“You didn’t say set.” I argue, but Barrett is already typing away on his phone. Shit. I think of a word that uses common letters.

SPEAK

The letters flip and everything is gray, meaning I didn’t get any letters right.

I pick another word, making sure to not use any of the previous letters.

CLOTH

I hit the jackpot. O is yellow indicating it’s in the word but not in the right place, and T and H are green meaning they’re correctly placed. My eyes lift from the screen to find Barrett studying his phone intently. He must feel my gaze on him, because he lifts his eyes. Those hazel pools stare back at me and for a moment I think he looks defeated. Unsure. I almost feel bad. Maybe I should let him win? Give him a few extra seconds to think about the puzzle before I continue. But I don’t even have to give Barrett more time. A split second later the corner of his lip lifts in a sexy smirk. He types something out and before I can even look back at my screen, he’s showing me his phone. There, highlighted all in green, indicating he guessed the correct word…MOUTH.

Barrett’s eyes are lit with something else now. He looks like the cat who ate the canary, or in this case, the man who is going to eat me.

“Wait,” I say, even though Barrett hasn’t moved an inch. I feel like the kid on the diving board who is about to get pushed off but wants to stand there just a little bit longer to overanalyze and freak themselves out. I hated that part of swimming lessons. I get why I needed to learn to swim, but if I found myself randomly on the end of a diving board, I could simply walk back to the ladder. I didn’t have to learn to dive.

“Chloe, I’m about to drill a hole through my pants just thinking about tasting you. I want it that bad.”

My gaze drops to Barrett’s lap. He’s not lying. Beneath the denim fabric, I can see the large bulge there.

“Yeah?”

He nods.

“Stand up, Chloe.”