Page 69 of Full Tilt
She quirks a brow at me, my finger still hooked under her chin when I inch a little closer.
Jenna draws her knees up to give me space, and like the fucking magnets we are, there’s zero resistance to my approach.
“If you have even one single, tiny thought that anything about last night was your fault—or of your own making—then I want you to listen to me very fucking carefully.”
She drops her eyes to her breakfast again, and since I figure the pancakes are already cold, I slip them off her lap and ontothe side table beside her coffee. Next, I set my own coffee mug down and take the maple syrup from her hand, setting that on the floor beside the bed.
When she looks at me again with big eyes, framed by thick lashes, all I can think about is kissing away any invasive thoughts this girl might have. She might hate my guts, and I might find her insufferable ninety-nine percent of the time. Yet, despite all the toxicity that has passed between us, Jenna Miller is the kind of person who deserves good things.
Bad people do not belong in her life. And if they are, then that has nothing to do with her and everything to do with them crossing boundaries into a world where they don’t belong.
“What’s the matter?” Jenna leans forward, one soft palm coming to rest on my shoulder.
My heart rate slows to a more gentle pace, although my invasive thoughts remain.
She was right when she said that I was bad for her because I don’t belong in here, in her world.
“I …” Like an out-of-body experience, my own voice doesn’t feel like it’s mine when I begin speaking. “I need to get home and pack for Colorado. The team plane leaves in three hours.”
Jenna cocks her head to one side, eyes narrowing slightly. “Now, I want to know whatyou’rehiding.”
My overpowering need to protect you from bad people.
“My annoyance over you wasting the breakfast in bed I made,” is what actually leaves my lips.
She scans my face, and my stomach coils under the weight of her gaze. “You’re just one big act, aren’t you?”
Every muscle in my body mirrors the tension in my stomach, and I shift my hand from under her chin to grasp it between my thumb and forefinger. I’m holding her tighter than I want, but I’m so fucking tense that it’s impossible to ease my grip.
“Am I hurting you?” my subconscious asks on my behalf.
“No.” Jenna’s voice is soft and breathy as she edges a little closer to me. “But I do want you to tell me why you suddenly need to leave. Was it something I said?”
My tongue runs across my bottom lip. We’re still an arm’s length apart, although it feels like I’m pressing her up against the wall again.
“Normally, you can’t wait to see the back of me,” I playfully counter. “Did I say something to make you like me all of a sudden?”
I’m waiting for her to slip into banter mode and tell me that nothing’s changed between us. That she still hates my guts this morning as much as she did the last time we saw each other.
Come on, Hellion. Play the game.
Her face doesn’t change, and neither does the softness behind her eyes.
“You can talk to me, you know? I know I’m probably the last person you ever thought would say that to you, but somehow, I feel like I might also be the first. You don’t have to keep pretending that you’re someone you’re not or maybe don’t want to be.”
Before I know it, I’m closing more distance between us, and my hand is sliding from her chin to the back of her head, pulling Jenna’s mouth closer to my own.
Other than this girl right in front of me, I can’t remember the last time I kissed someone or was even remotely tempted to share something deeply intimate like this.
Fuck.
Her breathing is rapid and ragged, eyes centered solely on my lips.
“Cobra.” My subconscious played no part in what I just said. It was purposeful and protective, and … fuck … I’m already regretful.
Jenna drops her hand from my shoulder and pulls back, just like I expected her to the second our safe word left my lips. After all, that’s exactly the effect I wanted it to have. It’s what it’s designed to do.
What it isn’t meant for is to cause hurt, and that’s precisely what I see creased into the lines across Jenna’s forehead.
