Page 72 of Strut

I shook my head. “No. But this thing between us is getting... complicated.” I ran my fingers through the soft curls on his chest like the answer lay somewhere here. “I don’t want you to feel obliged—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He tipped my chin up with his fingers, confusion in his eyes. “Where the hell did that come from? I thought we sorted all this nonsense yesterday?”

I swallowed hard, the fear raw and painful in my throat. “I just want you to be sure.”

Hunter pressed his lips to mine, then took my hand from his chest and threaded our fingers together. “Alec? Talk to me, please,” he coaxed gently. “Even I know that for a relationship to work, we have to keep talking, especially now.” He huffed in amusement. “And those are not words I ever imagined coming out of my mouth, so you can’t ever tell Rhys. Pinky swear.” He held up his free hand and I curled my pinky around his.

“I promise.”

“I’m holding you to it.” Then he wriggled closer until we were eye to eye, and for a few seconds he just looked at me. And what I saw in those blue depths stole my breath. “I’m falling in love with you, Alec.”

He... what?Where the fuck did that come from?My heart beat a tattoo in my throat and my mouth opened and closed like a clueless guppy.

He chuckled. “You need me to say it again?”

I nodded.

He put a finger under my chin and pulled me closer, brushing his lips over mine. “I’m falling in love with you, Alec. Head over heels, smitten, besotted, bewitched, crazy about, whatever idiom you choose—hasta la vista, baby, I’m gone.”

I snorted and raised a brow. “Hasta la vista, baby?”

He shrugged. “It was short notice. Also, I clearly rock this talking-things-through shit, right? Whereas you have some catching up to do.”

I shook my head. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Butyou’resmiling.”

And I was. “Okay—”

“Closer.” He crooked his finger.

I huffed a sigh and brought us eye to eye, as close as he’d been. “Are you paying attention?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes.”

I kissed his lips. “I’m falling in love with you too, Hunter. Heart and soul, apple of my eye, one and only, crushed like a tin can.”

He pursed his lips and nodded. “Not bad. Not convinced about the crushed can thing, but I get that you were blinded by my idiomatic brilliance, so I’ll let that one pass.”

I dropped my hand and grabbed his knee.

“No!” He jerked back, laughing. “Stop. Stop! I give in.”

I got a hand to his just in time to stop him from falling out of the bed and pulled him back into my arms.

He snuggled close, all humour gone and we were back to staring at each other. “So, that happened.” He ran a finger down my nose and over my lips.

“It did.” I kissed the tip and gave it a lick.

“You’re really falling in love with me?” He pushed even closer and pressed kisses along my jaw to my ear and then back.

I nodded. “I’d go so far as to say that the tense is arguable but seems safer for now. You?”

“Same.” He glanced up and brushed the hair from my forehead, avoiding my eyes. “Falling, fallen. It’s just a syllable change from one to the other, right?”

I snorted softly. “One syllable, and a fully exposed heart.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “You raise an excellent point. I tell you what. Until we’re ready to take that syllable leap, I’ll pretend I don’t see yours dangling there, and you pretend you don’t see mine. But we’ll know they’re there and we’ll tread carefully. Deal?”

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