Page 96 of The Executioners Three
“Um.” She frowned. “What should I do with it?”
“You should put it on.” He shook it at her. “You’re freezing.”
“Oh.” She swallowed. Then shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m going inside now, so I don’t need it.”
“Youdoneed it,” he insisted.
“Why?”
“Can you please stop asking questions and just put on the jacket?”
“Absolutely not.” She’d just plumbed the depths of her soul for him, and now he had the nerve to look annoyed? “That’s how people get murdered, Mr. Porter.”
“Byschool uniforms?”
“By doing what strangers tell them to do!”
“I’m not a stranger.” He scowled. “You just told me how much you liked me.”
“And you didn’t respond!”
“Um, I tried to respond, but you were like a freaking freight train going over a cliff. Nowpleaseput on the jacket.”
“Why?”
“Oh my god!” He flung up his hands—and the blazer. “I want you to put it on because I’m going to kiss you for a very long time, and I don’t want you to be cold.”
Freddie’s eyes widened. Her mouth fell open. Because this was definitely not what she’d expected Theo to say—although it was definitely something she’d hoped he would say.
“I had all these plans to be super smooth,” Theo continued, stepping in close. “You were going to put on the jacket and I was going to tell you that I finally understood that stupid NSYNC song.”
“You mean… ‘Tearin’ Up My Heart’?”
“Obviously.” He opened the blazer and swooped it around Freddie’s shoulders. It smelled like newspapers and detergent.
And it was warm.
She slid her arms into the loose sleeves.
“But of course,” Theo went on, “you refused my jacket because you’re stubborn—”
“Because you didn’t asknicely.”
“—and now the moment for my smooth words has passed.”
“Oh.” Freddie blushed.
“Yeah.Oh.” He eyed her for several seconds, tongue running over his teeth and hands still holding the blazer collar. He was close enough for Freddie to kiss him. For her to rise onto her toes and resume what she’d begun.
“Theo,” she said softly.
“Freddie,” he replied, moving closer by a single inch. Close enough that Freddie had to tip her head back to hold his gaze. And close enough that she could feel the heat off his body and see how large his pupils had become.
Then that was it. The point at which the air between them shifted, and suddenly they were kissing again.
23
Here was one thing Freddie knew about kissing Theo Porter: the world made a lot more sense this way. She felt safe. She felt grounded. No fun house mazes to scuttle her brain. It was just Freddie and Theo. And this time, when Theo bent slightly to cup his hands beneath her butt, she was ready for it.Thistime, when he hefted her up, her legs instinctively slung around his waist and her arms clung to his neck.
