Page 173 of The Wrong Play

Her mouth parted, her breathing still thick with sleep. “You…handcuffed me to the bed?”

“Sure did.”

“With furry pink handcuffs?”

“Best I could find on short notice.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, inhaling through her nose, exhaling through her mouth. “Jace.”

“Yes, baby?”

“I swear to God, if you don’t uncuff me?—”

I raised a brow. “You swear to God? Really? That’s a strong accusation coming from someone who was at a fucking bus stop yesterday.”

She flinched, guilt flashing across her face. She opened her mouth, then closed it, her lips pressing into a tight line.

I crossed my arms again, staring down at her. “You did leave, Riley.” My voice wasn’t teasing anymore. “You ran.”

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed.

I exhaled sharply, shaking my head. “Do you have any idea what that did to me?” I murmured, my voice lower now, rougher.

Her expression softened.

“I love you,” I said fiercely. “I don’t know how else to say it. I don’t know how to make you believe it enough to stay.”

Her eyes welled up, but she blinked fast, like she was trying to hold it together. “Jace…”

I climbed onto the bed, bracing myself over her, one arm on either side of her head. “No more running,” I murmured, pressing my forehead to hers. “No more leaving.”

She didn’t answer right away. Instead, her free hand came up, sliding into my hair, gripping the back of my neck as she pulled me down, her lips brushing against mine. “I won’t leave you,” she whispered.

I sighed, the knot in my chest loosening slightly.

She pulled back, a small, amused smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she lifted her cuffed wrist. “But this is a little excessive.”

“Disagree.”

Riley rolled her eyes, but there was no real heat behind it. “Jace.”

She was giving me the look. That half-glare, half-exasperated,are you actually serious right now, expression that I’d come to know intimately since she’d entered my life.

I, however, was unbothered. Entirely unbothered.

She stretched her fingers, testing the chain again, as if in the last thirty seconds some magical shift had occurred and she’d suddenly be free. When, in reality, all she was doing was proving that I’d done a damn good job making sure she stayed right where I left her.

I smirked. “You’re gonna make yourself sore if you keep yanking on that.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Take this off.”

I clicked my tongue. “Mm. No can do, babycakes.”

She sucked in a breath, clearly wrestling with every ounce of patience in her soul. “Jace.”

“Riley.” I grinned, settling onto the bed beside her.

She flopped back against the pillow, exhaling through her nose in a loud burst. “You cannot actually be serious.”

---