Both of us panting and sweating?
Being so close that we’re touching each other?
This is what I wanted and yet there’s nothing but frustration in my heart. “I’m trying to remember everything you told me about where to step, how to judge where my attacker’s gravity is, how to angle my body—it’s too much!”
“Then stop thinking,” Falco snaps back. “Act.”
“I can’t!”
“Yes, you can!” Falco’s voice suddenly rises. “Aerin, the people who come at you like this aren’t going to give you time to think. They’re not going to care that you muddle up your left and your right. They’re going to want to hurt you so you need to stop getting stuck in a plan and act!”
“Falco, I can’t!”
He lunges at me suddenly and his fist collides with my shoulder, harder than before.
“Stop!” Another lunge. This time his foot collides with the back of my knee. I stumble, barely able to keep my balance, then his fist flies at my face and catches on my chin. “Falco, I?—”
“Yes you can!”
“No, I can’t!” Another light punch hits my ribs, another catches the back of my arm, and a third hits my back as he darts around me. Frustration swells in my chest and heat prickles in the back of my mind while a wave of hopelessness crashes over me. “I’m not capable.”
“You are, Aerin. You are capable.” He’s back in front of me. This time he swings his fist hard and fast at my face.
Something finally clicks.
I quickly step to the side and raise my arms so his forearm collides with mine, preventing the punch from hitting my face, then I throw my other fist at him as hard as I can.
My knuckles crash into his jaw full force. While it’s not enough to cause harm, Falco’s head does snap back.
We both freeze.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” Rushing forward, I clutch at his face with both my hands. “I didn’t mean to punch you! Are you okay?”
As Falco’s head lifts in my hands, my heart skips a beat to see him laughing. An honest smile stretches across his handsome face, and a deep, warm chuckle rattles out of his chest. “I knew you could do it.”
Only then do I realize that I blocked his punch and retaliated just like he’s been teaching me to do these past hours.
“Oh my god! I did it! I actually did it! Ha! I did it!” Excitement is like a drug. It rushes through me from head to toe, makes me bounce up and down, and my grin stretches from ear to ear.
And then I’m kissing him.
It’s sudden and unexpected, but as the sheer exhilaration of success rushes through me, it’s the only thing I want to do.
His face is cradled in my hands, his body a searing heat against me, and his mouth pressing firmly against my own.
Everything stops. Time. My racing heart. My rampant thoughts.
Everything.
It’s a kiss that lasts forever. Yet in reality it’s only half a second because Falco immediately grips my shoulders and pushes me away to arm’s length.
“Aerin.” His voice is low and flat, his eyes narrow. “Don’t.”
“What? But I—” Confusion surges through me and my stomach tightens so suddenly that it’s painful. “But I thought…?” Is he not interested? He’s risked his life for me, spent more time with me than anyone else in my entire life. Surely he cares about me? Hefingeredme in the shower, there’s no way I’m on the wrong track here.
Am I?
“No.”
