“I’m distracted,” she countered, her teeth scraped across her bottom lip.
“By what?”
She hesitated. “You.”
His eyes slid back to her. “You shouldn’t be.”
“Why not?”
“’Cause I ain’t a good distraction.”
“That’s not what my body thinks.”
Zaire’s eyes traced her face…slow and deliberate, like he was trying to commit every detail to memory before he said something he couldn’t take back.
Meadow swallowed, her chest rising a little faster. “What?” She hated the way his eyes burned her skin.
Zaire’s tongue dragged across his bottom lip. He tucked it between his teeth like he was steadying himself. “I wanna kiss you.”
Just like that. No hesitation…no apology…just truth.
Meadow’s breath shook. “Why?”
Zaire let out a low exhale. He looked away for half a second, then back at her with a heat that slid down her spine and settled between her thighs. “Those lips…Meadow, you too fuckin’ fine to not wanna kiss.”
Her heart punched hard.
He wasn’t done.
“I been trying to chill,” he admitted more so to himself than her. “Tried to keep my distance. You got a whole life out here…Mama to take care of…real shit on your plate. And I don’t want you thinkin’ I came in your space tryna play.”
“You’re not playing,” she said, fast. It almost came out desperately.
His eyes softened in a way she’d never seen before, like she’d just handed him something fragile and he didn’t know how to hold it yet.
“Nah.” He shook his head, the sun hitting across the waves in his glossy black hair. “I’m not.”
He leaned forward enough for her to feel him. Heat rolled off him, heavy and intoxicating. “You don’t know what you do to me,” his voice was low enough to feel like a swift gust of wind. “I get around you and my whole chest feel stupid. I ain’t felt like this since…hell, I can’t even remember.”
Meadow’s thighs pressed together and her appetite left. “Zaire…”
He closed his eyes briefly, like hearing his name in her voice damn near broke him.
“You so fine,” he whispered, again. “But it ain’t just that. It’s…you.”
Her brows kissed her fuzzy edges. “Me?”
He nodded, licking his lips again. “You got this way of talkin’ to me… lookin at me…checkin’ me when you need to. Ain’t nobody ever treat me like that, Ain’t nobody make me feel…” he trailed off.
“Feel what?” she asked, leaning in without realizing.
“Seen.” One simple word felt like a four page love letter.
Meadow’s heart dropped and rose at the same time.
He wasn’t trying to charm her. He wasn’t showing off, either. Zaire was just being his honest self.
She could tell, because her heart told her so. Being around him felt like a fairytale she never knew the name of. One she had never conjured up to tell Magnolia. One that made her stupid head dream.
