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We haven’t talked about last night—the kissing, the steaminess, any of it. This morning, it was like it never happened, except we’re touching each other much more. Just little moments, like I’ll brush my hand against his, or he’ll casually take my hips to slide past me, and neither of us acts like it’s weird. It’s like we’re a couple already.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Hmm,” he says, nodding as he reaches for his sandwich.
“This is a nice place,” I mutter, looking around at the deserted landscape. “A little out of the way, though. There were five other lakes we could’ve gone to.”
“Maybe I wanted the privacy.”
“Don’t want to be seen with me, huh?”
He reaches over and touches my face. This is the casual intimacy I was talking about. His palm is rough, but I like the feeling, especially the warmth tickling over my cheeks.
“If it wasn’t for…” I get it.Ryan. “I wouldn’t care,” he goes on.
I touch his hand. “Thanks.”
“You’re a beautiful woman, Kay. You’re so cute, too.”
My smile gets even wider. He’s flooding me with so many wonderful emotions that it almost hurts, like I’m over capacity. I never knew it was possible to feel this wanted.
“Cute?”
He grins. “Are you fishing for compliments?”
When he moves like he’s going to take his hand away and stop touching my cheek, I press my hand down on his, keeping him there. “Maybe I am. So what?”
His grin gets even wider. It’s nothing like the smiles he threw my way as a kid. I realize I was never much to him, just Ryan’s little sister, nothing else. He’d smile at me like… well, I was a child. Unimportant to him.
Now, he’s obsessed. Or maybe that’s me letting my desires gallop around way too enthusiastically. Itseemsthat way when his eyes lock on me, drink me in, and his hand somehow gets warmer.
“Everything you do is cute,” he says. “Your shy smile and how your eyes get all wide and shocked. Your pout. When your cheeks get flushed. Everything, Kay.”
He trembles, then snatches his hand away. I wonder if it’s because he’s thinking about kissing me again. We haven’t done it yet today.
Natasha and I used to talk about dating. Growing up, she had a few boyfriends, and we’d discuss ways to keep them interested. Or signs they weren’t worth keeping around. Usual chat that never really applied to me because I was too crush-crazy. Nobody ever compared with Kai, but I can’t flirt with Kai. I can’ttryto interest him because that would mean going out of my way to hurt Ryan. To make everything we’ve done even worse.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?” he says, watching me closely.
“What is?” I reply, making my tone all innocent.
He smirks, then nods. “Okay, Kay.”
We eat our sandwiches for a few minutes, making eye contact but not saying anything. He seems to think he’s got me all figured out. I’m waiting for him to speak first. Maybe that’s immature, but okay. Anyway, I lose.
“What’s hard, Kai?”
He grins. “I thought you were giving me the silent treatment for a while.”
“Were you devastated?”
He chuckles. It’s such a good feeling getting my man to laugh. It’s the sort of thing I never dreamed would happen back when this was just a crush.
“It’s hard…”
He pauses, some of the lightness leaving his expression.
Darkness, falling…
