"I told you, freshmen aren't really my style, at least, not anymore."
"Well, then, perhaps it's because you never asked. I'm not the miniskirt wearing type, and those are the ones you always seem to be chasing."
"All I had to do was ask?"
"To get a date, yes, all you had to do was ask," she confirmed. She knew they were simply playing chicken; it was far from the first time in the last two years that Bryce had played these games, and she knew better than to ever think it was anything more. Between her and Bryce, it was always just a game.
Bryce moved closer. "What if I'm asking now?" He moved his hand from the tree trunk to her hip, and braced himself with a hand next to her cheek.
"Are you?" she challenged, and not to be outdone, she put her hands on his chest, the tips of her fingers grazing his shoulders. She could feel the warmth radiating from him this close, and she resisted the urge to squeezed the muscles beneath her hands.
Bryce slipped under her hands, pressing himself to her. His hand on the tree cupped the back of her head, and he crushed her lips with his. He ground his hips against hers as he held her in place.
For a moment, Ashley froze as Bryce moved in. She saw everything in slow motion, felt every nerve ending electrify as he closed the distance between them. Then all she felt was heat. Warmth flooded through her as she kissed him back, winding her arms around his neck. When she felt his hand withdraw from the back of her head, she prepared to pull away, refusing to hold on after he was done, but before she could pull her lips from his, he had hold of her hips and was lifting her up against his body, her back pressed even more firmly to the tree. Never letting loose of his lips, she wrapped her long legs around him, steadying herself. Her bare skin was tight to the denim of his jeans, and her shorts were pushed up her thighs. She felt lightheaded, and she could barely breathe, but the last thing she wanted at that moment was for this life-affirming, earthshattering, soul-searing kiss to end.
Kissing isn't typically something men brag about, but Bryce would have had good reason to brag. He combined fire and intensity with enough gentle coaxing of his tongue to part her lips and begin his exploration. His tongue tangled with hers, and he could feel her pulse rate jump and her breath hitch when he nipped her lower lip, pulling it back slightly before he dove in for more.
Ashley was no prude, but he knew how his numbers stacked up against hers, and he knew that experience weighed heavily in his favor. His instinct was to move his mouth to her neck, her collarbone, her ear and tease her until she writhed against him, but he didn't dare move from her mouth, knowing that stealing her breath away was his best move.
When he decided that he satisfied, and by satisfied he did not mean that he was sated. A more accurate description would be that he was satisfied with the kiss and ready to strip her down and take her against the tree right then and there, he pulled his mouth away to look at her. He took deliberate breaths to calm his racing heart and boiling blood.
When it finally ended, as all good things must, Ashley forced composure as she waited for Bryce's reaction. She looked down into his face from her raised height, unable to hear anything save for the blood drumming in her ears.
Bryce lowered her to the ground, savoring the feel of her legs drifting over his as she unwound them. At 6'2" he was tall with a good build, but so was she, and at 5'11", she had a lot of leg to wrap around him. The light was fading, but he could still make out her expression and the heat in her cheeks despite the shadows from the trees around them. Letting a smirk take his features, he released her hips and stepped back.
"You forgot to ask," Ashley spoke, her defenses reacting to the smirk.
"Oops." Bryce could feel the strain in his jeans, and he was certain that Ashley had felt it just as he had felt the heat and electricity on her skin. There was no hiding the mutual passion between them, but games had always worked best for them, and if she was willing to continue playing, so was he. "You should probably get going. There is a boring old guy waiting in there to lecture you to sleep."
"True, and if I stay, I probably won't get much sleep at all." She turned away from him, and he resisted the urge to grab her again. "I'm glad you found your phone," she called, not even looking over her shoulder at him.
"Thanks for the help," he called back, smiling broadly. "Game on," he muttered under his breath. In that moment, he knew that it was going to be a great semester.
