Page 84 of Pick Me

“What do you want to talk about?” he teased, but there was an edge of curiosity beneath it.

I tilted my head, fixing him with an exasperated glare. “I think we both know.”

His smirk softened. “Us?”

“Yes.”

Jackson’s fingers traced a slow, teasing path up the sheet, each movement deliberate as if he was savoring the anticipation. When he reached the edge, covering my breasts, he hesitated, just long enough for my breath to catch, before tugging the fabric away.

His gaze dropped to my bare skin, darkening with something that made my stomach twist and making me reconsider my stance.

“Well, I don’t want this to end between us,” he said.

I swallowed. “You mean the sex?”

His lips twitched. “No. All of it. The sex is good—great, actually. The best I’ve ever had. There’s more to you, though, and I love unraveling every little piece of you.”

My heart pounded against my ribs. “You do?”

Instead of answering, he leaned in, his lips brushing against mine. The kiss was soft, sweet, and chaste in a way that felt almost cruel, considering we were both naked.

His forehead rested against mine as he said, “Have I ever lied to you?”

“Yes.”

He lifted one brow. “Name one.”

I opened my mouth, fully prepared to list something off, but… I came up blank.

Jackson grinned, pointing at me. “See! You talk this big game by calling me a jackass, but I’m not that.”

“No. You’re not.”

His expression softened. “What I’m trying to ask you, Thea… will you be my girlfriend?”

I blinked. “Whoa, I just wanted to know if you were serious about me. I didn’t realize we were already in the girlfriend territory.”

“You’d be the first one I’d deemed worthy enough for that title.”

“Really?” Something about that made my chest ache.

His gaze searched mine, a flicker of something unreadable passing through it. “Why are you so surprised?”

I shrugged, swallowing the sudden lump in my throat. “I don’t know. I guess no one has ever really asked me to be their girlfriend before.”

“Why do you keep acting like you aren’t the best thing I’ve ever laid eyes on, Pyro?”

I scoffed. “Because the way you laid your eyes on me before a couple of days ago would have told me otherwise.”

He sucked in a breath and dropped his head. “Well, damn. You sure know how to hit a guy where it hurts.”

When he looked up again, his usual smirk had gone. His eyes, dark and unreadable, burned into mine with something darker.

“You want to know why I never looked at you like that?”

I nodded.

“Because the first day I met you, I put you off-limits. I tried to pretend you were just one of the guys and if I berated you enough, you’d do something that would completely turn me off. Then maybe, just maybe, I’d be able to ignore the way I felt.”

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