Page 34 of A Dagger of Twisted Starlight

I winked at him. He stumbled backward, likely tripping. Ichuckled. He was so easy to mess around with. It was very enjoyable.

I decided to keep messing with him. I grabbed my phone and shot him a text.

Xavier

Stop creeping and come hang out.

Blake

I’m not creeping!!

Xavier

Fine. My ask to hang still stands.

A slight pause.

Blake

I’m heading down.

Xavier

Awesome.

Blake

:P

That exchange made me smile disproportionately wider than the words probably called for. I grabbed two thirty-pound dumbbells and faced out over the stone perimeter. The ocean always made a great backdrop to working out. A small red speaker played my gym songs, mostly remixes and dance tracks. I finished up my set of hammer curls when Blake appeared through the arched doorway.

“Hey there.”

“Hey, creeper,” I said, teasing him.

He pouted and tilted his head. “That’s rude. I was just looking out, admiring theview.”

“I’m sure you were.” I casually flexed my biceps.

Blake’s amber eyes narrowed to slits. They appeared even more like real gold today, the soft blue shirt he wore helping bring out the shine in them. “View of the ocean.”

“You can’t see the ocean from that window.”

He blinked a couple of times and admitted defeat. “Fine, yes, I was checking you out. Is that so bad?”

“No, not at all. I do it to you all the time.”

“You do?”

“Of course. I didn’t even think I was being slick about it.”

Blake chuckled. There was a strawberry-pink hue to his cheeks that made me hungry for him. “You probably weren’t. I’m just oblivious to those things.”

“Well, here I am, making it obvious for the oblivious.” I took a step back and racked my gaze over his body, smirking devilishly when I settled on his lips. I licked my own. “That kiss we shared, it hasn’t left my mind. You did something to me in there.”

Blake’s eyes flicked down to my crotch. “Yeah, I remember.” His smile matched mine now. Only for a moment, though. It went out like a candle in the wind. He was putting up barriers again.

But why?

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