Page 165 of Bend

“No, shut up. I can open a fucking door.”

“You sure about that?”

She glares at me while feeling around behind her again. “Wolfe.”

I grin and reach around her, my chest brushing hers as I find the handle.

“There.”

“Wow. So heroic.”

“Oh, I know.”

The door finally swings open and Echo takes one step backward, pulling me with her by the front of my shirt.

I almost trip over the threshold.

She starts laughing again.

“Oh my God.”

“Don’t.”

“You nearly ate shit.”

“I was distracted.”

“By the highly technical process of walking?”

“By you.”

That shuts her up for about half a second.

Long enough for me to close the door behind us and look at her properly.

Her smile is still there, but now it’s slightly smaller, warmer.

I move closer and hook my hands around her waist.

“That better?”

She tilts her face up toward mine. “Marginally.”

“Good.”

I kiss her again, slower this time, and the laughter fades naturally as her arms wind around my neck and the whole mood changes.

Not rushed or clumsy anymore.

Just her mouth on mine, my hands steady at her waist, the room quiet around us while everything else falls away.

Her hands slide higher, one curling around the back of my neck while mine settles more firmly at her waist. I kiss along her jaw, then back to her mouth when she turns toward me again, and somewhere between one kiss and the next we start moving toward the bed without either of us really deciding to.

The backs of her knees hit the mattress first.

She lets out a quiet laugh against my mouth as she drops onto the edge, catching the front of my shirt and pulling me down with her. I brace a hand beside her hip, still kissing her as she shifts farther back across the bed and I follow.

Her breathing catches when I settle over her.