"I won't touch you," I said quietly, locking eyes with her. "Not even if you let me."
She took a step back. A single step, as if she needed to put more distance between us.
Her lips parted like she might speak, but nothing came.
I saw it. She was reliving the memory of letting me do it.
My dick started to throb thinking about her thinking about it. My eyes stayed on her hardening nipples.I could have eased my pain if I looked away. I shifted my body, but my eyes stayed put. I was a glutton for punishment.
She narrowed her eyes.
I gave her a slow smirk. "Unless breathing too close counts." I eased the tension.
She rolled her eyes, but there was no venom behind it.
Then, to my surprise, she made her way back to the bed, her steps slow and deliberate, like she was giving herself time to think her decision through.
She clicked the bedside lamp off before she pulled back the blanket and slid in next to me. Her entire body was stiff at first, facing me. I shifted just enough to close the space between us. Not touching her. But close enough that we were sharing breath. Close enough to feel the heat of her body bleed into mine.
She stayed still for a while.
Just stared at me in the dark.
Long enough to make my heart kick up.
Long enough to make me wonder if she'd lean in and put us both out of our misery.
But she didn't.
She exhaled and closed her eyes.
Still facing me.
Chapter Twenty — Vinny
Two weeks in a cramped cabin were teaching me to be patient. My side still burned like a bitch when I moved too fast, but the bleeding had stopped, and the fever had broken. Small victories.
Jamie haunted the space like a ghost who'd decided to stay. She wore my shirts like they were hers. She cooked barefoot and had the ability to make me forget that we were both fugitives with targets on our backs.
God, I wanted her. The way a drowning man wants air. She was under my skin. And I believed she wanted me too.
The silence between us had changed. It wasn't cold anymore. It pulsed with all the shit we weren't saying.
She slept next to me in bed, close enough for me to feel her warmth but not touching me. I caught her watching me sometimes. Not like before. Differently.
Some nights, I'd wake up thinking it was Sophia beside me. My heart would trip, because in my mind I'd automatically wonder where Jamie was. And that scared me. Was I replacing Sophia with her?
Tonight, the cabin was quiet. She was sitting at the kitchen table. Her eyes flicked toward me when I limped her way.
I dropped into the chair across from her, the wood groaning under my weight. "We can't stay here forever."
She took a slow sip, the glass clinking softly when she set it down. "You got a plan that doesn't end with us in a ditch?"
"Yeah." I dragged a hand over my jaw. "I call Bael."
Her expression didn't change, but her fingers stilled on the glass. "You think he had anything to do with it? His mother is the one that shot you."
"I don't know." Truth was, I didn't trust anyone fully anymore outside of us. Not even him. But Bael was the closest thing to family I had left. "But if he crossed me, I'd rather know now."
