Page 150 of Out of Bounds

But the bruise on his side, the size of a grapefruit, with a jagged cut above it, made me suck in a breath so hard, my throat hurt. My mouth fell open.

He held up a hand. "It’s not as bad it looks."

"What thefuck?" I sputtered.

58

Ryan

When We Break Up

It wasn’t that bad.

But I couldn’t tell Kassie that the other guy got it worse because she didn’t need to find out that Henry Miller would have bruised ribs for longer than six weeks. All she needed to do was check her email and I was satisfied with that.

"Move." Kassie shoved herself between me and the sink before dropping down to her knees, rifling through the drawers and the cabinets. I didn’t know what she was looking for but when I lingered over to help, she ignored me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

Kassie didn’t say anything. She opened the last cabinet and breathed out in relief, whipping out the first-aid kit. Muttering under her breath, she produced an antiseptic wipe.

I gazed down at her hands. "You’re shaking."

Her eyes flickered to the bruise at my side again and she started cleaning me up.

It was only a little cut but I swallowed back the words as Kassie worked over me, touching me. I didn’t need to stop her. Her dark hair cascaded over my arm as she knelt down, dabbing the antibiotic cream over the scratch.

She’s worried about me.

My breathing slowed watching her. She ducked away from my gaze too, intent to stop me from enjoying how deeply she was freaking out about such a small papercut really. Henry had smashed the vase against my side, the only loud sound out of the room. Besides that, I was fine. Tired but fine.

But the way Kassie was spiraling and blushing hard and avoiding my gaze caught my interest more than anything else. I dipped down, watching her, while she finished up. Quickly, she glanced up again and there she was. Only a few inches away. So close.

Fuck, she smells good.

The blush deepened on her face. I’d never get tired of looking at that.

"I think about you all the time," I told her, my voice low.

Her eyes dropped instantly and she tried to go back to the cut again but I placed two fingers under her chin and tilted her back up to look at me. To look at those lips of hers.

"You’ll have to get used to that," I murmured.

She hesitated. "Used to what?"

"How I talk about you. Because I like talking about how you make me feel. I’m going to keep doing it. You’ll have to get used to it."

Slowly, I leaned down and ran my fingers along the back of her neck. She shivered and the pleasure I got from that was indescribable. I couldn’t have tasted how turned-on she was if Ifell to my knees in front of her. Fuck. Everything about her was intoxicating.

I captured her lips for a kiss. Even if talking embarrassed her, kissing didn’t. Kassie kissed me back like we’d already kissed a million times before. A slow kiss, full of familiarity, where I didn’t have to guess what she was thinking or how she felt about me. My girlfriend kissed me like I was just coming home and when she breathed in, I could feel how glad she was to see me.

I tilted her head to the side, deepening the next kiss, prolonging it for a long moment. Fuck. I loved kissing her. I loved how she folded against me and the little breaths she took and I could feel the heat rise to her skin wherever I touched her.

My cock pushed against the zipper of the jeans. How long could I last without pushing inside of her, claiming what wasmine?I wracked my brain, thinking of how long team photos had taken last year, before I wrapped my hands around her hips, bringing her up to the counter.

"Ryan," she breathed out. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I—I like…kissing you."

That’s progress.

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