Page 57 of Skate the Line

The room suddenly feels smaller without her in it, which is impossible.

“I don’t have to join if that makes you uncomfortable.” Sunny busies herself with closing the paint cans. “I totally understa?—”

“It doesn’t make me uncomfortable,” I lie. “Why would it?”

I said that way too quickly.

Sunny stops what she’s doing. Her fingers freeze on the paint can lids. I hear her swallow all the way across the room.

I hate that I’m interested in why she thinks it would make me uncomfortable. Does she know that I can’t stop staring at the little bit of skin playing peek-a-boo from her overalls? Does she also feel the undeniable tension between us whenever we’re alone?

When she doesn’t answer, I take a step closer. She’s kneeling on the floor below me, and the thoughts in my head would absolutely makeheruncomfortable.

Her doe-like eyes peer up at me, and all I can think about is her on her knees, sucking me off.

Wait, what?

“Come or not.” My tone is cold, and it has nothing to do with her and everything to do with my incessant thoughts. “It doesn’t matter to me.”

I turn and walk out of her room.

I quickly pull my phone out of my pocket and text Malaki.

Me: Ellie is requesting you for movie night if you aren’t busy.

Did I just lie and request a babysitter for myself?

Yes. Yes, I fucking did.

Twenty-One

SUNNY

This isn’tawkward at all.

I sink further into the couch, hoping it’ll swallow me whole. It’s silent in the living room. I can hear every little thing: the shifting of Rhodes on the opposite end, the quick typing on his phone, my heart beating in my ears.

I’m tempted to go see if Ellie needs help doing her chores. Though, that would probably be counterproductive since they’reherchores. I wonder if Rhodes would think it’s weird if I asked for chores too?

An alert goes off on his phone, and I jump. He eyes me quickly with a furrowed brow.

The more he is around me, the more he’ll notice how skittish I am.

“Is the pizza here, Daddy?” Ellie slides into the living room on her fuzzy socks. Rhodes catches her by the waist and hauls her up onto his shoulder like she weighs no more than ten pounds.

“Printsessa,” he grumbles. “Be careful.”

He’s two for two tonight. First, he catches me, and then he catches her.

“Why don’t you keep Sunny company and figure out what movie you want to watch?”

Ellie nods enthusiastically and tumbles onto the couch cushion beside me. She’s mid-whisper to me that she wants to watchTangledfor the third time this week when she perks up at a deep voice floating in from the entryway.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand.

“Who is that?” I ask.

Ellie springs from the couch and calls over her shoulder on her way to the entryway. “Malaki!”

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