Page 150 of Heartless Stepbrother

And that was what did it.

I lifted my chin.

And stepped forward.

Behind me, four girls sucked in a collective breath.

Riley’s eyes flickered, a small, subtle shift, like he hadn’t actually expected me to agree.

But he didn’t step back.

He simply turned slightly, not touching me, leaving a space beside him.

I walked into it.

My legs felt like warm sand and adrenaline, but I walked anyway.

Beside me, he exhaled once, barely audible, like he’d been holding his breath without realizing it.

I didn’t look at him.

I didn’t trust myself to.

We moved away from the fire, from the laughter and cheers and swirling bodies, walking toward the darker stretch of beach where the waves glowed silver under the moon.

My pulse thrummed.

“What do you want, Riley?” I asked quietly.

He didn’t answer right away.

He let the question hang, collapsing the distance between the bonfire and the darker shore until it felt like the whole world narrowed to the sound of the tide and the thud of my own heart.

Finally, he said, “I want to know why you kissed me like that.”

My breath faltered. “It was a dare.”

“No. You were tempted.”

The words slid into the spaces I hadn’t protected well enough.

And before I could deny it, before I could pretend he was wrong, he added softly,

“And you’re still tempted.”

The wind moved around us, cool and restless, lifting strands of my hair as if it wanted to expose my face to him, to whatever expression I was trying so desperately to hide.

Riley stopped walking.

I felt it before I saw it.

His presence stilled beside me, tightening the air like a pulled thread.

I turned an inch.

Only an inch.

And he was already watching me.