Page 73 of Guarded Love

His eyes darken and I watch his throat work as he swallows. For a moment, I think he might actually reach for me, but instead, he clenches and unclenches his hands. "You have no idea what you're playing with," he says.

I can’t tell if I shiver because of the way the tone of his voice floats over me or if it’s due to the rain. I step closer to him and say, “I know what I’m playing with.” My gaze drifts to the swim trunks he’s wearing before they meet his eyes again. “I also know what Iwantto play with.”

I watch as Blaise has an internal battle with himself and it gives me a small bit of joy that it’s because of me. Although he’s not saying a word, the fact that he looks like he might pounce on me tells me all I need to know.

In an instant, Blaise's control snaps. His hand shoots out and his fingers curl around my wrist as he pulls me behind a massive tree trunk, away from the path and the rest of the group. He crowds me until my back meets the tree trunk and suddenly his body is caging mine. One of his hands ends up braced beside my head while the other is still gripping my wrist.

"Is this what you want?" His voice is low and his face is just inches from mine. "For me to lose control? Right here in the middle of a fucking rainforest with twenty people a few yards away?"

"Maybe," I whisper. "What are you going to do about it?"

His eyes drop to my lips, and for one heart-stopping moment, I think he's actually going to kiss me.

"Willow? Blaise? Where are you guys?" Madison's voice cuts through the moment like the water coming from the sky.

Blaise immediately steps back, putting distance between us as if I've burned him. "Over here!" he calls back. "I'm just helping Willow get her rain gear out."

He reaches down to my backpack that I'd dropped without even realizing it, unzipping the front pocket where my rain poncho is stuffed. Madison appears around the bend in the trail with her pink raincoat that matches her bright pink suitcase.

"Everyone's waiting," she says, glancing between us. "The guide says we need to stick together because of the rain."

"Sorry," I say as I’m taking my poncho from Blaise. "I was having trouble with my bag."

Madison nods, but I can tell she thinks I’m full of shit. "Okay. Professor Wallace is about to do a headcount."

She waits for both of us to put our rain gear on, and soon all three of us are headed down the trail to join the rest of the class. Madison and I walk side by side while Blaise walks a few steps behind. I swear I can feel his eyes on my back, burning a holeinto my soul. But since I can’t leave a good thing alone, I turn and look over my shoulder at him briefly.

No words pass between us, but I know something has changed. Whatever this is, it's not what it was when we stepped into this rainforest.

And I’m not going to fight against it anymore.

23

WILLOW

Istare at my reflection in my mirror, smoothing my hands down the short black dress I've changed into and out of three times in the last twenty minutes. My hands shake slightly as I reach for my lip gloss, and I want to slap myself for being ridiculous. I hate that I'm this nervous. It's just dinner. It's not about Blaise. It's definitely not about what happened in the rainforest earlier.

Except it absolutely is. And it’s all I can think about.

The memory of his body caging mine against that tree trunk keeps replaying on loop. The way his voice grew deeper when he asked if this was what I wanted. How his eyes dropped to my lips like he was fighting every instinct not to kiss me right there in the rain.

"You look amazing," Madison says from behind me, and I catch her reflection in the mirror. She's wearing a flowy coral dress that brings out her tan, looking effortlessly put-together while I'm over here having a full-scale wardrobe crisis.

"I feel ridiculous," I admit just before tugging at the hem of my dress. "This is too much, isn't it?"

"For dinner in San Juan? Not even close." She moves to stand beside me, fixing a strand of my hair. "Besides, you deserve to feel gorgeous."

I do feel beautiful, but that isn’t the problem here. The problem is that I have to face Blaise again within this new dynamic and I feel completely unprepared. "It's not about feeling gorgeous," I say as my eyes meet hers in the mirror. "It's about?—"

"About what happened on the hike today?" Madison raises an eyebrow. "Because whatever that was between you and Blaise, it definitely wasn't about getting rain gear out of your backpack."

I’m not surprised she knew, and it was a lame excuse at that. But also, fuck. "Was it that obvious?"

"To me? Yes. To everyone else? Probably not." She moves to sit on the edge of her bed. "So are you going to tell me what's going on, or do I have to guess?"

I turn away from the mirror because I suddenly need to move. "There's nothing going on. We were just...talking."

"Talking." I can see the air quotes without her having to make the hand gestures. "Is that what we're calling it when a guy looks at you like he wants to fuck you until you’re screaming for mercy?"

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