Page 51 of Death, Interrupted

I took a slow step closer, giving her space to pull away if she wanted. When she didn’t move, when shekept her eyes on me, I leaned down and rested both my hands on the arms of the chair. I stayed there, waiting and watching her.

Her breath caught a little, but she still didn’t flinch or shy away. She was watching me as carefully as I was watching her.

I decided to keep it slow. I leaned in just enough to press a soft kiss to her cheek. She exhaled, leaning a little into me as her free hand came up to rest against my arm.

I pressed another kiss to her cheek, then one to her forehead, before meeting her eyes again. “You’re so damn special to me,” I said quietly.

Her cheeks deepened in color, and for a second, she opened her mouth like she was about to speak, but no words came out. It didn’t matter. Her eyes told me everything I needed to know.

“I’m going to start the stream now,” I told her with a grin that a little too smug tugged on my lips.

“Okay.” She bit her bottom lip and dropped her eyes to my lips.

I told myself that it wasn’t an invitation to kiss her, but I wanted to so badly.

Then I finally made myself step back from her before I did something reckless. She was still curled under the blanket, looking at me like I’d just handed her the whole world, and I knew if I didn’t sit down now, I’d end up kissing and forgetting I was supposedto be taking it easy with her. She was still the one in charge here, and I needed to keep it that way.

I slipped into my chair, put on my helmet, slapped the visor down, and hit the button to go live.

I waited for people to join, then started talking to them. “Alright. What’s up, everyone?”

The chat lit up instantly.

VISORRRRRR!

Helmet Daddy is here.

Where have you been, man?

HE’S ALIVE

You’re two hours late!!!

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” I chuckled, leaning back in my chair. “Had some…stuff going on.” My eyes flicked toward the corner of the room for half a second, and I caught Sumner tucking her legs tighter under the blanket, trying to disappear like she wasn’t already the most distracting thing in the room.

Luckily, the people watching couldn’t see where I was looking because of my helmet, or they’d get suspicious.

I started up the game, letting the intro run while I scrolled and read the chat.

Stuff = dating a girl?

Don’t lie to us, bro. You got a girlfriend.

GUYS, let’s not assume things

Men only get distracted when they’re dating

I laughed, shaking my head. “You guys always jump to conclusions.”

The game started, and I dove into the chaos like usual. Trash-talking enemies, laughing at my own mistakes. It felt natural, but there was a difference tonight. Every time I made a joke and saw Sumner smile, it hit me like a lightning strike right in the heart.

I didn’t acknowledge her in an obvious way, though. She was sipping her tea, staying quiet, and I wasn’t about to put her on blast in front of thousands of people. This was my world, and I didn’t want her to feel like she had to share herself with it if she was uncomfortable.

About an hour in, I felt my throat going dry and leaned off-camera to lift my helmet and grab my water. When I glanced over, she was stretching under the blanket, her mug empty on the small side table now. She yawned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand, eyes watery and tired.

Without thinking, I smiled and asked, “You tired, baby?”

The second the word left my mouth, I realized I hadn’t muted the stream.