Page 214 of Fragments
“Alright, you two, let’s—” Rook’s voice cuts out while we slowly tear our enamored gazes off of one another, peeking up at him from the floor. “Oh, balls. You’re in love, aren’t you?”
Weeks later…
“Say it.”
“No.”
“Come on…”
“Uh-uh.”
“Please, say it?”
I roll my eyes. “If you don’t shut up, I’m never kissing you again.”
Ren pouts almost aggressively. It’s really hard not laughing at how dumb and adorable his face looks.
“Way to go straight for the jugular.” He whips his shirt over his head, stepping out of his pants while I do the same. “You really think you could juststopkissing me?”
I shrug. “Might not be that tough…” The smirk on my lips is obviously teasing, but Ren is gawking at me, horrified. “Anything to get you to stop badgering me.”
“Oh, darling…” He shakes his head, doing thattsk tskthing. “Badgeris my middle name.”
I cackle out loud. “Really? Your name is WarrenBadgerXavier??”
He nods, fully serious. “Mhm. Yep. My parents were big fans of anything in the weasel family.”
The chuckles are just pouring out of me at this point, and he’s grinning like it’s giving him life.
“Is it weird that I don’t know your middle name?” I ask him once I pull myself together. “You know mine…”
“Yea, because I badgered that out of you too.” He grins triumphantly. “Admit it. I can wear you down, LexingtonShilohDeon.”
Frowning, I press the button for my shower, stepping under the freezing water. “It’s such a weird name.” Ren chuckles, shivering while he waits for his to warm up. “My parents were obviously huge stoners. Plus, my initials are LSD. Red flag, right there.”
“Better than being named after your piece of shit father,” he sighs, finally dunking his head under.
My mind instantly clicks over all of our past conversations. “Kenneth? WarrenKennethXavier… That’s cute.”
His lips twitch, but he scowls it away quick. “Nope. Kenneth was a fuckhead. I’ll stick with Badger, thank you very much.”
Cool water runs over me while I laugh scoffingly. “It certainly fits…”
He goes quiet for a moment while we wash up side by side. I know he’s watching me. I mean, healwaysis. And the thing is, my eyes can’t help sneaking back over to him either.
I guess he’s right. I’ve never been able to resist him. Whether it’s looking at him, talking to him, touching, kissing, even fucking him… Whatever it is, I just can’tnotdo it. My feeble attempts at staying away were just that. Wishful thinking.
And now, the tables have turned, and I’m just as obsessed as he’s been since the moment I bumped into him in the hall all those years ago. Frustrating because he totally knows it, too. He’s well aware that I love him detrimentally, and that I think I’d like to be with him for as long as we can make it happen…
And yet, I’mstillhesitating to say the words he wants to hear… Give him that label he keeps pestering me for.
Jeez, you’d thinkIwas the one allergic to monogamy.
“You have to say it eventually, Shiloh.” Ren grins. I give him the side-eye. “Otherwise, what we’re doing won’t make any sense. And you’re way too logical to let that slide.”
“Is that right?”
“Mhm.”
