There is no other word for it. He takes my lips in a kiss so brutally perfect. His tongue duels with mine with effortless control.

It takes my sluggish mind only seconds to get with the program. Seconds, minutes, hours—I have no idea. It isn’t long before I’m working his shirt over his head and his hand is working its way into my shorts.

“Dani, we need to stop,” he groans as his fingers roll against my core, lightly pressing against my swollen clit before he pushes two thick digits deep within my wet core.

“Can’t,” I gasp against his mouth and dig my fingers into his shoulders. “Don’t want to.”

“Not here. Anyone could find us.” He’s right. I hate it, but he’s right.

“Cohen Cage . . . I swear to God that I’m going to go insane if you’re going to leave me like this.”

He doesn’t say anything. His eyes are back to searching my own.

“I’ve waited forever for this,” I whisper.

His eyes close, and he drops his forehead against mine.

“Forever,” I repeat.

“Shit,” he groans. Then he pulls his fingers from my shorts, helps me right my clothing, and helps me stand with his hands against my hips.

I watch in confusion as he grabs his shirt and pulls it back over his head before he starts to pace around in the darkness.

Good job, Dani. Way to scare him off with your freakish admission that you’ve always waited for him to shove his hands down your pants. I bet he’s trying to figure out the best way to run as fast as he can without hurting my feelings.

Well, too late for that.

“Listen, I’m just going to go . . .”

His head snaps over to mine, and within seconds, I’m back in his arms. He just holds me tight against his body. When his body starts to sway with the music coming through the stage’s thick curtain, I struggle to keep up with his mood changes.

Until I hear the song the DJ is playing.

Brett Young’s “Kiss by Kiss.”

The same song I had my first dance to with him four years ago. The same song that has always reminded me of him day after day and year after year.

His lips go to my temple and he places a lingering kiss there before sliding his jaw down to rest it there. His breath against my ear is coming in deep pants as I hear him singing the song lyrics. Lyrics that will forever have a new meaning to me.

“And every time you look at me I just want to hold you. All my life I’ve been waiting for you. Little by little falling for you.”

Oh. My.

I pull back and look up into his handsome face. His lips curl slightly in a smile that seems to say, Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag now. His eyes hold mine as he waits to see what I’ll do with his admission, and he pulls me deeper in toward his body. As if he’s afraid I’m going to run.

As freaking if!

“I fell for you a long time ago, Cohen Cage. I’ve loved you my whole life.”

His face relaxes, and he lets out his breath. When his forehead drops against mine, I brace myself for his rejection.

“Dani-girl,” he groans like a prayer for strength.

Which is when it happens. When he realizes just who he has in his arms. And he starts to pull back. This is going to change everything between us. This final rejection. If the families find out—my brother, his siblings . . . Oh, God, Liam was right. This is going to be terrible.

“I have to go check on Megan. Make sure Chance can take her home.”

And just like that, he’s walking away from me, pulling the curtain to the side, and jumping down off the stage.

I didn’t think it would hurt this bad. But having something I’ve wanted, desired, craved, in my arms for just moments only to have it ripped away is more painful than never having him.

Because no matter the obstacles we would have had to face, having him there, realizing that we really are just as perfect as I’d always imagined and knowing I’ll never have it again feels like someone just died.

To top it all off, I was so close to what promised to be the most powerful orgasm I’ve ever experienced.

“Shit.”

After dropping my ass back down to the floor, I curl my legs up and wrap my arms around them before laying my head against my knees.

Well, doesn’t this just take the cake for shit outcomes?

ONE COULD SAY THAT I had a moment of insanity. An out-of-body experience that I was helpless to stop and just had to let happen. Maybe I could say it was the beer? No. No matter how I try to excuse what just happened between Dani and me, it would be a lie.

She was exactly where I wanted her.