Page 25 of Tangled Rose

I sneak a peek at Beau out of the corner of my eye. He’s sitting so quietly with his plate on his lap, and dammit, he’s full-on staring at me. He hasn’t touched a bite of his pizza. Giving him a little eye roll, I groan, “What?”

Everyone kind of freezes at my tone and I cringe internally. Why am I such a bitch to him sometimes?

He takes a second to set his plate aside on the end table next to his comic. Getting up, he grabs another paper plate and loads it with three pieces of pizza before pulling a paper towel free from the roll. He holds the plate in front of me. “Come on. You’re salivating.”

I hold my hands up before I shake my head, a lie spilling out. “I don’t get any more allowance from my parents until the end of first semester, assuming I keep my grades up.” Everyone’s eyes are on me now, and I’m so uncomfortable I could crawl right out of my skin.

Beau presses his lips together, blowing a puff of air out his nose. “Come here.” He turns around and sets the plate on the coffee table, holding a hand out to me.

“What?”

“I want to talk to you for a second. Come on.”

A deep crease forms on my forehead, but I take his hand and let him pull me to my feet. We circle around the couches and leave the theater room. As Beau yanks the door shut, I hear hushed conversation already starting and my cheeks infuse with color. Oh man. It seems like all I’m doing lately is making a spectacle of myself.

He tugs me directly across the hall into the room with all the games and shuts that door behind us, too, before he lets go of my hand and leans back against it.

Beau’s teeth grind as he stands there watching me.

“What are we doing in here?”

“I wanted to talk to you and figured you’d appreciate not having the audience.”

I glance down at my bare feet, scrunching my toes in the carpeting.

“The pizza is paid for. We were offering to share. That’s all. And unless you’re hoarding food in your room, you haven’t eaten since that half an omelet this morning.”

“What are you doing, watching me?” I immediately sass back, unable to help myself. My walls need to be up-up-up right now because I’m scared Beau’s about to strong-arm his way past them, and I’ll tell him everything. I’ve already said more than I should have. I can only hope they bought that bit about my allowance.

There’s definitely no allowance coming. Ever.

“Yep. I’ve been watching you for sure. I also know for a fact you ran at least thirty minutes this morning and then worked out hard. You can’t function with no food, Lyla. Not at the level of gymnastics that you do. You need to fuel your body properly or you’ll get hurt.”

That gets to me, mostly because he’s completely right. My chin wobbles. This guy is starting to figure me out… and if they find out who I am and where I come from, this whole thing might be over. They won’t want me here, and his parents might ask me to leave, and I haven’t even gotten a chance to show anyone what I can do yet.

“In case you hadn’t figured it out, I’m nervous about starting school, and I don’t know what to do with myself.” I raise my hands in a classic I don’t know gesture before I drop them in defeat. My gaze falls to the floor.

Beau closes the distance between us, putting his fingers under my chin and lifting my face to his. “For once, listen to me without lashing out. Can you do that?”

Thrown off completely by his proximity and gentle touch, I nod.

“No one here is out to get you. You have every right to be here. You earned a scholarship, for Christ’s sake. You must be flipping fantastic. Pardon the pun.” He smirks for a second. “I’ve hardly seen you in action yet, and you’re already impressing the hell out of me. No one here wants to hurt you or see you fail.” His eyes, dark and stormy, bore into mine. “Do you understand all that?”

I nod again.

“I need a verbal answer, Seven. Do you understand I don’t have any intention of hurting you?”

The answer drops from my lips in a surprised whisper. “Yes.” All the fight has gone out of me.

“Good.” He takes my head in his hands and kisses me hard. His lips rub, coaxing me to respond, and I do. Oh my God, I do. Fire streaks through me, hot and wicked. My chest shudders as he takes the kiss deeper, his tongue sweeping inside my mouth with such toe-curling possession, I’m not sure I ever want him to stop. His fingers slide into my hair just behind my ears, thumbs grazing over my cheekbones. He uses his lips and tongue and teeth, exploring every inch of my mouth. I lift onto my tiptoes, trying to get closer to him and all coherent thoughts fly from my head. I want him. I want this. Need his touch.

Oh, fuck. I hope this isn’t a mistake, because it feels so good.I bite his lower lip, then tug on it a bit, finally sucking it into my mouth. Beau exhales sharply, grabs me under the arms, and lifts me until I clamp my legs around his hips. His hands drift down my back, and he palms my ass, grinding his hard length against my clit.

I whimper. I goddamn whimper at the feel of him and the rush of tingles coursing down to my pussy. Lust infuses every cell of my body.

He’s aroused. Long, thick, and powerful.

I’m aroused. Wet and wanting.

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