Page 39 of Corrupt Me

She moves gracefully, silent as a shadow, but I am always a step behind her. Following her through the maze of enemies is difficult, but I am laser focused. When I’m ambushed, I fire, taking down each opponent, but I am injured. One more hit, and I’ll be out before I get the chance to take her down. Fuck.

I hear her giggle, but it quickly vanishes.

“You want to play, kitten?”

“Give me your best, but it doesn’t look good for you. Oops.” She doesn’t sound sympathetic at all.

I approximate where she could be and stalk toward her. I have my gun trained on her back. “Got you.”

She glances over her shoulder, then fully turns to face me, biting her bottom lip—a move that short-circuits my brain.

“Never give the opponent time,” she grins, shooting me square in the chest.

I look up at the screen to see my avatar eliminated.

“I’m better with a gun,” she says, sassing me with a smirk.

With that, she walks away, humming to herself, leaving me dumbfounded. But when I catch my reflection in the mirrored wall, I realize I am grinning.

“That was luck,” I yell at her back.

She spins around, huffing. “You’re such a sore loser.”

While she goes to change, I opt for another simulation, still running high on adrenaline. I need to burn off this energy so I don’t do something stupid—like chase after her and have my way with her—a dangerous thought.

She places her hand on my back before facing me. “Do you ever have fun?”

What kind of question is that?I feel my brows furrowing.This is my way of having fun.

She sighs. “Do you even know what fun is?”

“I go to a shooting range.”

“That sounds like so much fun,” she says, the sarcasm not lost on me.

I arch a brow at her. “Yeah, right, Miss Fun, who always has her eyes glued to a screen.”

She sighs. “We don’t know what fun is, do we?”

Her words settle heavy on my chest with undeniable truth. Neither of us moves from the spot. Seconds stretch, making me aware of her alluring nearness, of her sweet scent lingering around, tormenting me with pure temptation.

“What do you like to do besides swimming?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. And you, besides fighting?”

“I don’t know.”

When she moves to leave, I quickly change inside the locker room and catch up with her outside. Relief washes over me once I see she hasn’t left yet.

“I thought you’d leave…”

She avoids my glance and kicks at an invisible rock.

“You made me stronger. I’m still afraid, but most of all, I hate—”

“What do you hate?” I ask, cupping her cheek. I don’t know what’s happening, but her vulnerability slices at my soul. I’d tear every one of her fears apart so she’ll forget what that even means.

“That he might touch me, kiss me… I don’t like that. It’s bad enough I wasted my first date on him.”

---