head against the inside of his thigh. Expectation and question shone in her gaze when it met his.
He let out a laugh, tinged with relief and disbelief. “Wow.”
“So we call it a draw?”
He didn’t care what they called it, as long as he got to keep the memory seared in his head. Still, he said, “A draw implies we get to try for a tie-breaker.”
“I guess it does.” She grabbed her shirt as she stood, pulling it on but letting it hang open. Her smile never faded. “I need another quick shower.”
Fantasy ran rampant through his thoughts. “You want help?”
“Most definitely.”
He closed the distance between them, tangled his fingers in her hair, and kissed her hard. His teeth crushed into his lips, and she groaned against his mouth. He let go, not hiding his smirk when a tiny sigh escaped her lips. “Maybe next time,” he said. “You don’t want to hear it from Kenzie, for being late. But give me five minutes to clean up when you’re done?”
“Sure.”
He watched her walk away, hips swaying, the shirt barely covering her ass. Reality rushed back in, and he sank into his seat with a grunt. Please don’t let this be a mistake . The internal plea turned to a chanting voice, asking if he was being selfish again, doing what he wanted, regardless of who else was involved. True, the consequences for hurting Riley wouldn’t be as severe as his last big mistake, but he’d never forgive himself if he were a cause of long-term pain for her.
Chapter Eight
Riley hit the next preset button on Zane’s radio, and sighed at the bad memories the song summoned. She moved to the next station. Commercials. She tried one more time.
“Stop.” There was no irritation in Zane’s voice. He pressed the CD button, loosely grabbed her wrist, and set her hand back in her lap.
Her skin warmed when he didn’t pull away immediately. He had been incredible back at her place—she’d meant that—but he also hadn’t said more than a couple words at a time to her since she got out of the shower. Which was exactly what she wanted to avoid. Maybe they’d pushed for too much too soon. They still hadn’t found their footing after being apart so long.
A heavy techno beat filled the car, and she groaned. “Seriously?”
“You love this song.”
She shrugged, though he was watching the road and not her. “I did a decade ago.”
“Sorry. I haven’t had a lot of time to update my music collection.” He skipped to the next track, and screaming electric kicking in. “Better?”
She flopped back in her seat. They needed to talk about what happened between them. Or she did. For all she knew, his silence meant he’d already moved on, and she was the only one stuck in the moment. “Kenzie’s going to know the minute she sees us,” she said.
He glanced at her.
She tried to ignore the way his gaze briefly traced over her body, but she couldn’t completely suppress her flush at the attention.
He blinked and turned back to the road. “Is that a bad thing?”
Neither one of them liked Kenzie’s knowing glances. Her assumptions. The insistence that one day Riley and Zane would end up together.
“I don’t know. If it’s not a big deal, we shouldn’t have a problem telling her. Right?” Riley asked.
“That’s really up to you. I’m not sure when your sex life became your sister’s business, no matter how close you are.”
“It’s not. It’s just that… Did you do that to placate me?” The moment the question spilled past her lips, she regretted it.
He paused, as if measuring his response.
“Forget it. I never should have asked,” she said.
“It’s not that.” His response rolled out in a single word. “Fuck. I meant it when I said you were incredible. In every possible way.”
“Except things are getting awkward,” she said. “I feel like you’re telling me what I want to hear.”
“I do a lot to see you smile, but I don’t lie to you.”
Relief crept in at the words. “I know.
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