Page 97 of Stealing Sunshine

“They’re going to think something’s wrong now that you’ve followed me,” I ramble.

“I’m going to be honest with you, Daisy,” she begins, slowly dragging those piercing, angry eyes up my body until they dig into my face. “I don’t fucking care.”

My chest tightens to the point of pain, and I rub at it with the heel of my hand. “What’s wrong?”

“You first.”

“I’m not the one who looks ready to rip someone’s throat out, Bryce.”

Her jaw tenses. “I want to rip something apart, Daisy, but it isn’t your throat.”

“What do you mean?”

“Tell me what’s wrong first. And don’t leave out the part where you explain the reasoning behind your disappearing act this week,” she demands.

My cheeks pulse with their own heartbeat. “You want to have this conversation at my parents’ house?”

She shrugs a shoulder. “We could have had it at home days ago, but you chose to avoid me instead.”

“You’ve avoided me before, too, in case you’ve forgotten.”

Her lips curl in a smug smile. “So you admit you were avoiding me, then.”

“I’m not in the mood for sarcasm,” I snap.

“Oh? What are you in the mood for then? Honesty? Because I sure as fuck am.”

Her lean legs eat up the space I created between us, and then she’s right in front of me, her hot, quick exhales caressing my nose. My swallow is audible, the only sound in the room besides our heavy breathing.

“You want honesty, yet you don’t tell me that you don’t want me to kiss you or that you aren’t comfortable with it. I asked you for your boundaries weeks ago, Bryce. You told me you had none, yet every time we kiss, I’m the one left feeling guilty afterward! Like I’ve taken advantage of you or forced you into something you’d rather never do.”

I’ve never seen her look so surprised, so much so that she stumbles back a step as her wide eyes blink rapidly.

Then, she’s laughing. It’s a low, hoarse sound that scrapes down my skin in a downright delicious, sexy way despite the cool meaning behind it. I’m a breath from begging her to laugh like that again when my head empties, only the drone of white noise remaining.

With a firm yet gentle grip, she grabs my hand, tugs her shirt down, and presses the bull’s horn on her chest. Her gaze is demanding, so completely focused on me that for a brief moment, I fear she’s actually stripped my skin off and can see all of my interior pieces and where she could fit between them.

“Stop thinking andfeel, Daisy.” The order is soft but leaves no room for argument.

“Feel what?”

Oh.

The fierce pounding sensation against my palm is so obvious I should have noticed it instantly. My eyes fall to where my hand lies between her breasts, and I spread my fingers slightly, enamoured by how warm and smooth her skin is.

“It’s racing,” I whisper.

She strokes the pulse in my wrist that has to be just as wild. “Every time you look at me, touch me, or speak to me, this is what I feel, Daisy. Sometimes, it beats so fast that I’ve imagined it giving out because there’s no way it should be able to keep up with such a fucking disbelieving pace for hours on end.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I ask, trying desperately to piece it together myself but failing. “I’m really trying not to speak out of place here, but this isn’t funny. If you’re joking, or think I’ll be okay with pretending in private, or saying things that we don’t mean just to, what? Learn how to behave as the characters we’re playing in public? I’m not. I’m really, really not.”

Tucking loose pieces of hair behind my ear, she traces the shell of it. I shiver, and she does it a second time, testing my reaction. This time when my body shakes, she cups the back of my head and holds me steady.

“For someone so fucking smart, Daisy, you’ve done a great job of jumping right over my explanation and creating one of your own.”

I try to pull free of her again, but she doesn’t let me go thistime. One strong tug and we’re even closer, her nose bumping mine on purpose.

“The next time you try and pull away from me, I’m going to tie you to that frilly pink bed of yours and keep you there for as long as it takes for you to understand what I’m saying,” she warns.

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