Page 66 of Rush

“I see the way you look at me, Brody.” My voice drips with quiet seduction.

His jaw clenches, like he’s struggling to hold himself back.

“I don’t want you just for your body,” he says, voice strained.

“Oh.” The disappointment hits me hard,he doesn’t want me.

Fuck maybe I read this all wrong, maybe this was just all in my head. This was a mistake—I need to get out of here.

Now.

Broderick must realize it because before I can bolt out of there, he reaches for my wrist. “Not like that El.” He exhales hard. “You’re fucking gorgeous, this…it’s just unexpected and I don’t want to take advantage of you after everything withhim.”

The words hit me harder than I expect, something tender and aching behind them—and for a second, I falter.

Only for a second, because I can’t deny the way my body screams for his stolen touches every moment we’re around each other.

How my body reacts to his very presence.

How, no matter where I am in a room, his eyes always seem to find me.

I straighten my shoulders. It’s now or never.

“It would be me taking advantage ofyou, I’m not interested in sleeping around, but I do have desires,” I sigh. “Will you have me, like this?”

I stare up at him, silently pleading for him to say yes. To finally make good on all these months of tension and ache.

To finally give in.

The silence between us stretches, thick and charged, neither of us moving, like one wrong step could send the whole thing crashing down.

His eyes burn into mine, as he wrestles with the war in his mind.

Finally, he speaks, voice low and rough, barely above a growl.

“Elena…If I say yes…I’m all in.”

I nod, holding his gaze, even as my breath trembles.

“Good.”

He swears under his breath, letting go of my wrist to run a hand through his hair, pacing away. When he turns back to me, his jaw is tight.

I watch, waiting for him to say something. His expression goes from lust to concern back to lust again. I notice the beads of sweat sliding down his chest. The way the waistband of his sweatpants dips a little lower when he wipes his face.

For a moment, time stretches thin between us. I hold his gaze, willing him to surrender, to take the leap with me.

“So…what exactly does thisarrangementinvolve?”

Relief floods through me. It’s not a yes, not yet—but it’s not a no either.

“Sex,” I say flatly.

He rolls his eyes, the corner of his mouth twitching like he’s trying not to smile.

“And maybe some rules,” I add. “I don’t want us to hurt each other. I care about you, Broderick. I’m trusting you with this.”

“Okay, rules,” he echoes, tilting his head, clearly amused. “Like what?”