“You started it!”
“I warned you. Repeatedly.”
I laugh helplessly while he carries me toward the sectional. “You’re ridiculous!”
“And you’re in trouble.”
“Oh my God.”
He lays me on the sectional, then straddles me. His fingers find my sides, and he starts tickling me.
“DALTYN!”
“Should’ve listened.”
I twist and laugh breathlessly while trying to shove his hands away.“It hurts to laugh!”
“Yet you’re laughing harder.”
“You’re evil!”
He grins. Actually grins.
The sight wrecks me.
And then suddenly, our eyes lock and hold.
The laughter fades as realization dawns on us.
He has my wrists pinned in one hand, his other near my side.
His breathing slows.
Mine does too.
And all at once, the air changes.
The room is quiet except for our ragged breaths.
The large room suddenly feels smaller. Warmer.
Daltyn’s eyes flick toward my mouth.
My pulse stumbles hard. My lips part slightly.
The playful energy melts into something else entirely. Something heavier. Dangerous.
His thumb brushes absentmindedly across the inside of my wrist. And the soft touch nearly destroys me.
“Pey,” he says quietly.
The way he says it? It’s like it means something. Like I mean something.
I stop breathing.
My tongue darts out, licking my dry lips.
And suddenly, I really want him to kiss me.
