PROLOGUE
The party was too loud. Laughter, music and the crackle of bonfire flames. Ambre dragged me onto the dance floor but I was too drunk to dance, it was all suffocating with my low tolerance of alcohol. I murmured an excuse to my best friend and stepped away, my feet sinking into the cool, damp sand as I walked to the darker stretch of the beach.
It was peaceful — the moonlight skimmed across the ocean's surface like a secret and I let out a breath. For a moment I was alone with the ocean and my thoughts.
"Running away again, boss lady?"
That voice—low, teasing, unmistakably him. I stiffened before I turned, already recognizing the slur of drunken amusement laced in his tone.
He was behind me, unsteady but smug, hands buried in his pocket, that stupid, crooked grin playing on his lip.
"Or are you just scared of me?"
I clenched my jaw. "Scared of you?" I scoffed, "Please. I just don't like dealing with spoiled-rich-brats."
That wiped the grin off his face.
In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance between us. His hand shot out and grabbed my wrist—not hard, but enough to yank me towards him. My breath hitched as I stumbled into his chest, our faces inches apart.
"Don't ever call me that," he warned, his voice was dangerously low now. Not playful — dark.
The air around us changed. The waves were still crashing behind us, but I could barely hear them anymore. All I could hear was the thud of my own heartbeat, fast and frantic.
I should have slapped, I should've pulled away. But neither of us moved.
His eyes dropped to my lips, "You can't judge me without knowing the whole story."
And maybe it was the alcohol or the heat or the stupid tension that never seemed to fade between us.
His lips crashed onto mine with a force that stole the air from my lungs. It wasn't gentle, not sweet either. It was angry, messy, and breathless. His hands tightened around my wrist as my fingers tangled in the fabric of his black shirt. We were both drunk, reckless and lost in the chaos.
The kiss tasted like fire and salt and everything we weren't supposed to want.
And yet we did. God we did.
