn't get mad at her for prioritizing her future over me. It was what I loved most about her. Her strength. Her drive. Her sense of self.

But I hated being apart from her.

The past two years had been some kind of hell for me. I'd never felt more alone. Back then, Cate was the only one who fully understood my living nightmare. Because she survived that shit alongside me. Losing her felt like losing a part of myself, and the grief nearly broke me.

I was forced to accept the truth about my dad's real character. On my own. I had to relearn myself as memories started trickling back more and more. On my own. I struggled with depression. On my own. Through the darkness, I found myself digging deeper, deeper, and deeper still, obsessively hacking my way into Virginia Esposito's past and the twisted world built on power and prestige that my dad and his friends lorded over. What I found there sickened me. The levels of their monstrosity made me feel corrupted simply by association.

To this day, I still didn't know whether it was better to remain a silent bystander, try to move on and live a normal life. Or dive back into the fuckery with the shit I unveiled and actually do something to expose their depraved, evil asses.

This dilemma, in particular, changed me from the core. I was no longer the same lost kid from my accident. I felt as though my knowledge ingrained me with some sort of vigilante purpose. Perhaps, the only stupid thing that remained unchanged about me were my feelings for Cate.

She would forever and always be the girl who got away.

The girl I could never forget.

Our separation made me more independent and self-aware, I guess, but I'd crawled my way through the wreckage. I was scared of getting too close to Cate again. I was scared of the sway she held over me, of how easy it had been to lean on her strength rather than standing strong on my own two feet. She deserved a real man. Not a broken boy. I was weak, and I didn't know if I could put myself through hell again for this girl. It damn near killed me the first time.

Cate was still staring at me with expectation in her eyes.

Fuck.

My dumb ass had yet to answer her question. I gazed back at Babygirl, feeling sad and angry and horny all at once. God, I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what I wanted from her until her voice cut through my chaotic thoughts.

"I want you," she stated bluntly in typical Cate fashion, "if you want me, too, then let's go back to the hotel room and finish what we started out. No strings attached."

No strings attached?

My eyes popped in shock.

Little Zac was totally on board with her suggestion. I clamped down the urge to go with his flow.

My jaw set with determination. "Dude, you're drunk. Do you even know what you're saying right now?"

"I'm not drunk," she insisted, "I didn't even finish my beer. I noticed that you didn't, either."

Cate was right.

I was barely tipsy.

My mind felt quite clear and sober, and it recognized, clearly, soberly, that this was the horniest I've felt in two fucking years. With all the crazy shit on my plate, I didn't even have the urge to look at another girl, let alone touch one. Sad but true story.

Cate shifted on top of me. Her thighs brushed near my crotch. My cock jerked happily. I grit my teeth, striving not to give into my raging hormones. But it was so fucking hard in more ways than one. She kept gazing at me with those bright, beautiful hazel eyes of hers. One look from this girl made me feel soft, so soft. Her lips looked soft, too. I dreamed about kissing her over and over again.

Christ.

Why did Cate have to be so hot and fuckable?

I really didn't stand a chance. It was already too late. I could sense it already. Little Zac was beginning to take over my thoughts.

I looked back at Cate with soul-deep longing. "You sure you wanna do this?"

She whispered, "Fuck, yes."

My heart lurched against my chest. My brain shut down. There was no blood left up there, anyway.

Little Zac won.

"Fuck it," I muttered, "let's go."