Page 161 of Push

I leaned over, trying to ignore how loud my heart was hammering in my chest. “I’m shit scared that one day you’re going to figure out you’re too good for me. I’ve been skating by on looks and muscles. That will all disappear someday. Then you’ll realize I’m just this dumb old dude who tells stupid jokes.”

“Toby…” She reached up and stroked my cheek.

“Being honest is kinda tough, huh?” It was easier to hide behind jokes and pretend she couldn’t tear me apart with only a few words.

Gwen nodded.

Her hands cupped my cheeks, soft and secure, and our eyes locked. Not just a glance. She saw me. I saw her. People often commented that Gwen and I were mismatched, but we were the same. Even though we’d been dragged through different childhoods and covered our insecurities with different colored Band-Aids, we were the same underneath—two scared kids desperate for someone to love them unconditionally.

“Is this the part where we sexy kiss?” Gwen whispered.

Cautiously, I stroked my fingers through her hair. “This isn’t our date…” I murmured back.

“A picnic in the park…” Soft, flawless lips grazed my temple. “It feels a little like a date, don’t you think?”

I pressed a kiss on her cheek. “Hmm. Maybe.”

“And you’re not just a boring guy who tells dumb jokes…” Her grin turned sly. Oh man, was she going to lay a joke on me? Hell yeah! “You’re also the king of grass. How will I stay the envy of the street without you tending to my…lawn?”

I tipped my head back and laughed.

That was when Gwen captured me—like a ninja, when I least expected it.

My face still lit up, cheeks aching from laughing, Gwen’s lips landed on mine right before she landed in my lap.

Her kiss was out of this universe—a soft brush, a teasing nip, and then feverish lips hungry for me. There might have been a little slip of her tongue, too. Just a sneaky taste. Heat rocketed through me and set me on fire from the inside out. I had my hands on her, pulling her even closer, and she melted into me, her mouth pure honey.

That kiss was sexy and deep and a promise for more. Ten out of ten. That moment needed to be added to the list in my letter with my other perfect days.

But the best part of all was that Gwen never stopped smiling.

Even when the kiss was over, and we both stared at each other, breathless, cheeks burning like a couple of teenagers caught in the back of a car, she was still smiling.

Part 5

We Fight Together

50

She Challenged the Mother

Gwen

“So, let me getthis straight,” Marnie smirked over the rim of her cocktail glass. “The hot Italian with the sexy as fuck tattoos is following you?”

The same Italian—my new shadow, Romeo—was about ten steps away, his elbow crooked on the bar, lounging cool and casual like he belonged with the Friday night crowd in the yacht club.

Maybe he did. I didn’t. I hated this place. How had Marnie talked me into stopping by?

I sighed. “Yeah. He’s following me.” I sipped my drink, almost poking myself in the eye with the umbrella stabbed into the lime wedged on the rim. That was another of Marnie’s ideas. “Classy,” she’d said, and to make it fun, like a “real” drink and not just a Coke.

Marnie cocked her head. “And pray tell, why is the sexy Italian following you?”

“No idea.”

And I hated I still hadn’t figured out why.

On Tuesday night, Toby had surprised me with copies of the clinic books—as well as a homemade dinner, a whole stack of presents, and never-ending kisses. Before slipping into bed for another heated make-out session, it had taken me all of five minutes to scour accounting entries in the books to spot and cross-check two suspicious transactions.Five minutes.

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