He moved his arm from my waist to rest on the bags beside us, like he was making space, but the heat of his skin lingered, tracing a line down my spine.
The coach’s voice kept going, something about something I couldn’t understand or catch. My heartbeat was loud. His breathing was louder.
I needed a distraction. Something. Anything.
So, I reached into my bag, fingers brushing through notebooks until they found my Kindle. My safety net.
I pulled it out and hit the power button like it was going to save me from spontaneous combustion. The screen lit up, and I scrolled to the last page I’d been reading. My hands were trembling so badly that I almost dropped it.
I tucked my legs in tighter, pretending to focus on the words. The problem was that I hadn’t processed a single sentence. The text swam in front of my eyes while the world shrank to the quiet space between us.
Every bump of the bus made my shoulder brush his chest. Every inhale felt too loud.
So I kept reading.
Or pretending to.
—
Joshua
Her Kindle light glowed against the dull grey of the bus interior, the small screen bouncing slightly with every bump in the road.
I told myself I didn’t care. That she could read, nap, or count the ceiling panels for all I cared.
Except… she was still sitting on my lap.
Still pressed against me. And that damn thing was right in front of my face. My eyes flicked down. Just a glance.
Just a glance.
Big mistake.
The words that greeted me—moan, thrust, tongue, heat—made my brain short-circuit so fast I forgot how to breathe.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Out of all the books in the world, the quiet, shy, barely-talks-to-anyone Aurora Campbell was readingthat. Onmylap. While I was trying not to think about her.
She shifted slightly, adjusting her Kindle higher, completely unaware of the war she just started in my head. The movement made her hips press down just enough that I felt every last inch of her weight.
My jaw tightened. My hand, resting casually on the bags, curled into a fist.
She had no idea.
No. Fucking. Idea.
I dragged my gaze away from the screen, staring out the window, trying to count the trees flying by. It didn’t help. The words I saw burned into my skull like a curse.
I was supposed to be the composed one. The calm captain.
But right now?
Right fucking now?
My heart was beating like I’d just run ten laps.
She turned another page.
