Page 82 of Heartless Stepbrother
It’s torture.
I stared at the words, mortified.
Riley’s lips brushed the edge of my ear, not quite a touch, but so close my whole body reacted anyway.
“You can do better than that,” he whispered.
My breath hitched. “What else am I supposed to say?”
“Whatever else you’re thinking.”
My pulse skittered. “Riley…”
“Say it.”
I forced my shaking fingers to keep typing.
And complicated.
I hesitated.
Riley waited, silent, watching me, closely, intensely.
And I don’t know what to do about it.
I hit send before he could stop me.
The message whooshed out.
Riley’s exhale was soft.
He didn’t move his hand.
“That attempt was pathetic,” he murmured.
My phone buzzed immediately.
Sienna:GIRL.GIRL.GIRL.
Chiara:WHAT DOES “TORTURE” MEAN???? WHY ARE YOU BEING VAGUE. I WANT DETAILS.
I tried to pull the phone closer to me. Riley didn’t let me.
His voice slid into the quiet between us. “Hand it over.”
I clutched the phone. “No. Riley—“
He didn’t snatch it. He didn’t force me.
He just looked at me.
Really looked.
And the pressure of that gaze alone unraveled every scrap of resistance I had.
My fingers loosened.
He took the phone from my hands with slow, deliberate confidence, like I had always meant to give it to him.
