Page 6 of Sofa King Devotion

I gasp. “Lane Thomas, you swore on your goldfish Mr. Fish Fisherman that you’d never mention that again. And I can’t believe you’d put his life in danger.”

That finally gets to her, and she snorts before she realizes she’s done it and claps a hand over her mouth.

“Look at you, murdering an innocent fish and now you’re laughing.” I shake my head in mock disappointment. “I shared my deepest, darkest secret with you, and you turned it against me the first chance you got.”

“First chance?” She’s grinning now, playfully poking back at me. “I’ve had ample opportunity to tell the world, and I’ve kept my mouth shut.”

“Yeah, right. Like you could have resisted telling Liv.” When she raises her chin defiantly, I blink at her. “Seriously? You never told her?”

“Nope.” She shrugs and then leans against the workbench. “I knew she wouldn’t be able to keep it.”

I think about that for a second then dismiss the thought. If Lane told Liv to keep it a secret, she would have. Liv loves to talk, but she wouldn’t break a promise to her sister. Not a real one.

“Or maybe you wanted it to be our secret,” I hedge as I step closer. She’s still against the workbench as I come over and put my hands on either side of her, blocking her escape. “Maybe you liked me telling only you.”

“It’s not that big of a secret.” She tries to play it off, but we both know she’s lying.

“Tell me a secret,” I say softly as I tuck her hair behind her ear.

“I don’t have any.” Her breath gets caught in her throat when my fingers touch the shell of her ear and then trace down her neck.

“I think it’s only fair now that you’ve broken your promise and killed your goldfish.” I love the way the edge of her lips turns up, and I want to kiss her right there.

“I’m pretty sure he died before I made that swear.” She licks her lips, and I don’t miss the way her pink tongue makes them shiny.

“Then you definitely owe me something.” I bend down, close enough that I can feel her breath against my mouth.

“W-what do you have in mind?” She’s looking up at me through her lashes, and my god, do I want her.

“I think you should buy me tonight.”

I must say the wrong thing, because an icy sheet falls between us, and she leans away from me.

“No thanks.” She’s pushing my arm out of the way, and I’m so stunned by what’s happened that I don’t get a chance to stop her.

“Lane, what?—”

“If you can manage the cabinet on your own, then I’ll be out front waiting.”

Before I can say another word, she’s gone. I’m standing in her workshop all alone wondering what the fuck just happened.

I was inches away from the woman of my dreams, and suddenly we are miles apart.

Chapter Five

LANE

That man drives me insane. If he thinks I’m going to join his fan club, he’s lost his damn mind. I drop my head back and take a long, deep breath. I’m not sure how much longer I can do this.

Everything feels overwhelming. No matter how many walls I throw up, Sawyer manages to climb right over them. He has no idea what this does to me, and it’s my fault. Sawyer is a flirt and my frenemy. When we were younger, we were friends, but as we grew up, things started to change for me. I saw Sawyer in a different light, and that’s when I noticed so did all of the other girls in school.

What really put me off was in the sixth grade, I overheard Carly Rose telling a few of the other girls in my homeroom that Sawyer kissed her. I’d seen the two of them hanging out more, and she was constantly at his locker. There was no way for me to miss it because my locker was right next to his. We planned it that way.

After I heard her say they kissed, I got a bigger backpack and ditched my locker. I also ditched Sawyer. I was hurt and got pissy about it even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. The distance I put between us didn't matter, though. I could never get that hurt to go away.

What was worse is that he and Carly only lasted a couple of days. Even now, I clench my fist thinking about it. I couldn’t believe he gave away his first kiss like that. Like it was nothing. I know it was his first kiss because when he asked me if I'd ever been kissed and I said no, he said he hadn't either. I stupidly thought he was going to save it for me, but I guess he solved that problem all on his own.

My attention snaps back to my store when I hear the door open. Sawyer comes out with the small china cabinet on a dolly. I watch as he wheels it out all on his own.

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