Page 65 of Born of Ice

19

I’m evaporating

Electra

“The Guardians of theGalaxy?” I eye the small computer screen Exton has just set up in front of us on the coffee table with skepticism. “What in the world is that?”

He talked me—or rather forced me—into watching a movie tonight with him because, and I quote, another silent night in this house and he will lose his mind. To which I rolled my eyes and told him to go have fun on his own and that I was just fine here with my book. But, of course, Exton doesn’t take no for an answer, so he simply lifted me from my bed without as much as a warning and brought me to the couch with him.

And I tried really hard to sound all annoyed with him while secretly taming down the hordes of butterflies beating against my frozen insides. The ice on which is thinning by days, or rather hours, with him and I know I should put more space between us, to guard myself from thawing completely, but he makes it so damn hard.

Especially after that kiss.

Yeah…

That was…that was…something.

One second, I’m sure this is it, that my soul-crunching panic attack will finally end it all and the next I feel a bucket of hot, skin-tingling sensation washing over me, washing away the icy chill of the memory that he so unknowingly brought out.

I don’t know what’s happening between us. I’m not sureI wantanything to be happening between us. No, I’m sure I don’t—can’t—yet that unseen string that’s been growing stronger and tighter between us, is undeniably there.

It’s probably just friendship and I’m freaking out over nothing because a guy like Axe won’t look at a girl like me. At least, not the current edition of me but the sunrise and that look in his eyes after our kiss…and the way his touch felt different today…yeah…

Friends. This is what friendship with a guy feels like, Electra, and you don’t know that because you’ve never had a guy friend. Or many girlfriends either, for that matter.

“Oh, they are a part ofThe Avengers, but with all the games and training I didn’t get to watch the newest one yet,” he answers with a breeze, unaware of my drilling eyes into his back and stating it like that A word should make sense to me.

Snapping out of my confusing thoughts, I try to look over his huge back that is partially blocking the view to see if anything looked familiar but nope.

“Huh?” I voice my dumbfoundedness, and Exton’s fingers freeze on the laptop that he’s fixing from the best angle and he slowly, very slowly turns his head to look at me while that already extremely tight T-shirt of his molds to his body even more with the movement.

I sigh. Internally. As I will my eyes to look up. To stop staring at him and my mouth to stop producing saliva I’ve been using to drool all over him since the gym.

No, scratch that, since this morning sunrise. Or was it since the day he came here? But my unnecessary thoughts slip away at the affronted look he’s giving me.

“What is that ‘huh’ supposed to mean?” he asks cautiously all while his whiskey eyes start to narrow ever so slightly.

“Um, just, ‘huh?’” I scrunch my nose.

“Please tell me you know whoThe Avengersare?”

“Is that some kind of hockey team?” I twist my lips and then nearly burst out laughing at his stunned face expression with parted lips. He’s looking at me like I’m an alien.

Without another word, Exton whips around back to the computer, turning off whatever that guardians thing was and typing extra fast and hard until a new movie pops up.

“Get ready,” he says, settling back into the couch, and I don’t know what I expected, but definitely not him sitting right next to me or lifting my legs and depositing them onto his lap with his strong arm casually slung over them. Not that I can feel it, but at the same time, I do.

My legs, on his lap…

I stare at Exton’s hard profile, blinking and trying to remember what he just said but my mind draws blank because,my legs, on his lap…

Finally, my brain kick-starts and my tone is a touch too throaty for my liking. “Get ready for what?”

“To have your mind blown because we are starting from the top.”

He definitely doesn’t mean what my mind conjured up…starting from the top and mind blown.Get a grip, Electra!

“From the top?” I ask, still feeling off and he turns his head, sending me one of his dazzling grins that doesn’t help to keep all that ice intact.

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