Page 142 of Heartless Stepbrother

Barely anything.

But enough.

His breath brushed my lips when he whispered, soft enough only I could hear.

“I told you, you wouldn’t want to stop.”

The words slid over my skin like smoke.

Heat exploded in my chest. Anger, embarrassment, want, all tangled together.

The crowd roared behind us.

I straightened, swallowing hard, trying to pretend my legs weren’t trembling. Riley leaned back, looking maddeningly satisfied, chest rising with slow, even breaths likehehadn’t felt the kiss at all.

Like I hadn’t just nearly fallen into him.

Like he knew he’d won.

Because he had.

We both knew it.

I forced myself to turn away from him, chin high, steps steady even though every cell in my body was still vibrating from the kiss.

Malia and the girls were waiting.

Four sets of wide eyes stared at me like I’d just walked out of a burning building carrying a dragon egg.

Then…

“Holyshit,“ Tessa breathed.

“Luna,” Jo whispered, grabbing my arm. “What—what was that?”

Malia’s mouth hung open for a full three seconds before she snapped it shut. “Did you guys just see the way he looked at her after?”

Harper didn’t even blink. “I’m trying to decide if that was a win or a loss.”

My throat tightened. “Pretty sure it was a loss.”

But Malia shook her head immediately. “No. No way. Do you know what you looked like?”

I frowned. “Humiliated?”

“Hot,” Tessa corrected.

“Confident,” Jo added.

“Controlled,” Harper said, nodding like she was analyzing combat strategy.

“Like you weren’t scared of him at all,” Malia finished.

For a second, the words didn’t register.

I’d felt anythingbutcontrolled.

But they were serious.