Page 138 of Wild Like Us
She smiles. “Alright.” But she swipes her debit card in the pad. “I’m paying for my date this time around.”
“Fine,” I sigh with a smile, then slip the card into my wallet. Before we leave, the two of us linger near a rack of canoes on the far wall. She must want extra time with me too. My chest rises, and we both set down our shopping bags.
Sulli pretends to inspect the three-person canoe. Mostly, she keeps glancing back at me.
I ask, “What’s on your mind?”
Her fingers skim down the canoe’s vibrant green exterior. “I just hope you know that I’m supportive of you and your businesses. I don’t want to hold you back, and I don’t blame you for bailing.”
It’s hard to inhale. “Is that what you think? That I’m bailing on you?”
She brushes her hair out of her face. “No…I don’t know. I guess in a sense you technically are, but it’s understandable. And I understand you want more than just to be my full-time bodyguard.”
I don’t want more than that.
But I do.
I hate that I do.
I’ve wanted it for my dad. For myself. Since I was eighteen and I started my own gym, I’ve wanted it all. And it’s beenhard. I’ve met setbacks and roadblocks and now creating a new company has its own challenges. But no challenge is harder than saying goodbye to Sulli.
Connor Cobalt’s voice rings in my head:Be a full-time bodyguard or be a businessman. There’s a great chance you won’t be able to do both.
That time hasn’t come yet. I refuse to believe it has.
“I’m still your bodyguard,” I remind her. “Nothing’s changed.”Yet.
She nods, but she doesn’t look fully convinced. “To be fucking crystal, I want whatever brings you the most happiness. If that means leaving my detail for something else, I’ll understand.” She pauses. “I wouldn’t say it won’t hurt. Someone once told me thatlove hurts, so that’s probably why it wouldn’t be that easy.”
Love.
I breathe in. “Who said that?” I smile teasingly.
She hesitates, wavers, shifts her weight. “Me?”
Banks said it.
Fucking Banks.
I can’t even be upset. “You wouldn’t even win bronze in Lying. You’d get a cheap tin-bottle cap with the wordsLoserin marker.”
She shoves my arm with a smile.
I smile back, then get more serious. “I appreciate your support—I always will, but it’s not easy for me to just walk away either. I love being your bodyguard, Sulli. I want to be on your detail as much as I can, as long as I can.” As I edge nearer, I glance at her lips; she glances at mine, and I say, “And I want to kiss you.”
My fingers tighten on her wrists at her side, and her breath hitches.
“A friendly kiss, or…?” She smiles playfully but it falters as she stares at my mouth.
My lips drop to her ear, giving her more. “I’ve heard you come, Sul. I’vemadeyou come. And every night, I go to bed picturing myself inside of you. Sono,not a friendly kiss.”
Her chest rises in a deeper inhale. “Should we buy some rope?” Her eyes lock onto mine in greater challenge.
“But, string bean, you have enough rope to climb with.”
Her face flushes. “You know what I mean.”
“Do I?” I’m being a dick and giving her a hard time, but I can’t help it.
