Page 29 of Under Pressure

“A glowing endorsement,” he says dryly.

“We’ve just… always been together. It’s normal.”

“But do you like it?”

I stare at him. “This is the problem with psychology students. They’re constantly psychoanalyzing others.” I poke his chest softly. “And by the way, you’re distracting me. You never answered my original question.”

He smirks. “Took you long enough.”

I fight to hide a smile.

He shrugs his shoulders, rolling them back, calling attention to their size. “Like you said, it was just a kiss. We were having fun.”

Now it’s my turn to make ahmmsound. I mean, it’s not like I expected him to declare his undying love or anything, but a little more meaning assigned to it would have been nice. It was the hottest kiss I’d ever had.

He narrows his eyes at me. “You’re not going to be weird about it, are you?”

“Who, me?” Why is my voice so squeaky? I clear it quickly until it’s back in normal range. “No, that was like a regular Friday night for me,” I lie.

“I thought you said you hadn’t slept with anyone in over a year.”

He actually remembered that? “Kissing someone is a lot different than sleeping with them.” Warmth spreads over my cheeks. This has to be the weirdest conversation I’ve had… in the middle of a boxing ring… with a guy I made out with the other night and thought didn’t even like me a few weeks ago.

He nods and gets back into position. “Break’s over,” he declares. “Hit me.”

“But you don’t have the mitts on your hands,” I point out.

“We’re graduating to the next stage. Try to hit me.”

Uh… I take a step forward and he takes one back. I try again and he backs away, moving smoothly around the ring.

“How am I supposed to hit you if I can’t get near?”

“That’s the challenge.”

“So what do I do?”

“Figure it out.” He does that trademark smirk of his, which I suddenly find infuriating.

I blow out a breath and center myself, approaching him with determination this time. Something like approval flickers in his eyes and he lets me close.

I awkwardly swing at him and he easily dodges it. I try again and same thing. The third time, though, after he ducks he brings his own fist at me, stopping it before it gets too close, but I freeze all the same.

“You’re supposed to dodge it.”

I nod, my heart pounding. His movements had been controlled, but the look in his eyes had been… primal. Leaving civilized and entering wild territory. If I’d seen his eyes that night at Element while kissing him, would they have looked the same way? As he’d invaded my mouth with his tongue? As he’d palmed my ass?

“I wasn’t actually going to hit you,” he says, more concerned now.

“I know,” I whisper, still seized by that flash of barely leashed strength. “It just, um, caught me off guard.”

“Have you ever been hit?” he asks carefully, taking a step closer. His fists clench tight, making the muscles in his forearms flex. Wow, do forearms normally look that good? I glance down at my own, my skin even paler under these fluorescent lights. Not at all like the bronze of his…

“Mia?”

I shake my head, clearing away all other thoughts. “No, I haven’t. That wasn’t some traumatic reaction. You really did just catch me unaware.”

“Okay,” he says more easily. “Do you want to spar again?”

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