Page 139 of The Bittersweet Bond

Bas raised an eyebrow, glancing between her and the table like she had just ordered him to run a marathon in shackles. “The coffee table? You’re joking.”

“I’m not.” Evin leaned back, folding her arms smugly. “Rules are rules.”

He hesitated, the corner of his mouth twitching with amusement. “That thingwouldn’t even hold my weight.”

Evin shrugged, a glint of challenge lit up her face. “Fine, we’ll save that for later. On a more… stable surface.”

She winked, feeling a rush from the hint of hesitation in his expression. “Okaay, you’re off the hook. Then answer a question.”

Bas shot her a wary glance, intrigued. “What kind of question?”

“What’s one thing you don’t like about me?”

Bas groaned. “That’s brutal,” he muttered, briefly breaking eye contact, as if hoping she’d ask for something easier. “Can’t I do something else instead…?”

"Are you chickening out?" she cut in, her voice carrying a touch more challenge than before.

Bas let out a dry chuckle, but his amusement faded quickly. Running a hand through his hair, he met her gaze again. “Mmh... fine. Maybe it’s about time I say this.” He hesitated for a second, carefully choosing his words as the room around them fell into silence. “I don’t like that I still feel like you’re not letting me in.” His voice was quieter now, more genuine. “I can’t shake the feeling that… that you won’t let yourself be mine.”

Evin’s heartbeat quickened, her fingers pausing mid-shuffle, the cards now half-mixed in her hands. His gaze pinned her down—too intense, too honest. It was as if he could see through the barriers she had carefully built, right into the parts of her she wasn’t sure she was ready to face.

“Maybe I do want to be yours,” she murmured, so softly it was barely more than a whisper between them.

Bas’ smirk vanished instantly. For a moment, it seemed like she had struck something in him that he hadn’t expected. His eyes widened slightly before he caught himself. His fingers toyed restlessly with a card, his shoulders giving the barest twitch. A smile returned, but it was softer now—real, without its usual arrogance.

“You’re serious,” he finally said, his voice lower, with a trace of surprise. He paused, his eyes searching her face. Maybe for an explanation. Or for a lie he couldn’t seem to find.

Evin didn’t break his gaze, though every fiber of her being wanted to shrinkinto the couch and disappear. “I guess you won’t find out in this round,” she deflected, hoping to shift the conversation away from the growing tension.

The final round was quieter, the weight of unspoken words hanging between them. Both played their cards with careful focus, though Bas kept trying to break her concentration with looks that made her stomach flip. But this time, she held firm. Finally, she slapped her last card onto the table.

“Uno!” she called out, leaning back with satisfaction. “I win.”

Bas let his cards drop into his lap, crossing his arms with exaggerated defeat. “Alright, queen of the game. What’s your prize?”

Evin leaned forward over the table, her voice quiet, but full of playful mischief. “Take off your clothes.”

“Excuse me?” Bas asked, though his grin only widened.

“You lost,” she said innocently, leaning back and crossing her arms. “I’m just claiming my prize.”

“Alright then,” Bas murmured, his smile shifting into something slower, lazier—something that made the heat in her cheeks intensify.

He grabbed the hem of his shirt, peeling it off with an almost obnoxious slowness, inch by inch revealing the toned skin beneath. The fabric slid over his chest, exposing the sharp lines of his muscles and the dips of his abs, catching the dim light in a way that softened the edges of his frame, made him look almost unreal.

Damn.

Evin felt her pulse stutter.

His body was solid and strong, every flex of his muscles visible beneath his skin.

A body made for trouble.

Her eyes betrayed her, trailing unbidden over his broad shoulders, the defined planes of his stomach, lower, lower still.

“Like what you see?” Bas teased, his voice dripping with amusement, as his fingers moved to the buckle of his belt.

Evin grinned right back. “Keep going, pretty boy.”

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