Page 4 of Riot of Autumn

“Where’s mine?”

I wave my hand over the bread, meat, and cheese still sitting on the counter in ahelp yourselfmotion. Ezra sighs like he’s so put out that he has to slap together his own sandwich. He drops his arms and hitches up those damn pants.

“It tastes better when someone else makes it for you.”

“Which is why my superpower would be so awesome,” I say, bringing my sandwich up to my lips with a taunting slowness.

I moan loudly as I take another bite, wiggling a little like it’s so damn tasty I’m going to have an orgasm. I mean, it’s good, but it’s still just a sandwich.

Ezra’s hand snaps up and closes around my wrist. My eyes go wide. I never even heard him cross the room. His fingers are wrapped around the bottom of my hand, holding the sandwich in place. His touch is charged, making me shiver from the heat of his skin. Ezra lowers his head, his eyes never leaving mine. His face is so close it makes my heart stutter in my chest. The flecks of gold in Ezra’s brown irises stand out, hypnotizing me.

My breath catches in my throat, and my pulse hammers wildly. Then he opens his big mouth and chomps down on my sandwich, taking a massive bite. Like almost half of the damn thing.

“You shit,” I say with a mouthful, not caring how disgusting I’m being. Especially when Ezra makes the same moaning sounds that I just was.

He’s rubbing his damn ripped abs and dancing like he was earlier in the night, his whole body undulating and looking like sin. He’s so close to me his body keeps bumping into mine, his hip against my stomach, his arm brushing mine. Suddenly, my sandwich isn’t the only thing I’m hungry for.

The counter is digging into my back and the heat his body is putting off is making me sweat. His eyes twinkle with that spark that makes me want to play. Ezra turns around, giving me his back, and then he bends over and starts twerking. For fuck’s sake.

I need a damn drink.

2

EZRA

Ruby rolls her eyes and turns her back to me, getting a glass down from the cupboard. She fills the cup with water and then opens the fridge. Pulling out a soda, she wordlessly hands the bottle to me. It’s one of the fancy artisanal ones that I fucking love. Ruby hates the flavors, and she doesn’t do caffeine, so the only reason she has a stash of the drinks is for me.

Like many things with Ruby, that’s not something we talk about. The sweet things we do for one another, they don’t get discussed. Only acknowledged with a dip of the head and an avoidance of eye contact.

Ruby sips her water and watches while I make myself a sandwich.

Everything with Ruby is a game of tug o’ war. I nearly made her something to eat while she was in the shower, but for all I knew, she would have thrown it in the trash just to be a pain in the ass. I’ve never known someone who hates asking for help more than Ruby. She sees relying on others as a weakness, or a fault, or some shit. I guess her past has a lot to do with that. When you’ve only had yourself to rely on for so long, it’s hard to trust that someone else will be around when you need them.

It’s been a long night, and I didn’t want to get into a serious argument with her. Superpowers are one thing but fighting for real with Ruby always leaves me feeling sick inside. I fucking hate it.

Ruby’s eyeing me as I finish up my sandwich in three bites and then put the cheese and turkey back in the fridge. She looks so fucking beautiful, it’s hard to keep from staring at her. Her hair is normally a soft shade of violet, but it looks darker now that it’s wet. She’s been dying it different colors for years, but it’s been purple for a while now. I’m afraid to tell her it’s my favorite color on her. Knowing Ruby, she’d pick another color just to be contrary.

It’s her eyes that are truly exceptional though. They’re a jade green that pierces right through the heart of you. I’ve never known anyone else like Ruby. Her personality is, on the surface, unabashed and brash, but inside she’s sensitive and loving. She just doesn’t like anyone to see that part of her.

Right now, her gorgeous eyes are locked on my face. I can’t tell if she’s staring because she’s exhausted and zoning out, or if there’s another reason.

“What?”

“What?” Ruby startles.

Zoned out then.

“You were staring.”

Ruby blinks slowly and scrubs a hand over her face. “I think I just fell asleep with my eyes open. Also, you have crumbs on your face.”

She points to the side of my mouth, and I swipe at it, but she shakes her head. “No other side.”

I repeat the motion. Ruby sighs and steps toward me, reaching her hand up to brush the crumbs away. As soon as her skin touches mine, heat explodes from the center of my body outward, like a fucking bomb going off. On reflex, I grab her hand, stopping her from pulling away. I don’t know why, and I have no clue what the fuck I’m going to do next; I just don’t want to break this connection.

Ruby’s lips are parted, her eyes drowsy and sultry as she stares up at me. It’s so intense that the entire room warms to the point of being uncomfortable. Sweat breaks out over my forehead and my hands start to shake.

“Ezra?” Ruby murmurs, as she blinks away the sleepy look on her face.

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