Silence.
Then Skip gets out of bed.
Then he leaves.
And something inside me splinters.
I fight the sting in my eyes and fumble around for my shoes. Maybe if I leave fast enough…
There’s shouting in the hall.
“Brother, what are you…?”
“Don’t you fucking dare...dammit, Skip, STOP!”
A thud. A grunt.
And then Skip storms back in, shuts the door, climbs onto the bed, and yanks me back into his arms like he’s trying to fuse us together.
“What just happened?” I whisper.
“Just helped an old friend with his face,” he says darkly.
“Skip, did you punch Mike again? You can’t keep hitting him.”
Suddenly I’m on my back, Skip braced over me, big and warm and furious in the dark.
“Listen to me,” he growls. “No one…and I meanno one…talks down to you. No one scares you. No one touches you wrong. No one gets to fuckinghurtyou.”
His breath brushes my cheek.
“You think I’m into you because you’re ‘cute’? Baby…” His voice drops, low and rough. “That’s the part that kills me.”
My heart stutters.
“I’m obsessed with you,” he says, every word carved from truth I’m not sure I believe. “You. Not your condition. Not the fainting.You.I tried fighting it. Didn’t last long. Didn’t stand a fucking chance.”
He lowers himself until his weight settles warm and comforting over my body, grounding me instead of suffocating me.
“You think ‘cute’ means I don’t want you?” he murmurs, lips brushing my neck. “Eli… ‘cute’ is what ruins me. ‘Pretty’ is what makes me lose my mind.”
My breath trembles out.
“I’ve had sexy,” he says. “Plenty of it. Beautiful, bold, wild…I’ve had all of that, and none of it ever stuck.”
His fingers slide into my hair, gentle, reverent.
“Butyou? The soft smile, the shy eyes, the way you melt when I fucking look at you? Baby, that’s the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.”
He presses a slow kiss to my throat.
“When I call you cute, I’m not putting you below anyone.” His voice vibrates against my skin. “I’m telling you the truth: you undo me. You make me want things I haveneverwanted. Things I don’t say to anyone.”
My chest aches.
“I’ve never wanted tokeepsomeone before,” he whispers. “But I look at you, and all I want to do is claim you. I want the whole damn world to know you’re mine…and I’m yours.”
He pulls back just enough to look me in the eyes. It’s dark…but I can still see the intensity of his gaze.
