Page 61 of The Baby Dragon Bakery
Lavinia pulled back her hand as if scalded. She abruptly stood, heart hammering.
She turned to leave, but just when she did, he reached out and grabbed her hand. His finger curled around her wrist. She turned around, pulse racing.
“Can you stay?” he asked, eyes half-lidded as he looked at her. His voice was miserable. “Please.”
Lavinia was frozen in place. It was agonizing to be here with him like this, but she couldn’t say no to him.
“Okay,” she said, voice quiet. “Just for a little while.”
She lay down next to him, and he turned onto his side so they were facing each other.
At the same time, they reached for one another, pulling intoa hug. For the first time all night, Theo finally seemed to relax, releasing a long exhale.
He still wasn’t wearing a shirt, and her hands slid up on his bare back as his arms wound around her neck, one of his hands sliding into her hair. He rested his chin atop her head, holding her against his chest.
It was painfully intimate, the feel of his skin against hers. Every part of her ached for more. Her cheek was against the bare skin of his chest, right above his heart, and she felt his heartbeat.
She wanted to be closer to him, for them to fuse into one. She shifted toward him, heat pooling low in her belly as she felt the hard contours of his body.
An electric current shot through her, making her dizzy. This was dangerous. Everything within her felt unstable.
She pulled back, moving her hands from his shoulders down to his waist, trying to extricate herself from him, despite how much her body protested. She moved back until they were no longer touching and she could look up to see his face.
He opened his eyes, looking at her, his hand moving onto the curve of her neck. His gaze shifted down to her mouth, his lips parting.
“Lavinia,” he whispered.
The way he said her name was new, unlike anything she’d heard before, from him, or anyone else. It was almost like an oath or a prayer—something haunted or holy.
Her eyelids fluttered as a shiver ran down her spine, and she involuntarily arched toward him.
“Lavinia,” he whispered again, his voice lower, deeper, thesound barely there, but she heard it as he drew closer. His breath was warm against her open mouth.
Then, his lips brushed against hers as if by accident—but she wished it wasn’t an accident, and it was too much.
It was all too much. She pulled back.
“I have to go,” she said, voice breaking.
Chapter 22
When Theo’s alarm sounded at six in the morning, he felt horrible. There was nothing he could do to convince himself to get out of bed. Instead, he called in sick, and promptly went back to sleep.
His phone rang a few hours later, but he didn’t pick up, too tired to do anything. He eventually got up around noon, grabbing his phone. As he scrolled through his notifications, he saw it was Lavinia who had called a few hours earlier.
“Hello?” he said, voice groggy.
“Theo, hi! Did you just wake up?” she asked. His chest hurt and, horribly, tears filled his eyes at the sound of her voice, making his vision blur. “You took a day off? It’s good you did; you should rest. I called a few hours ago to check in, but you were sleeping, I guess. Anyway. How are you? I was thinking of popping by after my internship and before class. I can pick up food if you want! What do you feel like having?”
He wiped his eyes, focusing his gaze on the ceiling. “I’m not up for company,” he managed to say. “Just going to sleep.”
“Oh.” Her voice dimmed. “Okay. Well, I have to study,anyway,” she said, trying to sound unbothered, but he could tell that she was hurt. “I have a big midterm coming up in a few days that I’m probably going to fail.”
Theo loved listening to Lavinia chatter on, and today was no different, except today, he was in agony. He couldn’t find his voice to respond. Lavinia grew quiet on the line.
“Right.” She paused. “Rest up,” she said. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay,” he said, voice a whisper. “Bye.”
