“Fine,” he admitted without backing off. “I am. I should’ve won. Not him.”
“Why do you want to win so badly?”
His gaze turned stormy. “You know why.”
Oh, yeah. Ilikedthis side of him. I liked him feisty and jealous and willing to act wild with me.
“I don’t,” I lied.
Matteo’s smirk was a cutting crescent moon. He didn’t tear his intense gaze off mine. “You broke into my room, overslept inmybed, and now you have the audacity to play dumb?”
A shiver shimmied up my spine. This was new—and fuck, it washot.I’d underestimated Matteo. I knew there was a different side to him when we first met, but I didn’t expect this.
“You gonna let me get away with it?” I asked in a husky voice.
Matteo stared at me for a long moment, during which my heart raced a mile a minute. I was convinced he heard it thudding against my ribs.
“No, I don’t think I should,” he said quietly.
I assumed the sudden softness of his tone indicated he was backing off—but the next second, Matteo snatched my wrists and pinned me to the bed.
My dragon soul roared to life. Heat burned in my whole body, from the ends of my hair down to the tips of my toes.
Yes,yes.This was so right.
Matteo’s grip was firm but gentle. He knew I could’ve thrown him off in a second, but I sure as hell didn’t want to. His face hovered above mine.
“I’m cashing in that explanation you owe me. Don’t think I forgot,” he said.
I let out a breathy laugh. “You’ve got me pinned to the bed andthat’swhat you want? I can’t believe you’re still thinking about that.”
“Eagles don’t forget.”
“I thought that was elephants.”
Matteo scoffed and rocked his hips so he tipped forward. His lips were so close, I could touch them if I leaned up just a little...
“Cough it up, Thystle,” he ordered. “You’ve spent the entirety of the Games so far avoiding most of the contestants, yet you were the one who invited them all. There’s a reason. Tell me why.”
Crap.
One way to kill the mood was to confess my embarrassing reasoning for summoning a hoard of contestants. But if I had to tell anybody, I didn’t mind telling Matteo. Out of everyone I knew, I trusted him the most with this delicate confession.
“You have to promise not to make fun of me,” I said.
“When have I ever?” he asked seriously.
“You might now. It’s that stupid.”
“Try me.”
Something about Matteo’s weight straddling my waist comforted me. He was like a living weighted blanket.
“Do you know the band TalonStorm?” I asked.
Matteo froze. It looked like he stopped breathing. For a second, I grew excited, thinking he might be a fellow super fan, but my hopes were dashed when he tilted his head back and forth in a so-so gesture.
“I’ve heard of them before,” he said slowly.
