Page 64 of The Romance Rivalry

“And—surprise, surprise—in the midst of trying to beat one another to love, we ended up falling for each other,” Aiden says. “Tell me a romance novel better than this.” He rests his chin on his hand propped up by his elbow and looks at me like a lovestruck kid. He even lets out an exaggerated sigh.

The comments go wild.

I narrow my eyes at him.What are you up to?I say to him without words.

Just having some fun, he says back via twinkle in his eye.

You’re so dead, I threaten with a flare of my nostrils.

“Well, look at that, time’s up and we’ve got to get going,” I say to the camera.

“Expect more joint Lives from the two of us to talk about all things romance,” Aiden says. Not something we agreed to, but I’d be willing to discuss as long as we set some boundaries.

“Bye,” I say with the last amount of energy I have left.

“Later,” Aiden says, reaching over and shutting off the Live.

I lean back in my chair and collapse, all the nervous energy leaving my body.

“Well, I guess that went better than I expected. Seriously, though, over the top, much?” I am ready to give Aiden a whooping for his exaggerated winks and oversharing, but he grabs my face in his hands and kisses me, hard.

“Bet you’re gonna get more views than you have on any of your posts in the past six months,” he says. “You’re welcome.” He stands up from his seat, raises his arms into the air in a stretch, and then reaches for the hem of his shirt, pulling it off over his head. Aiden Jeon is standing shirtless in front of me. The smooth planes of his chest and abs are right in my line of sight.

He offers me his hand and I stare at it, unsure what I’m supposed to do. He patiently waits until I figure it out.

Oh, we’re gonna continue what we started earlier. Yay!

I lay my hand in his as he pulls me up to standing. He thengrabs the hem of the sweatshirt along with my T-shirt and pulls it off over my head. Now I’m facing him with just my bra on.

“I’m done talking about the Live, Irene.” He takes my hand back in his and directs me to his bed.

“Fine... for now,” I agree.

“Let’s talk about consent some more instead,” he says, pushing me down onto my back and crawling his way over me.

I nod.

“Is it okay if I kiss you here?” he asks, hovering over my stomach, waiting for my response.

“Yes,” I say.

“How about here?” he asks just below my bra.

“Yes,” I answer, this time breathier.

He pulls the fabric of my bra to the side.

I gasp in anticipation.

“Irene, would you be okay if I kissed you here?” His breath breezes over my nipple. I’m struggling to find words. He’s so close. I want it.

“Irene?”

I look down at his face, waiting for my answer.

“Yes,” I say as his lips kiss my breast.

He scoots up and settles his entire body over mine.

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