Page 38 of Start With A Slap

“Or, possibly die,” she said.

“That’s the best part.” With a faint smile, he locked into her gaze. “Not knowing. Wondering, will I? Won’t I? Will this be my final moment? Or do I get one more reprieve?”

“Should I be concerned that you’re creepily obsessed with death?”

“I should ask the same of you.”

“I’m not—!” She huffed. “For the last time, Sever, I don’t want to be your bondage buddy.”

He tilted his head. “Who said anything about bondage?”

“Well— you, with the... implying.” Her face flushed. She’d jumped to conclusions, and now he was smiling at her like he’d cracked her secret code.Don’t make eye contact, don’t make eye contact...“Can we talk about something else?” He didn’t answer, so she looked at him. “What?”

“You touch your earlobe when you get flustered, did you know that?” he said, shamelessly enamored. “It’s adorable.”

She did? Oh wow, she did. She’d never noticed. “You said—” The engines fired up and she had to speak louder. “You said you were gonna behave yourself on this trip, Sever.”

“Well, you asked. And the trip hasn’t started yet.”

She gave him her most unamused look.

“Right,” he relented. “You win, we’ll sit in the chairs.”

“Great.” The chairs were facing each other, but at least there would be a table between them. Not a very big one, but a barrier nonetheless.

She looked out the window at the tarmac and imagined herself running across it into the field of weeds. In herperiphery, he placed something on the table before her: a lacquered black box.

“What is this?”

He seemed amused by her suspicion. “Won’t know ‘til you open it.”

It couldn’t be anythingtooweird ...Could it?

The plane gathered speed. She held her breath and opened the box.

It unfolded into an antique chess set.

The chess lesson.Right. She exhaled, and the plane lifted off.

With a wink, he said, “Your move, Miss Tyler.”

She was surprised to find that he was a good teacher. For the first time in her life, she understood the mysterious game everyone else seemed to know how to play. He ran basic scenarios until she could predict his move, and she was starting to feel like she might be a natural.

“And, while you’re busy stalwartly defending yourself...”

She gasped as he captured her pawn and pinned her king, leaving her without a move. “But... I was safe!”

“Ivy.” He tutted. “Safety is an illusion.”

“I don’t even know how you got in there!”

“Simple,” Sever said, topping off his water glass from the cart that Vikram had wheeled in. “A single-minded defense is powerless against a masterful offense.”

“It doesn’t make sense... Okay, rewind. Show me what you did.” She stood to put the pieces back to where they were before the check, considered it from the side. “Pawn, please?”

He tucked it in his raised fist, holding it up toward the plane window and snickered as she tried to grab it. “I’m not sure you’re ready to know.”

“I’m ready!” He held it to his left, toward the window, making her reach over. “Give me?—”

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