Page 84 of Illicit Illustration

“Nothing.” But I could tell by the flash of disappointment in his eyes that he realized I wasn’t being truthful with him.

“Haz. I know when you’re overthinking something and freaking yourself out. I can tell by the tone of your voice. Just tell me. You’ll feel better after you get it off your chest.”

Instead of asking what was really bothering me, I asked another question I was curious about. “How long before you knew fourteen was me?”

His expressive brown eyes traced my face, lingering on mine for a moment before he sighed and rolled onto his back beside me. He grasped my hand, interlocking our fingers. I didn’t know if it was to ground himself or keep me from running away, but it worried me he was hesitating.

“I wasn’t completely sure until before the motorcycle commission. Charley offered to tell me, but I didn’t ask.”

He seemed a bit too timid to share the details with me, but he wasn’t lying any longer, so that was a start. And when he turned his face to stare at me, all the passion and intensity I’d been convinced might not exist sparked brightly between us. But tucked underneath his warm covers, his large hand anchoring me to him, it was time to come clean with each other. I was serious when I’d told him I wouldn’t tolerate any more lies.

“But you suspected something before that.” Looking back, all the teasing comments with Charley about Seven were a red flag. If I hadn’t been so worried about his overwhelming presence, I should have noticed that something wasn’t right.

“The rambling during the date was when I started wondering, but after our first conversation, I didn’t want to stop. The better I got to know you, the easier it was to ignore that I wasn’t telling you the truth. Although, I was jealous of myself there for a few days, when you seemed to be more interested in talking to him than me.”

He’d said that last night, too. That he wanted me to choose him and not Seven. But looking back on it, even though I didn’t know it at the time, the parts of Reid’s personality that drew me to him in real life were what gained my attention with Seven.

“Which I still think is stupid, but I get it now. You wanted me to like you for you, not because of a man who charmed me through a wall when I let my guard down.”

“I know I should have come clean right away, but I knew you’d be embarrassed about the things you said to me and would probably pull away. I’m not ashamed to admit I saw an opening to make you see me and I took it.”

“Did the two of you plan the whole thing? Was it all a lie? Am I that gullible?”

Charley’s part in orchestrating and concealing the whole thing still hurt, too. She’d been my best friend since we were children, and to have her go behind my back and help with manipulating my emotions was hard to reconcile.

“No, she didn’t ask me to do it until you were locked in that bathroom you love so much after telling me I could keep the penis.”

My cheeks heated at my unintentional slip, but I could honestly say I no longer wanted Reid to keep the penis. It was mine now. Or it would be once he gave up the goods.

“Are you sure she didn’t tell you what my number was? Feed you flirty things to say to me?”

“No Haz,” he whispered, leaning in and pressing his lips to my forehead. “Our conversation was genuine, and it also kind of cemented what I’d suspected for months. That maybe my feelings for you weren’t so one sided.”

“But I didn’t know it was you.”

“And that’s why you let your guard down and actually talked to me. Because we both know if I randomly started flirting with you in real life, you would’ve gone back to pushing me away.”

“But then youdidstart flirting with me in real life.”

He chuckled, drawing me in close and tucking my head beneath his chin. His warm hands cupped my shoulders, and my body relaxed as his fingertips traced my shoulder blades. “I think that conversation through a wall unlocked something inside me. I told you I was willing to do just about anything to make you mine.”

“There’s thatwasword again. Makes me think that you’re planning to phone it in now that you’ve gotten me into your bed.”

“Then maybe I need to do something about that. Since I didn’t exactly get the Valentine’s date that I’d been hoping for.”

“You mean having your bestie’s little sister yelling at you for being a dumbass and then shoving her hand down your pants isn’t your idea of a romantic date?” I giggled, tracing my fingers throughthe dark hair covering his chest. One of his piercings was almost at eye level, and since it was right there, I moved my head forward, grasping the little ball on the end with my teeth and tugging. Reid’s answering groan and the flex of his hips into mine was like a shot of adrenaline, and I did it again, enjoying this newfound power over him.

“Kitten,” he growled, pulling me closer and digging his fingertips into my skin. “What are you doing to me?”

“I would’ve thought with your extensive experience you could figure it out,” I whispered into his chest, my fingertips skating down his firm stomach toward the trail of hair my hand had followed last night.

But Mr. Suddenly Responsible intercepted it, interlacing our fingers and pulling them between our chests instead of letting me greet his morning wood in a mutually enjoyable manner.

“While I would love to rip that lace off of you—”

“Yes, please,” I giggled, placing a lingering kiss on his collarbone.

“You asked me to prove that you could trust me, and while I know we would both enjoy it, fucking you this morning isn’t the way to do that.”

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