Page 76 of Stone Cold Touch

“I’d like to peel Roth’s skin from his bones in a very slow manner. You know, like with an orange peeler.”

My nose scrunched up. “Ew.”

He flashed a quick grin. “But for the most part, you’re safe around him.”

I continued to stare at him. “For the most part?”

“He’ll protect you. Better than he did today.” The reluctance in his voice was glaring. “You’re just not safefromhim.”

“No matter what he wants or what you think he wants, I’m safe from him. Trust me. He made it plain and clear that there was nothing between us except...”

“Lust?”

“Yeah,” I whispered.

“Asshole.”

I coughed out a small laugh. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, and after everything he’d confessed, I thought the apology was possibly the strangest thing ever from him, but that goodness was so inherently Zayne.

Circling his arms around me, he gathered me close, tucking me to his chest. I curled into him, closing my eyes and listening to his heart beat steadily against my cheek. With his arms folded around me, I found the kind of comfort that I could only find in his arms—that I’d always found in his embrace.

A shaky breath shuddered through me. There was a lot going on and a lot had happened in the span of a few weeks, but in those quiet moments, my mind drifted back to all those wonderful, beautiful things that I had only dreamed of Zayne saying to me, but that were now very much a reality. There were more important things I should be trying to figure out, but right now, this was the most important thing tome.

This development with Zayne was so unexpected. Lust was one thing. Caring for someone deeply was another thing, but those words...they seemed heavy with a different kind of meaning. The kind that sank into the heart, broke down walls, destroyed barriers and paved its own way.

As Zayne slid his hand up my spine, a sigh escaped my parted lips. “Comfy?” he asked.

I nodded.

He kept moving his hand, and I forced my eyes open, my gaze tracking over the dusty book spines lining the shelves. All of his words lay in the tiny space between us. I needed to say something, but speaking out loud about how I felt about Zayne had never been easy. I hadn’t even admitted to Stacey how I felt about him. My near-lifelong crush on him had been something I kept close to my heart, hiding it the best I could and protecting it with lies. But Zayne had laid himself bare and I owed the same to him.

“I have a confession,” I whispered.

“Hmm?”

Finding the courage still wasn’t simple. “I’ve always dreamed of you...saying those words to me, of you wanting me.” My entire being burned, but I forced myself to continue. Each word I spoke was a shaky whisper. “Probably ever since I understood the difference between boys and girls, I’ve wanted you.”

His arms tightened around me and when he spoke, his voice was gruff. “That sounds like a long time.”

“It was.” A ball formed in my throat and, for some reason, I wanted to cry. “And, it was so hard, you know? Trying not to show it and not to be jealous of Danika or any other girl who—”

“There’s never been any other girl, Layla-bug.”

It took a few seconds for those words to seep through my thick skull and when they did, I drew back and lifted my head. “Come again?”

This time it was his face that flushed. “I’ve never been with anyone.”

My mouth dropped to my chest.

“Do you need to lookthatsurprised?”

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I can’t believe you haven’t... I mean, you’reyou.You’re gorgeous and you’re kind and smart and perfect and girls check you out everywhere we go.”

He smiled. “I didn’t say the opportunity never presented itself. I just never acted on it.”

“Why?”

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