Page 45 of All for Love

MERCEDES

Kody’s hand had to hurt. He wasn’t letting on, but as I handed him the frozen peas and got my first real look at it, I noticed one of his knuckles had split and was quite swollen. I sucked in a sharp breath, worried as I lifted my eyes to his.

“You know, you’ve asked if I’m okay, but I never thought to ask you the same thing. Are you okay? That doesn’t look so good.”

He waved me off with his uninjured hand, those blue eyes bright and clear on mine, devoid of anything resembling pain. “I’m fine. The jaw is just a hard bone without much squishy stuff covering it and I really let him have it. Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing serious.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.” He took me in, sitting on my knees in front of him.

We were in my living room and I’d told him to take a seat on the sofa while I went to get the peas. When I’d come back in, I’d rushed over, handed him the peas, and sunk to my knees to help him hold the bag there.

I didn’t even really know why I’d done it, but I seemed to get into this situation more often than I’d have liked. The first time I’d been on my knees in front of him, I hadn’t liked having him look down on me or the fact that I’d felt like a sub.

Now, however, it was more intimate. For starters, he was sitting down and it didn’t feel quite as intimidating, but I’d also seen another side of him recently. A side that made me feel perfectly comfortable to sit here and take care of him after he’d rushed to help me.

Kody smiled and ducked his head, snapping his fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Mercedes. You zoned out on me. What were you thinking about?”

“How you are not a Dom and it’s okay for me to be sitting here like this with you.”

Those eyes flared wide open and he blinked a few times before the smile turned into that trademark, cocky smirk of his. “I could be a Dom if you want me to. It’s not really my thing, but hey, I try to keep an open mind.”

I laughed, rolling my eyes as I eased off my knees and sat down on my ass instead. “Nice try, but no. It’s not really my thing either, I don’t think. Anyway, it’s just a surprise that I’m feeling comfortable around you now, is all.”

“Only now?” His eyebrows twitched when he realized I was serious. “How? When have I ever made you uncomfortable?”

“You didn’t make me uncomfortable. I just was uncomfortable. I mean, have you met you? You’re not exactly the poster child for having a friendly and welcoming attitude.”

Leaning back, he kept his gaze on mine, his legs slightly spread as he surveyed me. “I really made you uncomfortable?”

“Not in a bad way.” I groaned. “I’m not comparing you to Ben or anything like that. It’s just that you’re starting to feel like a friend. Or maybe frenemy is the more accurate term.”

He chuckled. “Can grownups be frenemies? I thought that was more of a teenage thing.”

“Nah, we can be what we want to be.”

A naughty glint entered those eyes as he cocked his head at me and waggled his brows. “Can we be naked? I want to be naked.”

“We can be anything we want to be, except naked.” Despite what I’d said, I still leaned forward, and when I did, his hand shot out to caress my cheek, his touch warm and light. “Kody…”

He moved to the edge of the sofa and abandoned the peas to take my other cheek in his injured hand. He bent over at the waist and put our faces only inches apart. “Kody what? We called it quits, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be naked with you. You were talking about being what we wanted, right? That’s what I want.”

Heat broke out across my face, traveling farther down the longer I sat there with his large hands on my skin, his eyes heating mine. I caught my lower lip between my teeth, knowing we were heading down a path we shouldn’t even have looked at and somehow not finding the strength to turn it around.

“It’s what I want too, but we called it quits for a reason, remember?” I inhaled deeply, willing my body to obey my commands and ignore his presence in the room. “Let’s just talk a bit. What were you doing earlier?”

“Nothing important.” He didn’t move his hands, his eyes on my lips. His tongue swept across his own. “Kaden already knows. It’s not like he can find out twice.”

“Well, to be fair, he could. He could find out that we’re still doing it and that we didn’t stop.”

“Yeah, but he already knows we have done it, so why does it matter if we don’t stop?”

I brought my hands up to cover his, squeezing as I offered him a small smile. “It matters because our parents don’t know yet, but they will find out if we keep going.”

“They won’t.” A flare of determination ignited behind those eyes. “If we’re careful and we don’t get it on in their house again, no one will be the wiser. This is about us and what we want, right? It doesn’t have anything to do with anyone else.”

“Usually, I would agree with you. People’s sex lives are their own and they shouldn’t involve anyone else, but that’s not true in our case.”