He dragged the tip of his tongue across his lower lip, catching the rest of the tequila and my full attention. “And now what’s your verdict?”

I couldn’t pull my eyes from his lips. Mine started to tingle as I wondered what made all those girls run back for more of him. “Jury’s still out.” He’d been nothing but good to me, too perfect, really, but I couldn’t ignore the long line of girls he’d crushed.

“That’s fair.” He rubbed his hands over his forehead. “I transferred into that school my sophomore year, and it was rough.”

I nodded. I knew it well. The upper-class school certainly hadn’t welcomed a military brat with open arms my freshman year. But when super-popular Riley showed interest junior year and started dating me, everything changed. Freaking Riley. “Hockey gave me an ‘in’ to the crowd, but it’s not like there weren’t tons of rumors about why I transferred in the first place. Funny how the shit you pull in high school sticks with you if you don’t move away, huh?”

“Depends. You still sleep with everything in a skirt?” Like Riley?

He clutched his hand over his heart. “Out for blood tonight, are we?”

“Truth hurts.” Especially lately.

He wiggled his eyebrows and motioned to my clothes. “Hey, I’d totally make an exception for a girl in Daisy Duck pajama pants.”

I wanted to laugh, but only a smile emerged. Maybe I’d lost the ability. “Shot?”

He arched those eyebrows in an are-you-kidding-me look. “You sure?”

I did an assessment. Nowhere near sick or pukie but pleasantly buzzed, so round number four it was. Lick. Slam. Suck. The tequila burned sweetly down my throat, firing through my insides. I wished it would burn through my heart and render me unable to feel anything.

“I remember you, too, you know. You were cute back then.” His shot glass made an audible click as he placed it on the counter. “Your hair was curlier and a little wild, like you were untamed, unbeaten. You were quiet and never looked up when I passed you in the hallway, but I saw you, knew who you were. There was something about you, a fire that was untouchable.”

I dropped my gaze to his bare feet. “That fire is dead.”

He stepped between my knees, his heat melting through the flannel of my pj’s. He gently lifted my chin, bringing me to meet his eyes, and my heart began to misfire. The intensity in his eyes was breathtaking and frightening at the same time. “The fire you have within you is impossible to kill. The first breath you take when you’re free of all this, it will come roaring back. That’s what is so impossibly beautiful about you.”

“Riley didn’t think so. I asked him over and over again to touch me, and he would say there was no point starting if he couldn’t finish. But he was the one who didn’t want me; I wasn’t beautiful enough for him.” If I hadn’t been drinking, I never would have said it. My eyes burned, and a tear slipped down my cheek. Josh brushed it away with his thumb. “What is wrong with me?”

Josh shook his head slowly as he shifted his hands to hold my face. His thumb grazed my lower lip, and my breath quickened. “Not a damn thing.”

“Then why would he sleep with her, but he wouldn’t touch me?” It was pitiful, and I knew it even as it escaped my mouth, but it just kind of tumbled out.

“Because he’s a fucking moron.” Riley hardly ever cursed in front of me, but the way Josh said it was almost a caress, and it was the sexiest thing I’d ever heard, jarring me from my pity party. His gaze dropped to my lips, and they tingled in response and parted. “You are the sexiest girl I’ve ever seen. Always have been.”

Then he kissed me. There was no pause, no decision to be made, no slow approach. Josh moved in, and his mouth consumed mine. He tasted like tequila and lime . . . and something sweeter, darker. His tongue swept out against my lips and I let him in, begged him in. He filled my mouth, stroking the most sensitive spots and retreating only to return.

I couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped as his mouth slanted over mine again. I arched into him, bringing my breasts in contact with his chest, and he made a sound like a growl. It was a heady feeling, that power, and I knew I would do whatever I needed to hear it again.

I let go of the counter, wrapping my hands around his back and neck. The muscles that played under his skin intoxicated me with their rippled movements, the heady knowledge that I had Josh under my fingertips. I kissed him back with everything I had, needing it, needing to be as close to him as humanly possible. I needed this, to feel, and Josh was more than worthy of feeling. Josh was worth experiencing, even if only for tonight.

He let go of my face, his hands drifting down my back until they cupped my rear, bringing me up against his very hard stomach. I had to see that stomach, to find out if it looked as incredible as it felt. I pulled my mouth away long enough to tug his shirt over his head. He sucked in his breath through parted lips and raked his gaze over my body. He wanted me. Me!

I gave him what I hoped was a seductive smile and devoured every line of his body with my eyes. Sweet mercy, the guy was built. Tribal tattoos with strange symbols wrapped around his right shoulder and trailed down the right side of his sculpted chest. I traced the tattoo with my fingers. His skin was soft, but the ropes of muscles underneath were so deliciously hard. His stomach was a step beyond washboard, with those lickable muscles carved lower, leading into where his jeans buckled. This was what a man was supposed to look like, and right now, he was mine.