Page 80 of Silver Fox Puck

“You think you have me figured out?” she hisses. “You think you know exactly what’s going on in my head, just because I—”

She stops. Cuts herself off.

Because she knows. She knows she was about to admit it. I see it in her eyes. And I feel the second her walls crack even more.

But Kenzie?

She doesn’t do vulnerable. So instead of admitting the truth—she lashes out.

“This was never supposed to be serious.” Her voice is sharp, borderline desperate.

I exhale slowly. Because we’re here. Right where I knew we’d end up. I tilt my head, watching her.

“So what, Flight? That’s your excuse for running? Because you don’t want to deal with the fact that maybe you actually feel something real for once?”

Her hands jerk slightly.

“Shut up.”

“No.”

Her nostrils flare. “Grant—”

I cut her off. Low. Steady.

“You want to pretend this was just sex?” I murmur. “Fine. Let’s test that theory.”

Her breath catches.

I take another step. Close enough that she has to tilt that chin up to keep looking at me, and I can see the exact second her pupils dilate.

“If this was just sex, Flight, you wouldn’t be standing here trying to convince yourself of it.”

Her breathing stutters.

I keep going.

“If this was just sex, you wouldn’t have run.”

I watch her throat move in a slow swallow.

“If this was just sex, I wouldn’t be standing in your damn apartment right now, trying to convince you of something we both already know.”

Her chest rises sharply.

“And if this was just sex,” I murmur, lowering my voice, “you wouldn’t be looking at me like you already know exactly how this is going to end.”

She’s not breathing now.

Neither am I.

Because I know it too. I know the exact second I touch her—this fight is over.

Her walls are crumbling. I just have to push her the rest of the way. Kenzie is standing there, chest rising too fast, eyes locked onto mine like she’s caught between two choices.

Fight or give in.

I know which one she wants to pick. And I know which one she thinks she should pick.

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