“I’m told my mouth is pretty good, too. Maybe it’s that?”
He pursed his lips, unamused.
“Oh, I know. It’s because I sometimes let you boss me around in bed.”
“You know that’s not it, either,” he said, the intensity in his voice off the charts.
I tapped my chin. “Hmm. I wonder if it has anything to do with what my cousin told me a while ago?”
Sawyer’s eyes widened. “What did Ozzie tell you?”
I rubbed the back of my head, considering my words.
“Hendrix? What did Ozzie tell you?”
I kissed him and touched my forehead to his, whispering, “That you’ve been in love with me since high school.”
He pulled away, dumping me off his lap onto my side of the bed. His breathing sped up. “Why would he say that to you?”
“Because I was an idiot not to see it, and he thought I should know.”
Sawyer opened his mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. “Wait,” he said, drawing farther away. “Is this why you asked me to make love to you last night?”
“I mean, yes, but… why are you acting like I’m a plague monkey all of a sudden?”
His chest rose sharply, uncertainty coloring his eyes. Awesome. I’d panicked one of the greatest stoics of our time.Way to go, Hen.
“Sawyer?” I asked, trying not to smile. “Why are you so afraid?”
He didn’t answer at first, and then his words tumbled out all at once. “Because if I’m reading this wrong, I’m going to need to flee the fucking country.”
I bit the inside of my lip, my heart soaring. “How are you reading it?” I asked, barely keeping my tone even.
His eyes skittered away from mine, as if that could somehow mask his feelings.Too late, my friend. I see it, and I can’t—won’t—unsee it.
“Look at me, Sawyer,” I demanded.
His jaw trembled as he darted a glance in my direction. I let him see my full grin, then softly repeated my question. “How are you reading this situation?”
“Like you might be open to returning my feelings,” he finally whispered, looking like he might vomit.
I lifted a shoulder. “Then I’d say you’ve got a pretty good handle on things.”
Terror filled his eyes as I wondered how something so monumental could slip so easily from my tongue.
Oh, this is gonna be fun.
CHAPTER 20
sawyer
Hendrix closed the distance I’d opened between the two of us. Smiling, he hiked a leg over my lap, straddling me.
“Did you hear me?” he asked. “I already loved you as a friend, and now I’m falling for you. I’m going to need you to add words here.”
Before I had a chance to patch together a response, he kissed me. I pulled away again, pure reflex. “Don’t kiss me if you don’t mean it, Hendrix. My heart can’t take it if you’re fucking with me.”
His smile softened. “I would never do that to you.”
