Page 12 of Strip Bare

Kit's fingers flew as he typed out a message but his eyes were calm a moment later when he looked up and found me watching. "She's alright. Her stuff is wrecked though, I'm going to go and see if I can help."

I half-stood with him, catching his hand in mine before abruptly letting go. "Do you want me to come too ?"

He shook his head. "It'll be okay. I'm sorry I can't stay," he said to my parents who waved him off. Before I could process what he was doing, my mouth was captured by his and the breath in my body was being ripped away from me as I fought for composure.

"We're going to talk about this later," he murmured in my ear and I wasn't sure what to say. Talk about Bryn? The kisses he kept laying on me? Something else?

He kissed my cheek, the metal of his lip piercing cold against the flush I could feel in my face. "See you later."

I raised my hand, dazed as he walked away. So much for keeping my distance and protecting my heart.

* * *

"Is Bryn okay?"

I'd been nervously pacing for the majority of the afternoon while my parents went out with Saylor to explore. I didn't know what Kit wanted to say to me. Maybe he'd realized what a terrible idea this had been and wanted to call the whole thing off. I hadn't heard a word from him since he'd left Cocoa & Rum earlier, so there I was, pacing in circles like a mad man until the moment he walked through the door.

"Fine, a little shook up from the shock of it. We're just lucky she was out with us this morning otherwise the ceiling would have come down on her fucking head."

Well if that wasn't a sign from the universe that having a buffer between Kit and me was a good idea, then I didn't know what was.

"I'm glad she's alright. Is she going to stay with us?"

Kit kicked off his shoes and ruffled his hands through his blue hair before flopping down onto his bed. "Actually, no. Jamie offered her the couch at her and Liv's place."

"That was nice of her."

"Yeah."

Silence fell and I twisted my hands together as I watched him stare up at the ceiling.

"Leo."

"Yes?"

"Get over here."

"What?"

He looked at me, the demand clear on his face and I bit my lip as I moved closer to him. As soon as I was within reach, Kit grabbed my arm, toppling me over half-onto the bed and half-sprawling against his chest. I scrambled to roll away and he sighed.

"That. That right there is what we need to talk about. Why do you keep pulling away from me? How are we supposed to look like a couple when you practically recoil every time I touch you?"

I didn't want to hear these words coming out of his mouth, or see the heat in his eyes. Because what could I tell him? That I pulled away because I liked it too much when he was only being a good friend to me?

"I don't want to take advantage of you," I said quietly, refusing to meet his eyes until his palm cupped my chin and tugged my face back to his.

"Leo, you're not taking anything I'm not freely giving. I'm sorry if me touching you like that makes you feel uncomfortable or—"

"It doesn't," I said quickly, my mouth moving before my brain could think it through.

He paused and I counted his breaths until he spoke. "Then I think there's only one thing for us to do here."

His blue eyes were burning intensely, the color somehow like fire instead of ice and I wanted to drown in the heat.

"What?"

"I'm going to touch you," he said slowly and it felt like my heart stopped. "It doesn't have to mean anything, if you want me to stop I will. But you need to get used to having my hands on you. My mouth. Okay?"

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