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Donnelly takes a couple corn chips and tosses them back in his mouth. “Frogs sound dope.”
“They are,” I sing-song.
“Then how come you don’t trust the Kannika Kitsuwon kind?”
“It’s not that I don’t trust her.” I watch him silently observe the few people left in the store. They’re stuck in the neighboring aisle, and when our eyes meet again, I say, “Sometimes it’s just easier to go unseen if I’m by myself.”
“But Frog isn’t famous like the rest of SFO. She’s not well-known on the internet and the fandom.”
“It’s not so much specifically Frog. With any bodyguard, it’s harder. I would’ve ditched a temp guard or Quinn or even—”
“Me?”
My pulse spikes, hurt clenching my insides.
His gaze bores into me with an intimacy I’ve never really felt until him. Maybe because what I feel for Donnelly goes so far beyond sex.
“No. I don’t know.” I look away. “This isn’t the first time I’ve snuck out without a bodyguard, Donnelly.”
“I know.” There isn’t disappointment in his voice. No judgment. “Are there times when no one has known before though? Not security or your family?”
I walk slowly towards the cashier. He follows as I say, “Would you be upset if I said yes?”
“Upset? No. Worried about you, yeah.”
I pause at the end of the aisle. Careful to keep my voice quiet. “I’ve been able to wander the city alone and without anyone knowing. Mostly in Philly. Center City.”
“How old were you?” he wonders.
I shrug. “It was after I was eighteen and moved out of my parents’ house. I used to go to some local bars like Thirsty Goose, Tipping Place, Doobies.”
“Doobies,” he smirks.
It makes me smile, especially knowing he’s not condemning me for breaking a ginormous security rule.Do not leave without a bodyguard.“No one ever really knew I was there,” I tell him. “I’d sit in a dark corner and just people-watch. I guess I could’ve gone to a library, but most of the time, I snuck out at night.”
He looks me over. “Why’d you want to?”
“I don’t know,” I say quietly. “Sometimes I thought it’s because I was trying to feel normal. Other times, I think it just felt freeing. But at the end, it was just kinda lonely.”
He bobs his head. “Yeah, best nights out for me have been with friends.” We wait to approach the checkout, hanging near shelved bags of M&Ms and Twizzlers.
A long second passes before Donnelly finally asks, “You talk to any guys at the bars?”
I shrug again. “Sometimes.”
His face noticeably tightens, and his brows lift while he glances at the entrance again. His six-foot-three build has tensed, and I shift my weight uncertainly.
“Your worry looks angry,” I say.
His blue eyes rest gently on mine. “‘Cause you’re looking at jealousy.”
Flush ascends my neck.Oh.I give him a once-over, realizing jealousy is hot on Donnelly, the attractive type ofhot. I realize how badly I just want him to want me, but the yearning is even deeper than that.I want him to consume me, grab me, take me, make mehisforever.
A little breathless, I ask, “You wish you could’ve been at the bar?”
“Right there, right beside you, space babe.” He searches my eyes for something. “Next time, you planning to throw me an invite?”
“Will you come as a friend or a bodyguard?”
