Page 96 of Breakaway Goal

“Yes, ma’am,” he answers in a gravelly purr as if thiswerea sex thing.

I roll my eyes, open the door, and guide him into his room with my palm pressed on his back.

I close the door behind us and guide him so that his back is turned to my gift. I want him to have to look around a little bit before he spots it.

“Alright, the blindfold’s coming off. Stay right there.”

“Already?” he asks.

I tug at the large knot behind his head and pull the fabric away.

“Uh, what am I supposed to be seeing?” he asks.

I take a step back and sit on his bed. “Just look around. Tell me if you notice anything.”

Nerves gather in my stomach while he sweeps his gaze in front of him before turning around. I really want him to like this present. I mean, I know no matter what, he’ll act like he does, but I want to be able to tell that hereallylikes it.

He turns around. “What am I—” then, he stops, his eyes suddenly latched onto where I hung it up on the wall.

His expression is blank with surprise for a moment. But then his lips curl into a smile, and his complexion turns bright. Warmth rushes through me. Hedoeslike it.

“Maddie. Holy shit.”

“Like it?”

He walks slowly, almost reverently, toward it, his eyes still glued. “I fucking love it.”

A while ago, when we were studying in the library, he mentioned that I should paint a picture of us together. Well, ever since then, I’ve been working on one, and I finally finished it the other day. I got it framed and snuck into his room to hang it on his wall as an early Christmas present.

“Did you start working on this after that time in the library?”

My stomach flips at his question. He not only likes it, he actually remembers the conversation we had that spurred me to paint it.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Rhys has demonstrated time and time again that he doesn’t forget anything when it comes to us. Still, it makes a sappy warmth swim through my blood.

I nod.

“I really, really love it,” he repeats, standing close and taking in the painting with his eyes. “And …”

I squeal as he suddenly jolts toward me, blanketing me with his body and pushing my back onto his mattress. I giggle against his lips as he feathers a kiss onto me. “I love you, too,” he finishes.

“I love you, too, too,” I answer, my lips pulling wide with a smile as I look into his appreciative eyes.

“Now, where’d that blindfold go?” he asks with a wiggle in his brow.

I laugh, swatting at his chest. “That blindfold gave you a lot of ideas, didn’t it?”

He presses his lips to my ear, and sparks dance over my skin as he whispers in a hot rumble, “Alotof ideas.”

I push him off. “Well, they’ll have to wait, because we’re going to study, remember?”

He groans. “Come on, we can put it off for a little bit.”

I shake my head, pushing up from his bed. “Now that I’ve given you ideas with that damn blindfold, if I give in, we won’t make it to the library at all today.”

He stoops down to pick up the blindfold and sighs while looking longingly at it. “You’re not wrong.”

Heat pools between my legs. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst idea to …

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