Page 23 of Strip Bare

The house was lit up by the time I reached it, the kitchen lights illuminating the sides of the house through the windows and I sniffed cautiously as I entered, hoping that Xander hadn't been cooking. But nothing smelled burned, which was a good sign, and when I walked into the lounge I paused at the sight of Kit and Xander sitting with my family and passing around pizza boxes.

"I thought we were going out for dinner?"

"Leo!" My mom smiled as she turned. "You're just in time, sweetheart. We thought it might be nice to have a more relaxed night in, maybe play some games."

"Game night?" I couldn't hide my hope and Saylor grinned at me from Xander's side on the couch.

Game night had always been my favorite family night, especially when we played—

"Scrabble?" Kit said, coming out from behind me where he'd gone to retrieve plates and napkins judging by the stack in his arms, and nodded to the table where the box was already out. I took some plates out of his hands and tried to swallow. Scrabble shouldn't have sounded like a dirty word, it shouldn't have turned me on, but Kit whispering it in my ear when he knew how much I loved that game…

Yeah. It did things to me.

"Here, I saved you a box. I know you don't like to share."

I stared at him as I put the plates on the coffee table in front of the sofa and took the box he was offering me. He was right. Communal foods that everyone had their hands in was not my thing.

I cleared my throat. "Thank you." We dug in and I chewed quietly as they chatted amongst themselves. Maybe it was the alcohol in my system, or maybe Kat had been right. Doing nothing hadn't exactly worked for me thus far, so if I wanted Kit to be mine—really mine—then I needed to do something to make it happen.

By the time the plates were cleared away and the Scrabble board was brought out, I'd talked myself in and out of various plans a dozen times. I was probably going to have to sleep on it. Of course, that was easier said than done when the person I was so torn up about would be sleeping right next to me.

After three rounds of Scrabble that I won, and one round of Boggle that I didn't, we all headed up to bed so my parents could get on the road early the next day. Nerves curled inside my stomach like butterflies flapping their wings and I felt vaguely sick as Kit closed his bedroom door behind us. There was no reason for me to feel so nervous tonight versus any of the other nights I'd spent in his bed, listening to the soothing sound of his breathing, surrounded by his smell. Maybe it was because of the realization I'd had, the decision I'd made, that made this night feel different. More electric. Or maybe it was the way he watched me as he undressed, hungry but knowing, until he climbed under the covers in nothing but his boxers.

"Has it been nice having them here?" he said quietly once I was settled next to him. I nodded and then realized he couldn't see me in the dark.

"Yeah, I hadn't realized how much I'd been missing them." I moved my feet against the covers absently, enjoying the sensation of the duvet on my toes. It was an odd habit, but it relaxed me and thankfully Kit didn't seem to mind the slight motion of my legs under the sheets. "Do you miss your parents?"

"Sometimes," he mused. "But I have Bryn and that helps. I think my mom is actually coming down here soon."

"Cool," I said, unsure what else to say, and knew he was smiling at me from the sound of his voice when he next spoke.

"I think she'd like you."

"Your mom?"

"Yeah."

"My parents love you," I said without thinking and then winced into the dark. "They think you're perfect for me."

"I am."

My heartbeat quickened and I licked my lips before daring to reply. "Oh?"

"I played the perfect boyfriend, Leo. Did you expect anything less?"

Right. Playing. My jaw clenched and I had to force the words out past my teeth and the unexpected surge of anger. "And when you had me in this bed? You were just playing then too?"

"Weren't you?" Kit said, voice hushed, and I felt like I was burning with the desire to tell him not to be ridiculous. That I wanted him, no pretending required. It felt like a test, like a precipice that if I jumped off of I'd never land correctly.

"Of course," I said, cursing my own cowardice even as my body leaned in closer to him.

"Right."

I sighed and rolled away from him so I faced the room. The house was silent, just the city sounds outside trickling in through the window we'd cracked to help with the heat and Kit's breathing, in sync with my own.

"Where were you tonight? Before you got home?"

Was this what Kat had been talking about? Was this jealousy? How was I supposed to play this? "Why does it matter?"

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