Page 60 of Star-Crossed
The pancakes shrank into a starchy wad in his stomach.
That had been his first mistake. Lyra had no way of knowing that a spread worthy of a lumberjack was part of his regular daily routine.
Assuming she’d want to spend the day with him had been the second. Aside from the fact that he’d already committed to help build a retaining wall at his dad’s house, Cy had been an idiot to suppose that Lyra’s experience of their encounter in his bedroom matched his own.
Simply put, she’d rocked his world.
Just because the saying was trite didn’t mean it wasn’t accurate.
When he met her eyes in the mirror while he moved inside her, his entire existence had shifted abruptly off its axis.
Cy’s gut twisted into knots, anger and regret warring inside him.
Why had he confessed his feelings for her? He knew she didn’t want anything serious. Now he’d made a fool of himself and probably scared her off for good.
He risked a glance at Lyra as they made the last turn before they reached Star-Crossed. Desire and possessiveness rose in equal measure. The thought of her with other men made his blood boil. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, claim her as his, consequences be damned.
“Here we are,” he said gruffly, pulling up in front of the store. He itched to put the truck into park, leap out of his seat, and run around to get her door, but after the way the morning had gone, he didn’t dare make any gesture even remotely adjacent to chivalry.
Which Kiki found unacceptable, if the pointy elbow digging into his ribs was any indication.
“Thanks for the ride.” Unbuckling her seatbelt, Lyra awkwardly scooted forward with the box on her lap.
“Welcome,” Cy said.
The door slammed behind her with a bang that echoed in his chest.
Kiki didn’t waste any time. She scooted over one seat and waited until they’d pulled away from the curb to punch Cy hard in the bicep. The pain crackled down his arm, briefly numbing his fingers on the steering wheel.
“Jesus.” He reached up to rub the now pulsing spot. “What was that for?”
Her deadpan expression made it clear she wasn’t going to let him off the hook easily. “Already?” she asked, shaking her head.
“Alreadywhat?” Okay, so now he was just blatantly playing for time, but it seemed important from his present vantage.
Shifting in her seat, Kiki angled her torso to stare at Cy’s profile. And even though his peripheral vision had also been affected in the fateful car accident, he was certain that she didn’t blink.
Maybe for the first time in his life, he felt a pang of sympathy for the unfortunates who found themselves on the other side of the interrogation table from his sister. Rumor had it that she’d even made a career criminal, who’d somehow evaded capture for ten years after knocking over a series of banks, cry.
Cy’s left armpit began to sweat.
And still, Kiki didn’t say a word.
“Look, it was late when we finished at your place last night and Lyra didn’t want to wake Gabe and Gemma up, so I let her crash at my place.”
Actually, come to think of it,thathad been his first mistake.
Part recovery ward, part man cave, his modest home had been his inner sanctum for the last several years. A place where he could return to sleep, shower, shave.
And game.
He fought a sinking feeling in his stomach as he remembered how Lyra had attempted to quickly arrange her face into a neutral expression after discovering his gaming room.
Sure, he hadn’t expected her to get hard for movie posters or the mint first-edition League of Legends figurines. But the exact replica of Henry Cavill’s gaming rig complete with ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080Ti?
That was worth at least a semi-stiffy.
For anyone who’d seen Henry Cavill’s PC rig, anyway.
