Page 162 of Till The Sun Dies (Checkmate 2)

“Yes, she’s here. She’s everywhere I am; her presence, her scent, her silly games and stupid riddles, because I think maybe she has a magnet in her heart, too. Maybe she likes me, too.”

“Maybe she does.” Worrying the crystal around her throat, I’m tempted to lean in and make it better. She’s scared. She’s as fucking terrified as I am, but things are changing. We’re so close, I can taste it. “Umm… You know that thing we did last night? The favor I asked you?”

“I got to kiss a pretty girl… As if I’d forget.”

Her cheeks flame red. Dropping her face forward, she cuts me out and allows her hair to cover her face. “Would you do it again?” Her voice quivers. “Would you be willing to kiss a friend again? Everyone is here having fun, so maybe we could…”

“A friend?”Don’t let it hurt you. You’re so fucking close. Push on.“No.” Her head snaps back painfully fast. “I can’t kiss you as a friend, Laine. I can’t do that again.”

“You won’t kiss me?” What was a trembling hand a moment ago now turns to full on shaking. “You don’t want to kiss me?”

I slide a hand around her neck and lean in closer, because the tears welling in her eyes hurt me. “Did you know there are approximately seven-point-seven billion people on this planet?” She leans back and watches me with watery eyes. “And of all those people, statistics say we’ll only meet 0.000001 percent of them in our lifetime.”

She watches me closely and waits for the hammer to drop. “That’s so few…”

“And yet, here we are.” Squeezing her hand, I take a step back, then another, then a third and drag her toward the dancefloor. She comes – shyly – so fucking uncertain her eyes almost spill over, but she comes. She trusts me. Her dress floats around her legs and her heels bring her up until I simply have to lean forward and take what’s mine.

Soon. So fucking soon.

Pulling her arms up, I force them around the back of my neck until her fingertips slide through my short hair and her chest presses against mine. “Seven-point-sevenbillion, Laine, but here we are in the same bar, same beachside town neither of us live in, on the same night, and we’re both pretending to be cool about something we’re not actually cool about.”

“Not cool with…” She swallows. “What do you mean?”

I lick my lips, a test, because I’m still fucking terrified. “The odds of us being in the same place at the same time are so miniscule, it must mean something, right? Why did the universe put us here when you could be with any one of seven-point-seven billion?”

“Well… Halve that, and round it up to four billion, because I’m not into chicks.”

I narrow my eyes.

“Because I asked you to come?”

Chuckling, I slide my hand over her ribs. “Try again.”

“Because I want to kiss you, too, but as more than a friend.”

There she is.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you,” I murmur huskily. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long, long time. You’ve been my every fantasy for longer than is appropriate, but I couldn’t turn it off. I couldn’t stop it no matter how much I tried.”

She steps closer. “Why did you try?”

My hand slides over the small of her back. I can’t stop it now. I can’t slow this train.

“Temporary insanity, maybe? I didn’t know if you wanted me, too? I was scared you’d laugh at me?” I shrug. “All of the above. I was terrified of breaking what we had, so I didn’t make a move. But now I know the statistics, I know how hard the universe worked to put us here.”

“Ang…” her voice cracks.

“I won’t force you, Laine. I won’t manipulate a damn thing from you.” Bravely, I drop a kiss on her jaw and smile when she tremors in my arms. “I’m Ang. I’m safe, and I’llalwaysbe here for you. I want to kiss you again, but I want it to be because you want to kiss me, too, and not because you want to wash away someone else’s memory.” With both hands, I frame her face. “If we do it again, I want it to be more, because I’ve been in love with you for way too fucking long.”

We sway off beat to whatever is playing through the speakers, but she holds my arms, and I hold her face. Her eyes swim, but she licks her lips in anticipation.

“I’m so exhausted,” I admit. “I’m tired of pretending like you’re not everything I’ve ever wanted. You’re all of my dreams rolled up into one beautiful package, and I’ve been playing the friend role for too long.”

“Kiss me,” she blurts out. Her face drains white, but she doesn’t run. “Kiss me, because I’m a woman and you’re a man. Kiss me because I’ve been dropping hints for too long; because we’re in the same room at the same time, and finally, we see each other.”

“Yeah.” Smiling, I lean in closer and pull her up to meet me halfway. “I’ll kiss you because I love you. I’ll kiss you because I’m a man in love with a woman, and finally, it’s my turn.”

Our lips touch, similar to last night, but more potent. It’s slow, but in my head, it feels like I’m running a marathon. My heart feels like a hummingbird’s wings as her tongue darts out and slides over my bottom lip. Releasing her face, I circle her hips and pull her in until she can feel my solid dick between us. I can’t stop now, and I won’t lie to her, so I let her feel it all, swallowing her sigh when her arms circle my neck, and groaning when her fiery core straddles my thigh.

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