Page 18 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

Holy shit, she was addictive.

Giving myself a few more seconds to drown in the taste of her, I finally pulled back, loosening my hold and breathing her in.

Seeing her standing there, her eyes still closed as a soft smile slipped calmly onto her lips, I knew I’d never get tired of this. With her.

“I retract my earlier statement,” she said, her eyelids fluttering open. “I don’t like your kisses.”

I frowned. She what?

She grinned. “I love them. I love your lips. They’re so soft.”

I gave her a little smirk. “Ditto, baby. Ditto.”

She laughed. “All right. I better go.”

“Yeah, I think you better . . .”

Grabbing up my shirt, I took her hand and pulled her out my door, only to stop dead in my tracks as I came face-to-face with Ryan at the top of the stairs.

His gaze jumped from me to Amy before he laughed. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he said.

Amy stiffened beside me, making me pull her in a little closer.

He let out another harsh laugh and pinned Amy with a hateful glare. “You couldn’t have me, so you decided you’d go for my brother? That’s pathetic, even for you, Amy.”

I felt my whole body tighten. “One more word, little brother . . .”

Ryan’s gaze snapped to mine with surprise. “Are you serious?”

I glared at him.

“Fuck, you are.” He shook his head and glanced between me and Amy. “You’re wasting your time there, man. You won’t get anything out of that uptight bitch.”

That’s all it took for me to snap. Before he knew what had hit him, I had him pinned to the wall, my forearm pressed against his windpipe. “You have exactly three seconds to apologize to Amy,” I snarled.

I saw the defiance in his eyes. I pressed harder.

“Two seconds.”

He gave me a hard stare.

“One second.”

He held my gaze for a split second before glancing over to Amy. I loosened my hold so he could get the word out.

“Sorry.”

I knew it wasn’t heartfelt, and I wanted to hurt him for not meaning it, but I also just wanted to get Amy away from him. Shoving him one last time, I stepped back and took Amy’s hand.

I didn’t spare him another glance as I led Amy down the stairs and out to her car. It felt a bit like the first night I’d met her as I stopped beside the driver’s door.

“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning every bit of the word.

“It’s okay,” she said softly. “And you have nothing to be sorry for.”

Unexpectedly, she placed her hand on my cheek and stretched up to kiss the corner of my mouth. Not one to miss an opportunity, I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her against me, taking her mouth with a heated kiss that held all of my frustrations.

Amy kissed me back with just as much heat, wrapping her legs around my hips and her arms around my neck.

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