Page 60 of Slapshot Baby

I tuck the strand behind her ear. My thumb traces the curve of it, follows the shell down to the soft lobe.

"Your hands wanted me. Your mouth did too."

Her lips part. "Kai."

"Do you think about it?"

"About what?"

My thumb moves from her ear to the hinge of her jaw, tracing the line of it down to her chin.

"Don't play dumb. You're terrible at it." I tilt her face toward mine. "Do you think about what would have happened if Mira hadn't walked in?"

Her pupils go wide, black swallowing the green and gold until her eyes are mostly dark.

"No," she whispers.

My thumb drags across her lower lip. The flesh is full, soft. Her breath comes hot against my skin.

"Liar." I smile. "You know what I think about? I think about how your hips rocking against me once before you caught yourself. You remember that?"

Her breathing becomes ragged.

My hand slides down from her face to her neck, fingertips trailing the tendon, settling at the base of her throat where her pulse is slamming hard enough for me to count it.

"You pressed into me and made this quiet little whimper. Then you tried to act like it didn't happen. Your heart's doing the same thing right now."

"That's a cardio workout… a… a cardiovascular response. It doesn't mean anything."

"Sure. Very convincing."

My fingers trace her collarbone, following the ridge of it to where the sweater has slipped to show off her bare shoulder.

I hook one finger under the fallen strap and slide it back into place, letting my knuckle drag slowly across her warm skin as I do.

She sucks in a breath through her teeth. Her hand grabs my knee. Her fingers dig into the muscle above my kneecap and climb up.

"You should mind what you’re doing to me," she says.

"You should take your hand off my leg."

She looks down, sees her own hand moving up my thigh. It keeps caressing my leg.

"That's involuntary," she says.

"So is this."

I lean forward and press my mouth to the spot below her ear. My lips rest against her skin, feeling the heat, breathing her in.

Her whole body goes taut against mine. A tremor rolls through her stomach muscles.

"Kai."

My name comes out wrecked, low and rough and scraped raw.

"Still just friends?" I murmur against her throat.

"Yes."