Page 63 of Defending You

He took a giant bite and chewed slowly.

She sipped her water, watching him, waiting for him to explain.

“I’m fine,” he said after he swallowed, then added, “not annoyed.”

“Because you’re acting like I injured you, or…I stole your favorite shirt.”

“Maybe you did.” His tone was distant, his eyes on his plate.

Silence settled in, heavy and tense.

They finished eating, and Cici started the dishes while Asher cleared the table.

She couldn’t stand the tension. “You might have forgiven me, but that doesn’t change anything, does it?” She turned off the water to face him. “We’ll never be friends again.”

He dropped their napkins in the trash. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re distant. There’s a wall between us. It feels like…like you’ll never get over what happened in high school.”

He scoffed. “It has nothing to do with that.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Is that so? But there is anit?What? What’s the problem?”

He gestured at her, frustration flashing in his eyes. “It’s that. It’s you, dressed like…that. In my clothes.”

“I don’t understand. You said I could borrow?—”

“I know.”

She was confused. “My clothes are in the dryer, but I can wear them damp. You want me to change right now?”

His mouth clamped closed.

“What?”

If anything, he looked angrier. Maybe he didn’t have much to spare. Maybe she’d taken his generosity too lightly. “I appreciate the loan,” she said softly. “I promise I’ll get them back to you. Washed and folded.”

“It’s not that.”

“Fine, then.” She threw up her hands. “What’s your problem? Because I’m doing everything I can to make it up to you. I’m trying, and all I’m getting from you?—”

He crossed the room in two strides. His hands braced against the refrigerator, trapping her between his arms. “Tell me to stop.”

“What? I don’t…”

“Tell me to stop, Cici.”

Oh.Oh.She should. Of course she should.

She just didn’t want to.

Before she could fully process what was happening, he kissed her—hard, urgent, his lips firm against hers.

Her surprise turned to heat, melting her inside out. She gripped his shoulders, and he deepened the kiss, electric and alive.

She could dothisfor the rest of her life.

In fact, if this was payback for annoying him, she’d come up with new, fresh annoyances every day of her life.