Page 23 of The Penalty

He rolls his eyes. “I’m not the enemy.”

“You literally are. You play for my biggest rival. That makes you the enemy.”

“Whatever.” He turns and grabs my Crocs from under a bed. I don’t even know which one is his. “These fucking atrocities almost got us caught.”

“Those are the most comfortable shoes to ever be invented.”

“Comfort is not worth how hideous they are.”

I shrug and flip the ankle strap up before putting them on. “Do your shoes have comfort mode and sport mode?” I point to his feet. “No, they don’t. That makes mine better.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

I lift my foot and show him the strap. “Like this, they are in comfort mode. Good for walking and leisurely activities.” I takeoff the shoe and flip the strap back and put it on. “This is sport mode for when you need to go fast.”

“That can’t make a difference.”

“It does.”

Rhys blinks, not saying anything while I put the one shoe back in comfort mode.

“I win.”

“You are not winning anything in those things.”

I head for the door and hesitate. If we can’t do this again, I should kiss him again. One last time. Right?

Spinning around, I find him in the same spot with his arms crossed. Fuck, he looks good.

“Kiss me.” It’s a demand and I’m not entirely sure how he’ll respond.

He lifts that damn eyebrow at me and smirks. “Why?”

“If we aren’t gonna do this again, I want another kiss. A good one. Make it worth it.”

“And if I don’t want to?”

I will cry like a child into my pillow later. It’ll be fine.

“Then I’ll leave without it.”Please don’t make me leave without it.

He watches me for a minute, then drops his arms. “Come here.”

I basically fly across the room, reaching for him the instant I’m close enough. With my lips a hair’s width away from his, he stops me with his hand on my throat. Damn winger reflexes.

I freeze.

Waiting.

My arms around his waist, our bodies touching from knee to chest.

I whimper as he makes me wait.

Rhys’ eyes drop to my mouth and I lick my lower lip. “I will miss this mouth,” he whispers against me before sinking intoa deep kiss. It’s slow and drugging and makes my heart beat funny.

I am so fucked.

How am I going to not want more of this?

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