Page 73 of Playing Flirty

As soon as I stepped away, Lincoln reached for his backpack and made a strange struggling noise. “I probably should havegiven you this before we started playing but”—he shifted on his feet while pulling out a small cardboard box—“I know you made the gaming tokens, so I wasn’t sure if like…” He swallowed.

This may be the most Lincoln Carden had ever said to me.

“Is this for me?” I asked, extending my palm and taking the box from his hands.

He nodded. “I drew them up and used the 3D printer at work. You don’t have to use them. Just kept thinking about your game…” He trailed off again.

I lifted the lid, and my gaze fell on the hat, the bow and arrow, the heart, the book, and the crown. My eyes welled up.

“Please don’t cry,” Lincoln said, his dark brows pulling together.

“Too late,” William said with a guffaw as he made his way next to me and investigated the contents of the box.

“I love them,” I croaked out, and because I wasn’t sure Lincoln would accept another hug, I walked into Neema’s and Claire’s arms and wondered how in the world I’d gotten so lucky to have these people as friends.

When I said goodbye to them, Claire shifted her eyes from mine to where William stood and back to me. One brow cocked in question.

There was so much I wanted to tell her about, but telling her more than she already knew felt like a betrayal to Neema and Shaun. I was already keeping secrets from my best friends but… this was between William and me, and until we figured it out, I didn’t want to involve anyone else.

The wink she offered me let me know she understood that.

And then Lincoln shooed her out of the apartment.

I went out to the balcony, hoping William would follow, and he did, except Shaun and Neema were right behind him, rattling on about whether they needed both a photographer and videographer for the wedding.

“It’s unnecessary,” Shaun said. “The photos capture everything. We’re never going to watch the video.”

He would regret saying that as Neema whipped out her phone and navigated to YouTube, and I was sure she was going to show him all of her favorite wedding videos, of which there were about two hundred. I knew this because, for as far back as I could remember, she’d spent every first day of her period crying in front of a breathtaking wedding video.

“I’m going to make some tea,” I said, slipping away, entirely uninterested in reliving those moments. Wedding videos were of extraordinarily little interest to me at the moment.

And apparently to William too.

“Tea? Coffee?” I turned to him as he came around the kitchen island.

Walking toward me, he crowded me against the countertop and placed his hands on both sides of my hips, locking me in place.

My breath caught at the unfiltered desire in his eyes and the heat pressing through my dress where he pinned me.

His gaze dropped to my cleavage, and he bit his bottom lip. “This is unfair.”

“Whatever do you mean?” I batted my eyelashes.

“This dress. Come on, is this how you’re going to win? Because it’s working.” He slid his hand down my waist, over my hip, and squeezed. “One bend, and I’m throwing you on the couch and having my way with you. I wouldn’t even care if they walked back in.”

“I kinda had a dream like that last night,” I said, losing myself in his dark, lust-filled eyes.

“Don’t tease me,” he breathed. The tip of his tongue swiped over his bottom lip, his gaze boring into me like he had other places he’d rather use it.

I liked seeing him flustered for a change.

“Well…” I looked over my shoulder and checked that Shaun and Neema hadn’t come inside. Satisfied they were too caught up in their debate on the balcony, I stood on my toes, gripped his T-shirt, and pulled him close, touching my lips to the shell of his ear. “Best dream I’ve ever had. I wonder if the real thing will live up to it.”

He swallowed a struggling sound.

I put the kettle on before turning back to him. His eyes were lit up so brightly that I had to look away or I thought I might spontaneously combust. His hands stroked over and around my waist like he couldn’t get enough of me.

He groaned. “Okay, game over. I can’t take this any longer. I submit this round.”

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