I let out a short laugh.“I don’t care what you like.”
Reece’s smirk doesn’t fade.If anything, it grows deeper—the kind that shows he’s enjoying this way too much.
“Sure,” he says.“Just didn’t know you were into guys who button their collars to the top and call their parents sir and ma’am.”
“That says more about you than him,” I snap, heat flaring fast.“And for the record, I’m not into anyone.”
The lie tastes thin the moment it leaves my mouth.
“That right?”Reece says, smirk firmly in place.
I shift in my seat, my spine stiffening.My mouth goes dry, my tongue feels heavy, and every instinct urges me to create distance between us.
“You can go back to pretending I don’t exist now,” I say, aiming for dismissive, but it comes off more defensive.
“I never pretended that,” he murmurs.
The quiet presses in around us, and every sound suddenly feels too loud.There’s the scraping of a chair leg somewhere behind us.Someone coughing.None of it breaks the tension wrapped tightly around my ribs.
He’s too close.
The subtle shift of his body.His knee angles in.His presence dominates my surroundings, making my skin more sensitive, with every nerve ending fired up and screaming.
Then he leans in closer.
My breath catches.
His voice dips again, the kind that should come with a warning label.“You know you shake when I get near?”
I go still, heart slamming hard enough it feels violent.I try to breathe, but my chest locks up, lungs refusing to cooperate.Heat floods low in my body, my pussy clenching like it’s got a mind of its own.
He watches me.Devours me.
His eyes darken, hungry in a way that makes my skin prickle.
I force my chin up.
“I do not.”
“Yes you do,” he says quietly.“Your fingers tremble.”
I look down unintentionally and curse myself when I see it.My hand isn’t steady.
“Your breath hitches, too,” he continues, eyes flicking to my chest, tracking every shallow inhale.“You freeze.”
My pulse thunders in my ears.
“Then you run.”
Those three words linger between us, heavy and way too fucking accurate.
I swallow hard, because I hate that he sees me this clearly.
My hands tighten into fists as I force myself to sit back into the chair, creating space between us.My body protests as the distance grows, even though my head knows I need it.
“I only run because you piss me off,” I bite out.“And I hate it.”
The silence that comes after is harsh.
