Page 54 of Bet on It

Chapter 18

“You have no idea how hard I’m working to convince myself that you aren’t marchin’ me to my death right now.”

She didn’t even look back as she led them down the creaky wooden path. “Maybe you’re leading yourself to your own death by doubting your instincts.”

The sound of his shoes against the ground stopped, and she finally turned to see him standing behind her, legs steeled. They were both silent, the sound of the summer breeze moving the leaves of the tall trees was the only thing to remind her that something other than just the two of them existed.

“Look at me,” Walker commanded. “Look into my eyes.”

He could have ordered her to get on her back and put her knees up to her ears and she would have followed without complaint. Somehow this felt more difficult. Her eyes met his and they were dark, unrelenting as they bored into hers. Walker was silent as he stared at her. So many seconds passed that she thought she might have slipped into a trance. When he finally pulled his gaze away, there was a smirk on his lips so devilish she was surprised he hadn’t sprouted horns.

“You’re not goin’ to kill me. I can see it.”

“And how is that?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I made you drive all the way out to the edge of town with me, there’s nothing around for miles, and you pretty much followed me without question. If I were planning to kill you, I would definitely be succeeding right now.”

Walker shook his head, his hair falling into his eyes. He ran a hand through it, pushing it back. “Nah, I’m pretty positive.”

“You can’t be positive. You’ve barely known me a month. I could totally be turning on you right now.”

“I looked in your eyes,” he said simply.

Aja snorted. “I cannot stress enough how little that means, Walker.”

“Well, if that’s not enough to convince you of my confidence, there’s also the fact that I’ve been inside you.”

The words sent her spinning. Whatever words had been planning to come out of her mouth were released sputtering and incoherent. “Walker! Are you serious?!”

“I’m just sayin’—you learn a lot about a person when you’ve literally felt them at their most vulnerable. And when are we more vulnerable than mid orgasm?”

“I might not have been planning to kill you before, but I’m seriously thinking about it now.…”

“This is a good thing, Aja. I know you. You know me. And all because we gave each other the sacred gift of our bodies.”

“That is patently false, you are an unserious person, and now I’m regretting ever feeling anything even remotely close to lust for your goofy ass.”

Walker’s lips turned up. “We both know that’s a bold-faced-ass lie.”

“Shut up!” she grumbled, knowing he was right. “I’m going back to the car, you don’t deserve to see the beauty of my extra special, super-secret spot.”

His arms went around her waist before she could stomp away. He pulled her closer, until her back was flush with his chest. It was hot out, one of those days when it wasn’t uncommon to hear “it’s too hot out for all that touching” in Black households. They both wore shorts; him, a pair of dark khaki ones that fell just above his knee, and her, a pair of black ones that barely contained her thighs. They’d only been touching for mere moments, but the skin on their arms stuck together as she put hers over his around her middle.

“Wait, wait, wait…” The words were said into the shell of her ear. “Maybe I was too quick to judge. Maybe you are here to drag me to my death.”

“And…?”

Walker sighed deeply. “And maybe I don’t know the true nature of your being just because we’ve had sex.”

She flicked the back of his hand, and his arms tightened around her. “But just so we’re being clear,” she said with a smile, “you’re admitting to me that I could absolutely kill you if I wanted to. And that you don’t know me well enough to be absolutely, completely sure that I wouldn’t. And for that reason you should always be a little bit scared of me.”

“Oh, well, I can tell you right now that I’m completely fuckin’ terrified of you. Just not necessarily for that reason.”

She tilted her head back against his shoulder and lifted her face up towards him so she could look him in the eyes. “I would like to clarify that you should only be afraid of me because I could, in theory, murder you. Not for any other reason.”

“You could do a lot worse than kill me.”

She shook her head and pulled away completely. His arms around her were too overwhelming, the feeling of him sweeping her up in something they were actively trying not to get swept up in.

Aja told herself that Walker was referring to her ability to maim him or rob him blind. She was willing to consider any possibility as long as it was far from what her gut told her he was referring to—that she had the power to break his heart. She couldn’t go down that road, not right now, not ever. If she let herself think about how she had that power, she’d have no choice but to admit that he might have the same over her.

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