Page 39 of Breaking the Sinner

“What base do you wanna go to, Gen?” He tugged the tank top out of her shorts, bunching the material below her natural waist. He wet his bottom lip as he ran a thumb over the newly exposed flesh. Goosepimples erupted in its wake.

“Uh…” She wheezed, knotting a fist into his shirt. “This feels like a trick question.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to say home. But I shouldn’t say home. I mean—”

“You can say home,” Cobra said.

She pressed her forehead to his. He pushed his hands up farther, finding soft heat, curves that made his fingertips tingle. She bit at her lip, arching herself toward him.

“What base, Gen?”

Her head lolled to the side, and she knotted her hand harder in his shirt. “First.”

Cobra slid his hands out from under her shirt, nodding. “Whatever you want, Red.”

She groaned. “Don’t say that. You’re so compliant. That makes it harder.”

“Why?”

“It’s like if I told you to strip naked right now and let me look at you, you’d do it.”

Cobra blinked. “Do you want me to?”

“See?” She pulled back. “That’s not helpful.”

He snorted. “I actually think it’s the definition of helpful.”

Gen dissolved into laughter, pressing her forehead against his. “You’re right. I need to take it slow, Cobra.” She sought out his hand, interlocking their fingers. “Can we take it slow?”

His throat tightened, but he couldn’t say why. He nodded, searching out her emerald gaze. “You got it, Red.”

He’d do damn near anything she asked of him.

* * *

Gen awoke with a start, jerking beneath the sheets. She held her breath, listening to the sounds of the room.

Distant car honks. Thetick-tick-tickof the clock that she could hear from the living room with the door open.

And that was it.

She frowned, rolling over. Cobra was gone.

After their near-second-base encounter, they’d started…hanging out. Like teens, Cobra had joked. But for her, it wasn’t a joke. She’d never hung out with anyone like that before. Like he could have stayed there forever. Like maybe he sort of already lived with her. Like they’d been friends since childhood.

They flipped through books; he showed her hip-hop music on his phone; they watched stupid videos about giraffes that made Cobra laugh so hard he fell face first onto her bed. They kissed. And kissed. And then somewhere between him cracking open the drawing book and her finally peeking insideThe Infidelity of the Bible…she’d fallen asleep.

It was almost three a.m. Who knew when he’d left? Had he heard her snore? She sighed, turning onto her side.

It was sort of embarrassing, though she wasn’t entirely sure why.

And now that she was awake, it was hard to get back to sleep.

Gen went into the kitchen for a glass of water, partly as an excuse to check if Cobra was anywhere else in the apartment. He wasn’t. Her heart sank as she poured a glass, water dribbling down her chin as she chugged it and then refilled. She hadn’t been ready to say goodbye. She never even got to say goodbye.

And what if he ghostednow?

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