Page 26 of Face Me Off

A silence descends upon us, stretching like the ice rink under the stadium lights—cold, hard, and unyielding.

I break it first. “And what about now?” I ask softly. “Do you still…” My words trail off, unable to finish the sentence.

“Do I still what?” Ryan’s gaze finds mine again.

I take a deep breath, summoning every ounce of courage I have left. “Do you still watch me?”

Ryan doesn’t answer immediately. He leans back in his chair and studies me with a steady gaze.

“Every chance I get.” His voice is deep and steady. “Every damn chance.”

The confession sends a jolt through me. This is new territory for us—openly admitting that he still likes me. I need to shut this down before it gets out of hand. It’s not as if we could be a real couple.

“That’s kind of stalker-ish, don’t you think?”

He laughs, but it’s his half-shrug that gets me. It’s full of confidence, as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. “You asked for a hard truth.”

“I did.”

“Does knowing that make the lesson easier?”

There he goes, confusing me again. “What lesson?”

“The art of giving head.”

My mouth gapes. “You’re not serious.”

“I’m one hundred percent serious. Isn’t that why you agreed? To learn some extracurricular activities?”

“No! I, I—” I shake my head. Why did I agree? I think I was just caught up in the moment. “We’re not doing that.”

“Why not?”

“Being together is a bad idea, you know this.”

“It’s not as if anyone will know. We had fun this summer. I’m willing to sacrifice my body for your learning experience.”

“You sound like a bad porn.”

His shoulders shake. “Fine, just keep it in mind.” He checks the time. “Shit, it’s late.”

I glance at the clock—one o’clock in the morning. I didn’t realize it had gotten this late. “We better leave.” I push to stand and start gathering my belongings.

“Did you drive?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll walk you to your car.”

“You don’t have to.”

He shoots me a look that says ‘yeah, right.’ “You can hate me all you want, but I’ll always make sure you’re safe.”

Warmth floods my insides. “I don’t hate you.” Not anymore.

“Yeah?” His mouth curves to his lopsided grin. When I nod, he drapes his arm around my shoulders. “Good. It’ll make our lessons more fun.”

I shake my head but don’t pull away. Instead, I let him guide me out of the building and into the parking lot. He can’t possibly be serious about teaching me oral sex, can he? When we reach my car and I catch the heat in those stormy, gray eyes, I think he is.

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