Page 60 of Balance

If there would ever be a time for that to happen.

“Where is it?” I was mildly curious, trying to steer the conversation from Eric Richards himself. I could tell the scar was on her upper thigh, but I was unsure of the exact location.

She shivered, and I almost regretted asking—of course, she would be afraid to talk about it further—but then she spoke, voice steady. “It’s ugly.”

Her statement hung in the air between us.

“I doubt it,” I answered with complete sincerity. Nothing about her could ever be ugly.

She sucked in a breath, trembling, and I almost thought she would change the subject, but then she surprised me.

“I’ll show you…” She sighed, the fight melting from her as her shoulders loosened. “You’ve basically seen my boob already.”

What? Herboob? What didthathave to do with anything?

Sometimes I couldn’t follow her logic.

Then Bianca shifted in my arms, fidgeting with her leggings, and my thoughts slammed to a halt.

She couldn’t mean…

I couldn’t breathe, her intentions suddenly clear.

I’d only asked a question,whyin the world was sheshowingme?

“Don’t make fun of my underwear,” she warned, a note of embarrassment in her voice.

I barely held back my laugh as panic threatened to pull me under.Thatwas her concern?

I just wanted to knowwhy she was stripping.

What the fuck was I supposed to do about this?

I inched backward, giving her the space to move freely, as my warring emotions clouded my thoughts. I had no idea what was happening—all I could do was focus on her.

Her button nose was wrinkled and her face the picture of concentration as she twisted to undress. I couldn’t look away.

Why was this happeningnow?

Before thisexactmoment, unless she was thrown into the situation, she’d been avoiding even the hint of nudity in my presence. I was starting to get a complex about it actually. Clearly, my instincts were wrong.

Bianca rolled onto her back, her hair fanned over the ground and her face glowed scarlet under the dim lighting. She was shaking, but I doubted it was for the same reasons as me.

She wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“There,” she said, tugging on the waistband of her pink lace panties. “It’s awful.”

I had no idea what she was talking about.

Her thighs were perfect and smooth, and while the shorts that Maria had dressed her in for the slumber party weren’tunderwear, they’d left little to the imagination. So this wasn’t much more than I’d already seen, and I couldn’t imagine what she thought I’d notice now…

But then again, Bianca hadn’t been laying less than a foot away from me at that time.

It had been hard to get a good look with the others nearby.

Right now though, I could look without distraction. She was entirely mine.

The remnants of my barely formed revenge plans and fury faded, and I was unable to tear my gaze from the half-naked girl beside me.