Page 74 of Don't Date Your Nemesis

“I wonder why,” I mumbled.

He grinned, poking my side. “Focus, Sharma.”

Finally, I was floating on my back again, his hand barely touching me now, just his fingertips under my spine.

I swallowed hard, staring at the ceiling. “I think I hated you because you made me feel invisible.”

He went still. “What?”

“Kiara was your focus, and Ethan was your best-friend. And I was just... the annoying cousin visiting. I never felt like I belonged in your group.”

He didn’t reply at first.

“You were never invisible to me,” he whispered.

I turned in the water, finding my footing and facing him. We were close, so close that his breath brushed against my cheek. Water dripped from his hair, down his face, and caught in his eyelashes.

“Really?”

“You were terrifying. You saw right through me, even as a kid,” he said. “You saw me loving someone I couldn’t have. You saw my insecurities, my fears, and I hated that someone could see me that clearly.”

“And now?” I whispered.

“Now…” He stepped closer as the water rippled around us. “I think maybe being seen isn’t so bad.”

We stood in the shallow end, faces inches apart, water dripping between us. I could smell chlorine mixed with his cologne. His pupils dilated and his breathing changed.

“Liam…”

“Yeah?”

My heart was pounding. Not from fear of the water, but… him.

“I don’t think I hate you anymore.”

“Yeah?” His hand came up, cupping my face, thumb brushing water from my cheek. “I don’t think I hate you either.”

The space between us felt charged, like the air before a lightning strike.

His eyes dropped to my mouth and stayed there.

I leaned forward, and that was enough for him to close the distance.

The kiss was slow and soft. Nothing like the desperate, hungry kisses we had shared before. This was different. Like he was teaching me, memorizing the shape of my mouth and tasting chlorine on my lips.

His other hand found my waist, pulling me closer. Our bodies pressed together, wet skin against wet skin. His chiseled chest solid against mine, his heart beating as fast as my own.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, fingers threading through his damp hair, and kissed him deeper.

He groaned, low and rough, and backed me against the pool wall. The tile was cool against my shoulders as his hands slid down my sides, gripping my hips, and I gasped into his mouth.

“Deepika,” he breathed against my lips.

“Yeah?”

“We should stop.”

“Probably.”