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“You can think that, but you’d be very wrong.”
I felt her gaze, hot and penetrating. I turned toward her, blue irises narrowing. “You’re in my top five,” she said, her voice soft like a gentle caress.
“What would I have to do to be number one?”
She inhaled, a sudden intake of breath that floated between us. The blue of her eyes sparkled. Two glittering orbs that grabbed me, held me, hypnotized me.
“You’d have to fight Sherry to the death.”
A laugh rumbled up my throat and burst free. “Sherry fights dirty. I’m not sure I’d win.”
“Still scarred from the Easter egg fight of ‘98?”
“I found that egg first. She’s the one who dove under me and knocked me on my ass.”
“Then you pushed her in the mud and ruined her white dress.”
“She didn’t have to give me a bloody nose. She should have let me get the egg. I saw it first.”
“She was smarter, quicker.”
“More like mean and ruthless. Besides, she wanted the egg for herself. I was going to give it to you.”
“Me?” she exclaimed.
“Austin kept getting to the eggs before you could. Everyone had so many, and I noticed you only had a few in your basket.” She had kept a smile on her face, but I could see the disappointment in her eyes every time she wasn’t fast enough. Then she spotted the bright pink egg beneath the tree. Her face lit up, and I headed there to make sure no one snatched it. I didn’t expect Sherry to take me out at the knees.
“I had no idea.”
“You were what… eight? I can’t believe you even remember the fight.”
“It was pretty epic.”
“Definitely not in the top five, though.”
“No, not top five.”
She turned her head, eyes boring into mine. “You’ve always had my back. Even when I didn’t know it. Why?”
I shrugged. I didn’t exactly have an answer. “I don’t know.”
“I do. It’s because you have a good heart. I know you don’t think so, and there are actions of yours that can argue my claim, but deep down.” She tapped a pink nail above my heart. “You’re golden.”
“You’re the only one who thinks that.”
“That’s because no one else cares to look hard enough. I do.” Her words touched that deep part inside of me. The part that only she could access. My entire life, she had been Lainey, my little sister’s best friend, but now, knowing what her lips felt like against mine, the way her body melded to my hand, and how she looked at me without any preconceived notions, she was so much more.
Her lips beckoned me, and I moved, closing the slight gap between us. I cupped her cheek and captured her mouth in one fell swoop. Her body tensed for a single second, her hand spread wide, pressing against my chest.
She tasted like heaven, and I was ready to drop to my knees and pray at her altar, begging for entrance. My lips parted, but instead of letting me in, her hand pressed harder, forcing me away.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I stopped in my tracks. Regret spiraled through me, but it was nothing compared to the disgust I felt toward myself. This was fucking Lainey, not some woman I was taking home for a one-night stand.
“I’m sorry,” I said, the words strangled by every damn emotion that it was barely audible. I pushed off her, disgusted how easily I crossed the line. I slipped out of the bed and paced away, shoving my hand through my hair.
“Nero,” she said, and I spun around, not expecting her to be out of the bed, standing there, so damn close.
