Page 31 of Flash

“It’s really stupid,” I say as my lips brush against his, “but they always grow best when I sing them eighties rock ballads.”

He rests his forehead against mine and the puff of air he exhales with his laugh washes over my face.

“Sure, they must love ‘Every Rose’ by Poison,” he says.

“They really do.” I grin and tease my lips over his. My heart is beating even more wildly now than it was two minutes ago when I was on the verge of a panic attack. The taste of Arrow on my tongue is already becoming my favorite drug.

“Anything I can do to convince you to belt out a few bars?” he murmurs, nipping at my bottom lip.

“Absolutely not.” I swing my leg over to straddle his lap and he fists the back of my shirt.

Arrow flinches and I break the kiss.

“Sorry, forgot my hand was fucked up for a second.”

“Shit.” I twist around to try and look at it again. “Maybe we should just watch the show?”

His cock is straining hard against mine now, and we’re both breathing heavily, but the last thing I want is for him to hurt his hand any worse than it is.

“I guess we’d better,” he agrees.

I crawl off his lap carefully and grab the ice pack again. Arrow grits his teeth as I gently place it back on his knuckles.

“Should we…” I weigh the suggestion on the tip of my tongue, aware of how much it might change this simple, hot, sex-focused dynamic we’ve already agreed on. “Order a pizza or something?”

“Pizza sounds good.” His stomach growls loudly as soon as he says it.

I laugh and pick up my phone to place an order on the app. “Do you have any preferences? And please be advised that I will be judging your choice of pizza toppings.”

“I never doubted it,” he says solemnly. “I order olives, mushrooms, and green peppers for myself, but I’ll eat anything except anchovies.”

“Acceptable choices.”

“Glad I passed the test.” A brief grin flickers on his lips, then disappears.

I put in the order then toss my phone down on the cushion on my other side. This is totally fine. Hanging out without having sex doesn’t have to change anything else. We’re adults, and whatever Arrow was trying to tell me earlier, I’m sure the last thing he actually wants is for me to get all needy and embarrass myself.

“Now I want to make a club with my friends so we can wear matching jackets.” I circle our conversation back to the topic from earlier and lean into Arrow again, making myself comfortable in the crook of his arm. “Oh, I know, gardening club. I’m going to need a lot more friends though, because if it’s just Row and me with matching jackets, it might be a little sad.”

Amusement rumbles in Arrow’s chest. “I’ll start asking around for you,” he says. “What will you name your gardening club?”

“Thyme Lords.” I snort and giggle at my own pun. “Ooh, no wait, Best Buds…” I pause for effect and crane my neck to look over at him. “Get it?”

He looks like he’s holding back laughter, his silver eyes warm as they devour me again. This time, I feel a lot less compelled to curl up like a hedgehog.

“Pot Heads,” he suggests, and I throw my head back to cackle.

“Yes, I can see the cute matching outfits now.”

A little of the nervous tension inside me unravels. Talking and joking around with Arrow is just as easy as sex with him is. The conversation doesn’t lag, moving easily from joking about me starting a motorcycle club style gardening club to our favorite shows and movies while we wait for our pizza. Without even realizing it, I end up holding his hand so I can keep the ice pack on his knuckles for him, his warm palm against mine.

Butterflies dance in my stomach, and the more his deep, calm voice washes over me, the more I want it to. I want to know about him. I want to understand what he meant earlier. I want to peek into his world and find out who he really is.

Fuck. I’m in so much trouble.

ARROW

The empty pizza box sits on the table and Lewis is snoring softly on the couch next to me. His head rests heavily on my shoulder while Good Omens continues to play on the TV. When I planted my foot firmly in my mouth earlier, I thought I’d blown everything. He said he wanted to see my flaws, but when I started to take the lid off, I could see the panic in his eyes. But in spite of the near disaster, I can’t complain about the direction the night took.

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