Page 5 of Jump

“I don’t want to ask questions.” I lift my chin in faux bravery and dismiss him. “I don’t want to know you.”

“Well, that’s cool. Because tonight, it would seem I’m suffering a fuckin’ aneurysm or something. For a guy who doesn’t normally chat, especially to chicks, here I am anyway. Not shutting up.”

“Odd,” I tease, and smirk when he searches my eyes. “You seem exceptionally talkative. Though of course, I have no pre-experience to compare this to.”

“Ask anyone who knows me,” he chuckles. “They’ll tell you… nothing. Because they never get a word out of me.” Reaching up, he surprises me by grabbing a loose lock of my hair and pushing it behind my ear. “I tend to jump out of things. And into things. And off things.”

“Like…” I ponder. “Buildings?”

He lowers his hand to sit atop my shoulder and slides his thumb along the line of my jaw. “Sure. I’ve jumped off buildings more than a few times. Lived to tell the tale.”

I narrow my eyes and wonder, Is he suicidal? Or a daredevil? “Sounds dangerous.”

“Haven’t died yet.”

But the second the words leave his mouth, his eyes change. They darken a little, and his hand drops away from my face.

“Only child?” he asks next.

I snort, if only to ease the tension rolling between us. It’s not sexual now, the way I was kind of enjoying, but something else. Something darker. “Anonymity prevents me from answering that question. You?”

“I am. And my anonymity remains intact. Do you live in town?”

“I do.” And though I catch Hannah, my roommate, crossing the ballroom and approaching Axel, I don’t mention her. Doing so would give away too much. “I live with my best friend… and hope she doesn’t fall in love too soon this time around.”

Jump lifts his one exposed brow high in confusion. “You don’t want your best friend to fall in love? Wow.” His lips flatten in mock disapproval. “You really are cold.”

“I don’t want her to get hurt,” I counter.

Apparently, I don’t hold the same concern for myself, because when Jump pulls me closer, I absorb his touch and breathe out a sigh of contentment. “I’ve watched her heart break for too long. She deserves better. So I hope that whatever is meant for her… happens painlessly.

“Plus, I don’t want her to move out,” I add as an aside. “I can’t afford my rent alone, and I don’t want to go through the trouble of meeting someone else and hoping they’re not too crazy to live with. I like life how it is right now.”

“Right now?” His pulse jumps beneath my cheek, its rhythm growing fractionally faster. “Right this second?”

My smile grows a little larger. “My home life,” I clarify. “It’s good as it is. We’re a perfect domestic match that I have no desire to mess with. But life right this second?” I parrot. “Is interesting. I’m dancing with a man I don’t know.”

“And by ‘dancing’, do you mean you’re literally standing still and hugging me? Because,” laughing, he catches me when I jerk away, “that’s all you’re doing.”

“We’re not hugging.” I scowl. “It’s dancing, just like everyone else. And you’re mean. Does it bring you pleasure to embarrass me?”

“Sometimes.” He yanks me back in and sways, so we’re not just hugging anymore. “Had you told me your name is something other than Anarchy, I might be less inclined to test you. But you’re the one who set the tone tonight, Ana. You’re the cold-hearted psycho, right? I’m merely protecting myself and searching for our boundaries.”

He likes to push, to see where the rules sit. To know what buttons he’s allowed to press, and which he can’t.

And I… am too shy for my own good.

“I’m untouchable.” I flatten my lips and look past him. Dismissive. Unkind. “You can’t hurt me.”

“Great.” He pulls me closer and wraps his arms around my torso until my lungs constrict and the air in them gusts out to bathe his neck. “I need you to be unbreakable. I need you to be tough as fuckin’ nails. Because I can’t handle delicate these days. Not in the one woman who has made me look twice for the first time in… forever.”

Jump

LIVING IN THE MOMENT AND ALL THAT SHIT

What the fuck are you doing?

I sway in the middle of Nicole Scott’s birthday extravaganza, holding a beautiful, shy, curvy goddess who proclaims to be hard and mean. But her mask can’t hide the sweet blush that warms her cheeks every time I say something complimentary.

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