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I frown as I start to see the pattern with Tillie. She's quick to put herself down. I reach over, grabbing her. I pull her so she's forced to turn around to face me. I hold her closely, drinking in her beautiful face. When she tries to avoid my eyes, I lift her chin until she looks at me with her big brown eyes. “You’re fucking perfect, Buttons.”
“I'm not sure what to make of you like this,” she admits as her cheeks bloom into a deep pink.
“What do you mean?” I ask, confused.
“You're being nice to me and trying to...I don't know...pretend like you're attracted to me. I just can't figure out why,” she says, her nose scrunching up with her confusion.She’s so fucking cute.
“I’m attracted to you, Tillie. If I were any more attracted to you, I'd throw you over my shoulder, drag you back to my place and chain you to my damn bed.”
She exhales in what I suppose is meant to be humor. “I would break your back. I'm not like Emily or the other girls I'm sure you're used to, Ryder. I'm not a size zero. I'm a sixteen, on a good day, and more often than not, an eighteen.”
I sigh, “You’re a ten to me, Tillie.” The frustration with her putting herself down is getting to me. I doubt she realizes it at this point. I squat down, wrapping my arms around her knees, lifting her quickly over my shoulder as she squeals, trying to hold onto me.
“What are you doing?” she squawks.
“I'm proving to you that you're perfect. Where's your bedroom, Buttons?” I ask.
“The next room.”
I look before me, where the small hallway ends with a door. I open it to see a large king-sized bed. It's dark in the room, but I go straight to the bed, tossing her on it.
“Ryder!” she squeals, scrambling to get up on her elbows. “What on earth has gotten into you?”
I walk over, flipping on the bedside lamp as I glance around, ignoring her question. The room is painted brown except for the one behind her bed, which is rich teal. The bed frame is a deep mahogany wood, with intricate designs on the huge headboard. The silk comforter matches the accent wall in a teal, as do the curtains.
I frown, walking over to her curtains and pulling them back. There are two small rectangle windows at the main top of the wall, but with the curtains hanging, it looks like a regular window.
“I think I want to change my answer. Is your favorite color teal, Buttons?”
She blushes. Her hair is ruffled from where I tossed her on the bed, in combination with the pretty blush on her cheeks makes me ache.
“The correct color is a deep turquoise, but yes.”
“I won't forget,” I promise as I sit on the bed with her.
She scoots back or tries to. “What are you doing?” she asks.
“I’m going to lay on this big bed of yours with you in my arms and kiss you until I prove to you that I fucking want you, sweetheart.”
“I’m not so sure that's really smart,” Tillie argues. The blush on her cheeks gets darker and creeps slowly down her neck.
“I think it's the smartest idea I've had in a very long time,” I counter, smirking at her.
“I think it's crazy,” she whispers.
“A little crazy in your life is good. Now come over here, Tillie, and give me your lips.”
“This isn't smart, Ryder. You need to be rational.” I don’t know if she’s trying to convince me or herself—not that it matters very much. I knowexactlywhat I’m doing.
“What I need is your mouth on mine, and if you're honest, I know you want that just as much as I do. C'mon, Buttons, live dangerously,” I tempt.
“I lived dangerously once and almost instantly regretted it.” I watch her throat work as she swallows down her trepidation.
Something way too close to jealousy hits me and I shake it off. “What did you do?”
“I agreed to meet the guy I thought I loved at Carver Lake to go skinny dipping at midnight,” she says cautiously.
“Damn, that’s a lucky man. Although, I’m guessing that it ended badly.”
