And a fierce, possessive pride filled me.
She slowly blinked her eyes open, and with a breathy whisper said, “Wow.”
“It’s just you and me here,” I said. “I’m not going to laugh or think anything silly. Your exes have all been douchebags. I’m not. I’m here foryou, Ava. Pick one thing you want, literally anything on that list, and we can do it right now. Or we can put on a movie and snuggle for a while so you get used to me holding you and touching you.”
“Shouldn’t this feel weird?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Why should it?”
She stared at me like I was an enigma. “Because you’re you. You’re Drew’s best friend, and you’ve been in my life for literally as long as I can remember. Aren’t I supposed to look at you like a brother or something?”
“Is that how you want to look at me?” I asked, my stomach knotting at the thought of her stopping this when it was just getting started. I was already desperate to kiss her again.
“No,” she admitted, and the tension I didn’t even realize I was carrying in my shoulders loosened.
“And even if I wanted to, I couldn’t after that kiss,” she continued.
I couldn’t help the grin. “That good, huh?”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, you know you’re a good kisser. I’m not going to stroke your ego.”
“I can think of something else you could stroke if you want to check something off your list.”
She gently swatted my chest, but she also nibbled her lip like she was considering it. Fuck, those lips. Now I couldn’t stop picturing my cock sliding between her plush pink lips.
“I’ve got an idea,” I said.
I grabbed the notebook out of her hand, ripped the list from the notebook, and then grabbed the scissors on her desk and started cutting each line into thin strips, making sure one item from her list was on each strip. I folded them and dumped out her pen jar and tossed them in there. Then I put my hand over the top and shook it around a little before holding it out to her.
“Pick one.”
She grabbed a slip of paper and opened it.
ELEVEN
The slip of paper felt heavier than it should have when I unfolded it.
Play sexy truth or dare.
My stomach flipped.
Of all the things on that list, I got lucky. It wasn’t the most salacious thing I’d put, and maybe this would be a good way to break the ice. I was less nervous after that toe-curling kiss, but there was still the hint of nerves that flitted in my belly. There really was no going back after tonight.
I looked up at Liam, half expecting him to look smug or still be grinning about my obvious nerves. Instead, he was watching me carefully, like he was waiting to see howIfelt about it before reacting at all.
“Well,” he said lightly. “Which one is it?”
My fingers tightened around the paper before I handed it over to him.
His eyes lit up. “This is definitely one of the tamer options you could’ve pulled.”
“Agreed.”
His gaze narrowed, hyperfixated on my face. “If this is too much to begin with, I wasn’t kidding. We can just watch a movie or something, snuggle a little. I’ll let you touch me however you want if you’re not ready for me to touch you.”
“That’s not the problem.”
“Then what is?”
