Page 23 of Beautiful Defiance

“Pinky swear,” she says.

“Negatory that. My word is good.”

“Not for me. How about a handshake or a fist bump?”

“Uh-uh. We do something reserved for us.”

Her eyes narrow. “What exactly would that be?”

“You kiss the right corner of my mouth, and I kiss your left.”

“From what vantage point? Me looking at you? That would make your right my left. Or am I kissing what is your right if I were to stand behind you?”

She smirks.

This girl and her smart-assery.

I throw my hands in the air. “Choose a side, Leigh. How about that?”

“Sure. Less thinking involved.”

No shit. I’m already thinking long and hard on what her lips will feel like on my skin.

“Okay, close your eyes, Seven.”

I shake my head. Stroke my chin. Tsk for good measure. “Sorry, Defiance, but I have a say in how this goes down, and my say is my eyes stay open. Now if you prefer to close yours—”

“Nope.”

“We’re agreeing?”

“Apparently?” She shrugs.

I smile, liking too much that we’re on the same wavelength.

“Do it already so I can give you a chaste-as-fuck peck.”

“So eloquent.” She steps closer. “So romantic.” Crowds my space. “So utterly Seven.”

She stands on the tips of her toes, and like a stupid insect caught in the web of the wily spider, I watch her face come closer to mine, my heart ratcheting against my ribcage and my mouth going dry.

Her lips connect with the flesh at the corner of my mouth. I shouldn’t be getting off on how soft her lips are on a part of me that doesn’t get any action. I prefer a girl’s mouth on other parts of my body. But electric heat zings up and down my body and settles in my crotch. A groan slips from me.

Leigh lingers, and another groan starts at my core, travels to my chest, and threatens to edge out from between my clenched jaw. Leigh’s lips, soft like cotton, are killing me softly. Not to mention the cut on her bottom lip intensifies the experience, lending a roughness to the softness, and it gets me damn hard.

My fingers itch to grasp her by the waist and yank her against the bulge in my pants. Her lips still on my skin, she raises a brow, daring me to go with the dangerous thought.

We’re not doing this to take this situation of ours from frenemies to friend zone to something dumb like boyfriend-girlfriend in two seconds flat. We’re doing this because my word isn’t good enough for Beautiful Defiance. I’ll show her which one of us calls the shots around here.

I step back and swipe my palms on my jeans. Yeah, I’m not turned on by that closed-mouth kiss. Not even a little bit.

“My turn.”

“Do you mind if we sit? I’m worn out.” Shaky smile from her.

“Aw, shit, your cut and the pneumonia. I’m sorry, Leigh. It was dumb of me to forget.”

“If it makes you feel better, I forget stuff when you’re around.”

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