It felt like I’d been punched in the gonads. Had I messed up so badly that my declaration of love had blown her mind in all the wrong ways? Aw man, I didn’t like this feeling. Most likely deserved it, but that didn’t make it easier to swallow, especially when her eyes turned glassy, as if she were fighting tears.

I hadn’t planned on that. Fuck.

“Syd, baby, say something, please.” I dropped my hands on my thighs to stop myself from grabbing her. “Please.”

She gave a little shake of her head, causing a few shorter strands to slip free from her bun. Dark tendrils brushed her temples and the nape of her neck. Then she leaned forward. Before I knew what she was doing, she cupped my cheeks with trembling hands.

Okay. This was good. This was heading somewhere I’d—

“I want to strangle you,” she said, her voice hoarse.

All right, that wasn’t good. Not at all.

“You have no idea how badly I want to kick you right now,” she added.

And that was worse. This wasn’t—

“I love you,” she said, and she swallowed. “I’ve loved you since you pushed me down on the playground. I swear—I’ve loved you since then.”

“I…what?” I stared at her. “What did you just say?”

Syd kissed me.

Her lips were soft against mine; the touch was hesitant and breathtakingly her and so damn sweet. I inhaled her through the kiss, pulling her deep into me. My brain shut down as I reveled in her kiss, like a dog rolling onto his back for a belly rub. I rose without thinking, my hands falling to her hips. She grabbed my upper arms, her fingers digging into my sweater in a way that had my entire body throbbing.

“Say it again,” I pleaded.

Her lips curved up at the corners. “I love you, Kyler.”

A shudder rolled through me. I lifted her up and set her down further on the bed. I came over her, kissing her back. In seconds our bodies were flush with one another. My tongue swept past her lips and she moaned, sending a thrill through me. Her hands ran down my back and mine found their way under the heavy sweater, against her camisole. She arched, as if willing my hand to travel further north. I rose slightly, my gaze drifting over her sweetly flushed face, long graceful neck, and the hard tips of her breasts straining against the thin material. My body shook with the effort to not strip her bare.

Oh, fuck.

My hand looked incredibly large splayed across her stomach, directly under her breasts. Whoa. I needed to slow it down, but I was aching to be inside her, to have nothing between us.