Page 76 of The Rookie

I type, hesitating. Then:

Me: I meant…To kiss you again. Honestly, either would work.

Her reply comes slower this time.

Avery: You already got your kiss. Multiple kisses.

Me: Yeah, and it wasn’t enough.

I can’t believe I send it, but I do.

Her face is turned toward her phone, her expression unreadable in the dark, but I see her swallow.

Her screen lights up again.

Yeah, sure. As if I could shut my brain off right now.

I stare at the glow of my phone on my chest, my thumb hovering over the keyboard. There’s too much running throughmy head. The way she looked at me tonight. The way she kissed me. The way she feels so damn close but still untouchable.

Finally, I type out a message. I delete it. Then I type it again.

What the hell.

Me: If we were going to hook up…like actually be friends with fucking benefits…what would that look like?

The second I hit send, my heart starts pounding. What am I doing? This is Avery. I’m playing with fire here.

Her phone lights up, and I see her shoulders shift. She turns back toward the screen, and I catch the faint glow of her face as she stares at my message.

I don’t breathe.

Finally, the typing bubbles pop up.

Avery: You actually want to talk about this right now?

Me: You’re so confusing. Are you forgetting the part where your hand was wrapped around my dick earlier tonight?

Me: Hypothetically. Just curious. I mean I can’t sleep. Can you? I guess I have some pent up energy.

She types again. Stops. Types again.

Avery: Pent up energy, eh? I guess that’s my fault…

Me: Nothing is anybody’s ‘fault.’ But you’re Avoiding the question. Interesting.

Avery: Fine. Hypothetically? It wouldn’t happen. We’d kill each other before we got to anything remotely sexy.

Me: Hypothetically, I’m very charming. I believe I’ve been making a good case.

Avery: Hypothetically, I’m immune.

I grin, rolling onto my side as I stare at her glowing screen across the room.Immune? Yeah, right.

Me: Oh, come on. So you’re telling me you wouldn’t get all flustered if I kissed you again?

Her phone stays quiet for a long moment. My grin starts to fade.

Finally, a buzz.

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