AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Is it? I think I’m right. You hide and you try to blend in.”
“I do blend in—”
“Because you work at it. And it’s so ingrained you don’t know you’re doing it.”
My mouth is dry. This is all utter crap…isn’t it? “Save me from your amateur hour sofa therapy.”
“Hey, I charge a fortune for this. How do you think I got so rich?”
I shake off his hand and lift my fingers to my cheek and tap it. “Hmmm, I’m thinking either you stole it or inherited it.”
“Now you’re trying to deflect. I think you should let yourself shine.”
“I’m not a shiner. I’m a lurker. I do well in the shadows, way out of the limelight. Shining and the rest? That’s not me.”
“It could be, if you let it, Perry.”
“And what do you know?”
“A lot,” Ryder says softly.
He slides closer, his hand skimming along my thigh and that heat crackles like lightning between us again, the air thick with awareness and he’s close, so close.
“This might be easy for you, Ryder,” I say, wanting to run, wanting to throw caution to the wind and kiss him, “like breathing. But not for me.”
“What? Wanting to kiss you?”
“Flirting.”
“I’m not flirting.” His gaze drops to my lips. “I like your mouth.”
Suddenly I lose that battle and I surge up and I kiss him.
Ryder takes that and runs, his mouth is hot and wet and beguiling, it seduces, it doesn’t demand, and I give back, my lips parting, our tongues touching. It’s a flame that devours slowly and I’m losing everything to the heat inside, the heat he causes.
It’s not until his hand slides against the bare flesh of my ribcage that I come crashing down.
I tear my mouth aside. “No, Ryder. You’re doing this because I’m the only one around.”
“You kissed me, Elliot.”
“You can’t have me. This was a dumb idea.”
He sits back, sliding his hand through his hair and he says, “I thought it was a great idea.”
“You and me? There’s no you and me. You’re not into me and we’re not like that.”
“I know—”
“I think I’m going to go to bed.” I’m on my feet so fast it’s a wonder I don’t have whiplash. And then, before he can shake off the surprise on his face, I turn and race off to my room.
There, I shut the door, turn off the light, and just dive into bed.
Maybe he wasn’t saying he knows he’s not into me. And maybe I ran like a scared little girl.
But I had to.
I’m an idiot and crushing way too hard and kissing him was the most stupid thing I could do.
