Page 105 of Challenge Me

“It’s the poetry. It draws you right in, promising safety from your weary life.”

Sliding my hands up to his chest, I watched the fire ignite in his eyes.

“You’d dodge a spark but kiss the flame;

Call it danger, I call it game.

You flinch at thunder, yet chase the rain;

Tell me, love, what’s fear but pleasure’s twin in pain?”

His answering laugh was the music to my verse, his smile the choreographed dance to accompany it. All I could do was stare, and when the humor faded, his head tilted.

“What’s going on in your mind?” he wondered.

“It’s just . . . Nobody really laughs like that at my poems.”

“Like what?”

“Usually it’s awkward or mocking. Pitying, even.”

“Pitying?” His voice was low, almost a growl.

I waved my hand. “It’s not one of those things. I know it’s weird, and I embrace it. I just find it interesting that you seem to enjoy them.”

“I do. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“Good. That means nobody’s competing for your heart.”

“Not one,” he confirmed. “If there was, it wouldn’t be a competition.”

“Alright, don’t be a sap. You’re supposed to be resting.”

“I’ll rest when I’m dead.”

I tried to push him back, but he crowded me against the headboard. Once he was in my lap, I was done for.

“Fine.” I tipped his head back by his hair, then trailed my lips up his trachea. “We have another week here, so we might as well make the most of it.”

“Then I hit the road, the sky, the endless goddamn hotel rooms.”

“And I’ll be back at Remi’s.”

“Are you excited?”

“Of course. That’s my pride and joy.”

He met my eyes, and I saw reflected in his all of the things I didn’t say.

“Kiss me, baby,” I said.

When he did, I poured all of my worries into that kiss. I decided that I wouldn’t think about how much it’d suck to retrain myself to live on a night schedule. I wouldn’t think about how Oli had more than likely screwed up my perfect organization at the bar. Dean probably let him, despite the fact that he’d trained under me and knew exactly how I liked it.

I wouldn’t think about whether Cole would eventually show his face. Maybe he’d been scoping it out already and was waiting for me to get back.

I certainly wouldn’t think about whether Amir and I could handle the distance while he was on his stretches away from home. Six weeks together in Florida, shacking up and playing house, was entirely different from what we were about to embark on. Real life. Real problems.

No, I wouldn’t think about it at all. Not until I could no longer avoid it. When that happened, I was going to need a hella good notebook. One with thick, cream-colored pages and a ribbon bookmark. If the cover was leather with some runes on it, I might get a little hard.