Page 79 of Riot

My heart is racing so fast, I’m surprised Toby can’t hear it. The sexual tension is so thick in the air that it’s hard to breathe, but he doesn’t notice.

Why would he?

This isn’t an unusual scene. Riot and I hang out all the time.

You’re not usually having your mouth devoured by him though.

It was risky to kiss here, where anyone could have walked in. We’re lucky it was Toby and not Mace or Maylie.

“Could ask the same thing of you, kid,” Riot says, and I hear the crack of control he’s struggling to maintain. “It’s late.”

“Ain’t that late,” he counters. “Wanna co-op?”

My stomach sinks. I love my brother, but right now, I need him to leave.

“Dude, it’s nearly midnight. Bed.” Riot’s voice is tight, like he’s about to lose his shit if Toby doesn’t disappear in the next three seconds.

I pull my bottom lip between my teeth, stifling my smile. Warm and wanted, it’s a dizzying combination.

“She won’t even know,” Toby counters. “Just one game.”

Before Riot can strangle him, I throw my brother a life raft he didn’t know he needed. “Go to bed, dork.”

He rolls his eyes. “I’m not a kid, and you call me a dork as if it’s an insult.”

“Youarea kid and you are a dork, and you can rot your brain with all the games you want tomorrow. But bed… now.”

I don’t hear what he mutters as he leaves the room. My eyes are locked on Riot’s in a tug that seems woven into the cosmos. The way he’s looking at me, like he’s burning with need, sends waves of heat through me.

I don’t move. Don’t breathe either.

“Come here.” It’s a low growl that sends shivers trailing up my spine.

I go to him.

How can I not when he commands it so fully?

His hand wraps around my nape the moment I’m within reach. Possessive. Dominant. And I melt into his touch. My body wants this, demands it, as if I’ve been waiting for him my entire life.

It’s everything I shouldn’t want or crave, and with anyone else, I wouldn’t.

But Riot… he’ll never hurt me.

“You okay?”

It’s not what I expect him to ask, so my brows draw together. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“I want you to feel safe with me.” The walls I built to keep out my pain, hold back my suffering, and stop anyone getting too close begin to crumble.

I’ll let him have my most vulnerable parts, the ones I’ve hidden from everyone… even myself.

Because he’s earned this.

He deserves to have all the pieces of me, even the ones that aren’t whole.

I roll to the balls of my feet, and I kiss him. I let everything I’m feeling leak into it, showing him rather than trying to find the right words.

His fingers tangle in my hair, and I cling to his biceps like he’s the only thing anchoring me to this reality.

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