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“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because of last night.”

“What?” she said, her voice reaching heights that were almost only audible to Poppy. “That was...nothing. We made out.”

He crossed his arms in return. “We made out?”

“Yeah, we kissed. So...so what? No big deal. I’ve kissed guys that I’ve only known for, like, twenty minutes. It’s really only surprising that we’ve never kissed before. We’ve known each other forever. Not really a huge shock that we’d test the waters. Ha. Waters. See what I did there?”

He reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her toward him. “Stop,” he said, anger pooling in his gut. “Stop making it a joke.”

“We kissed, Jace. Stop making a huge deal out of it. We don’t need a postmortem. There’s not even a body.”

“Just a kiss?”

“Yeah.”

He swore and released his hold on her, pushing his fingers through his hair. “Just a kiss? That’s what that was to you? That’s why you were digging your nails into my back like that? Do you kiss all your dates that way, baby? Because if so, I’ve been missing out.”

Her whole face turned red. “Stop it.”

“Why? You’re determined to act like nothing happened! You’re lying about it, to me, to yourself...”

“Because this is the alternative!” she shouted. “Screaming about it and freaking out about it because...because suddenly this bomb went off between us and neither of us could do anything about it. Because it scares the hell out of me, Jace. Because we went from best friends to having a mutual orgasm in a bathtub in about three minutes flat.”

“Actually, Sam, it took fourteen years to get into the bathtub, but I get your point.”

“Aren’t you freaked out?”

“Hell yes.”

“Then why talk about it?”

“Because it happened.”

“But we can pretend it didn’t,” she said, her eyes shining. “Please, Jace, can we pretend it didn’t?”

“How?”

“By not talking about it,” she said. “I’m embarrassed.”

“Why are you embarrassed?” He knew whyhewas embarrassed. Because, in his estimation, it was pretty obvious why it had been so easy for him to go from friend to bathtub buddy. It uncovered the fact that he had some serious not-so-latent lust where she was concerned.

“Because I...climbed all over you like a...hoochie mama.”

He laughed, in spite of the situation and his own horror at it; he just couldn’t help it. “Sam, that wasn’t what I thought about you.”

“Well, gosh, I don’t know what you thought. I attacked you. I’m horrified. I literally have no excuse except...obviously—” she took a breath “—obviously I’m attracted to you, but the thing is, it’s not really worth doing anything about.”

He felt like he’d been sucker punched. “You’re attracted to me?”

“No, Jace, I think you’re a flipping ogre, that’s why the minute you touched me I had a violent orgasm.”

Heat streaked over his skin and his face got hot, not from embarrassment but from that same dangerous arousal that had overtaken common sense yesterday. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think of something to say.

“Obviously it’s mutual,” he said. “I sort of felt likeIattacked you.”

“I think I embedded a fingernail in your shoulder.”