Filed to story: Katy and Brayden Cooper Novel
And comfortable? If comfortable means heart hammering, cheeks on fire, and feeling like I’m a zoo exhibit…then yeah, Katy Evans is so comfortable.
“I thought people danced at parties like this,” I say, trying to stir up conversation, anything to distract him in case he’s thinking of joining Luke in his little lip-lock marathon.
“Wanna dance?” he asks, like he’d drag me to the middle of the living room without caring who’s watching.
I shrug. “Not really. It just feels lame sitting here doing nothing.”
He chuckles and the sound brushes against my skin. “Oh, trust me, Peach. I can think of a lot better things to do with you than dance.”
My heart zaps like it just plugged into an outlet.
A nervous giggle slips out, catching in my throat. “Li-like what?”
His arms cinch tighter around my waist, his hands pressing into the bare skin at my stomach. Heat follows every slow movement of his fingers, and I swear it spreads everywhere.
“Something like this,” he whispers, then his mouth clamps down on my neck.
I gasp, my head tilting instinctively, and my eyes flutter shut as the sensation jolts through me. His tongue drags hot against my skin, and when he sucks down, my whole body betrays me. My n*****s harden like buds, shooting out against my top.
“You smell so good, Peach,” he mumbles against my skin, his lips brushing kisses down my shoulder and my head tips back before I can stop it. Is this still part of the plan? Because the way he says like a confession…it doesn’t sound rehearsed at all.
But God, it feels good. Too good.
My eyes dart over his shoulder, searching the crowd. Justin’s still tangled up with his girl at the kitchen side, and thank God, because the last thing I need is him catching this little performance.
My hand drifts up, almost without thinking, and I thread my fingers into Braydon’s hair. He keeps licking and kissing my neck, his warm mouth moving in ways that send cold tingles racing through me. His tongue feels so good, too good, and my body aches for it somewhere else…anywhere else, and not just my neck.
Then he shifts me, slowly angling my body sideways across his lap. His gaze lifts to mine, and for a second the room blurs out. Those green eyes of his, God, I’ve never seen anything like them.
“Your eyes are…”
The words trail off the second my body registers something hard pressing against me from underneath.
I freeze. My brain flatlines. Wait. Is he hard? Like, so hard I can literally feel it through his jeans?
Slowly, I shift my waist, trying to play it off, and checking if maybe it’s his phone, his wallet, or hell, even a pack of gum. Anything.
But no. The moment I move, the veins in his neck pop out like he’s holding back a growl, and his grip around me tightens like he’s daring me not to test it again.
My lips part, and my eyes stay glued to his, caught between shock and… something else I don’t want to admit out loud.
Relax, Katy. Relax. Don’t freak out.
This is normal. Totally normal. Just… biology. Yeah. Even if he’s not into me like that, being this close with me literally on his lap while he’s been nibbling on my shoulder? That’s enough to make any guy hard as a brick.
Yep. Nothing to panic about. Just science doing its thing.
Biology is awesome.
I’m still battling the war in my head when Braydon cups my chin, tilting my face up and my stomach flips. I give him an awkward smirk, hoping it passes for cool girlfriend, and apparently, it does because he takes it as an invitation.
He leans in, his lips inches from mine..
And then a loud, blaring sound blasts through the room.
I jerk back, my heart jumping into my throat. My eyes dart wildly around until they land on some chubby dude holding a brass horn, one of those instruments that sounds like a trumpet. He lifts it again and lets out another ear-splitting note, and the room erupts in laughter.
But I’m not laughing.
KATY’S POV
My hands won’t stop shaking, and my breath is now coming faster. I’ve been pretending all night…
pretending I don’t hear the bass rattling the windows, pretending I don’t see the blunt being passed around right in front of me. But this… this sound is different.
Because it drags me back twelve years ago. Back to that night. That really scary night. The one I swore I’d buried.
“Are you okay?” Braydon’s hand finds mine, and he squeezes my fingers as his eyes search my face, reading the panic I’m trying so hard to mask. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine.” The words scrape out. “I… I just need to breathe.”
Before he can press further, I stagger up, ignoring whatever he’s saying, and push my way through the sea of bodies. Laughter, music, smoke and everything closes in on me, but I keep moving up the stairs, away from that damn sound. Away from the memory I can’t let swallow me alive right now.
Just as I reach the foot of the staircase, Allie’s coming down. She sees me and her eyes light up.
“Is that my bestie?” she giggles, grabbing my hand as soon as she reaches me. “Having fun?”
“Sort of,” I mumble, then nod at her boyfriend. “Hi, Sean.”
“Hey, Katy.” He gives me a quick smile. “You look nice.”
“I know, right?” Allie cuts in before I can answer, smirking as she taps his chest. “But I’m ghosting you here. Katy and I need a girl moment.”
Sean kisses her chin before letting her tug me upstairs. She doesn’t stop until we find an empty room. I exhale and slump onto the bed.
“You looked like you were about to combust down there,” Allie says, dropping beside me.
I push my hair back, embarrassed. “Was it that obvious?”
She tilts her head. “Not to anyone else. But I know your tells.”
“You don’t have to babysit me,” I sigh. “You should be with Sean.”
“I also needed an escape.” She grins. “He’s been trying to convince me all night that we should do anal. Like babe, no. That’s not a casual Friday conversation.”
My eyes widen. “What?”
“Yeah. That’s the same reaction I had when he brought it up.”
“Is he crazy?” I ask.