I raise a brow, “Then who’ll save you from falling overboard next time?”
“I’ll take it like a champ and survive like you did.”
No.
My mood falls a bit too quickly.
You’d die.
I brush by him to head back to my room without another word, but he grabs my arm to stop me, “Are you upset that I pushed the kid onto you?”
I can’t say I understand how he reached that conclusion.
“I’m the only one who seems to have the time,” I answer honestly.
“You pushed yourself too hard in the ring. I only kept you off missions so you could recover properly.”
I know that.
“I didn’t mean to make you a babysitter—”
“It’s fine, Reuben.” Watching him try to figure me out brings a smile to my lips. I wonder if that makes me a bad person.
I can see on his face he’s inwardly searching for any of the other reasons why I might be running from him but before he can make another incorrect guess, my eyes are drawn to the familiar decoration in his hair.
I blink, “You wore it.” The black ribbon I picked out is tied messily in his hair, but still it makes him look… softer. Less likely to go on a rampage and slice open the throats of six men with a grin.
Reuben’s head tilts. It’s as though I can see the night sky in his eyes, when the sun is still out; his amusement twinkling like stars. “Of course I wore it. Though I do have questions about your choices.”
“What? Why?” I frown.
“Well, firstly, there’s no way Lucia helped you pick this out for me.”
No, because I picked it out myself.
My frown turns into a scowl, “So what? What’s wrong with it?”
Reuben grins at me, obviously enjoying my reaction.
“If you don’t like it, give it back,” I reach for it with a scathing glare, but I’m not prepared when Reuben grabs me by my wrist and pulls me into him. I’m unbalanced, so I stagger right into his space until our chests touch, and there’s a sudden static between us. My pulse is suddenly rampant beneath my skin, and his hand on my wrist feels like a strange fever.
“Nofuckingway,estrellito.” His voice in my ear is slow and carnal. I can hear the wildness in it. The smirk. The promise.
It’s deadly.
It sends a shiver of need throughout my body that spreads like a wildfire, and I have to put my palm over his face to turn it away because fuckingfuck—
Has he always been like this?
Touchy and in my space?
I’m going through my memories rapidly.
Yes. Yes, I think he has.
So he’s not even doing it on purpose to fuck with me.
“Crazy bastard.”
