Page 102 of Living Legend

I pulled the sleeves of his sweatshirt down my arms so that my fingers could cup the material. “It’s fine, I’m more amused than angry.”

He considered this and gave me a nonchalant expression. He released his palm from under the glowing light and it settled in mid-air.

I looked more closely at his eyes; he looked sleepy, but not exhausted. “Were you uncomfortable from your lack of pillows or are you justnowgoing to sleep and realized that you needed more?”

He gave me a shrug. “I couldn’t sleep. Unfortunately, I probably won’t be able to due to the pillow problem. You’re picky about beer, and I’m picky about my lack of pillows. We all have our things.”

“I told you to take your bed if you wanted.”

He cleared his throat. “No, Dani. It’s…it’s not that.”

“Then what?” I pressed.

“Just let it go.” He placed his hands in his sweatpants pockets.

I pushed off the wall and stepped closer to him. He stepped back a little, the glowing light following his every move.“Let me guess: you were thinking about me?”

He ran a hand through his hair in a nervous way, then stuck it back in his pocket. “No.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Absolutely.”

“The way I left you wasn’t very nice,” I admitted playfully, pouting.

He chuckled softly. “No, but it didn’t surprise me at all.”

I bit down on my lower lip, peeking up at him through my lashes as I stepped closer. “Would you like me to make up for it?”

He took in a breath but when he tried to blow it out, it came out like a cough, as if his faux calmness was breaking down. “No. Nope. Bad idea.”

I stepped closer again, but this time, I grabbed pieces of his shirt to keep him in place. He looked down at where I held him and cleared his throat, catching a glance at the door. He was probably deciding if he should make a run for it. The thought of him bolting for the door almost made me laugh.

“Bad idea because you don’t want it?” I tightened my hold on his shirt, twisting it in my fists. “I mean, I won’t make fun of you if you admit you want to make a second mistake,” I joked.

Nicholas let out a small groan and wrapped his hands around my arms, sliding them down my forearms as if he was going to try to peel my hands off his shirt. “Dani, right now is not the best time for any of this, regardless of what I want.”

I took my final step forward so that we were toe to toe and my chest could press against his. I leaned up a little, mimicking my previous move in the living room, letting his breath mingle with mine. I laughed against his mouth, our lips brushing a tiny bit. Fuck, he was tall. I could reach his mouth, but he had to angle himself down just a little to meet me. “Nicholas, we both know with everything going on, it’s never going to be a good time.” I released his shirt right as he released my forearms. I brought my hands underneath his shirt, skimming my fingertips over his skin, his abs, the gauze that lay over his wound.

“Does it still hurt?” I asked, actual concern in my voice.

He squinted at me, the light looming around him. “Not anymore.”

I moved my hands up, his shirt following along, lifting the further my hands went. I wanted to feel him, all of him. I wanted to feel his warm skin and his breath on my overheated body. I wanted his fingers to touch me and explore me in all the ways he hadn’t before. He moved his hands to my waist, pressing his fingers into my sides as if holding himself back.

“Maybe this is the last chance you’ll get to have some actual fun. Don’t you want that?” I questioned, grazing my fingernails over his abs to the waistband of his sweatpants. I knew he wanted this, and I sure as shit knew I wanted this. My only problem moving forward was I needed him to be as in it as he was the first time. I didn’t want him to think about his decision for one minute; I wanted him to go full speed ahead. “Nicholas.”

He was watching me fiddle with his waistband. “Mhmm?”

“Get out of your head for tonight.”

I moved my hands away from him and walked towards the side of his bed. My back was turned, and I tapped my bare foot on the carpet. I saw the glowing light come closer to me as he followed behind, stopping a few inches away. “That’s difficult and you know it.”

“It seemed really easy for you before,” I accused.

“What are you talking about?”

“The first time. You just went headfirst into it, no thought, no slowing down. I liked it. It wasn’t just the rough, relentless part about it that I liked -- it was the way you didn’t overthink.”

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