“I’ve been doing it for a year and a half now. I don’t need your protection.”

“You act like I have a choice. I can’t stop myself from being worried about you.”

She scoffed. “Three kisses and you’re already playing the overprotective boyfriend.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. Boyfriend. I rolled the word around in my head.

“I didn’t mean that you were my boyfriend—I only meant—it’s nothing, never mind.” Even in the dim light of the studio, the flush of her cheeks glowed.

Gripping both arm rests of her chair, I wheeled her around to face me.

“You’re under my skin, Bay. Ever since that kiss and those pancakes, I’ve wanted more. And knowing you’ve been doing this most nights, putting yourself at risk, makes me a little crazy and it scares me.”

“But Dare—”

“I know, you’ve been doing this on your own. And I know in a few months you’re going away to college and we’ll be maybe thousands of miles apart.” My knees hit the front edge of her chair.

“And I know a few months ago, I wouldn’t have even noticed, but I was a fucking moron and I notice now. I can’t help myself. It’s an involuntary reaction when you’re around, and even when you aren’t.” Her legs settled against the inside of mine, some of the tension fading from her posture.

Leaning in closer, I held onto her chair to keep her from rolling away. The brush of her legs against the inside seam of my jeans and the thump of my pulse in my grip on the seat narrowed everything in my world down to the connection tethering us together like a live wire.

Since the last time I’d tasted her lips, it had been all I could to do to keep my mind focused on my workout this afternoon and the Bedlam Bowl coming up in two weeks. Everything else paled in comparison to the full curve of her lips and the way she’d batted her eyelashes as she met my gaze, like the kiss had shocked her just as much as it had me.

“Dare?” There was a question in her tone like she didn’t understand what was happening either. The magnetic pull wasn’t one I wanted to be free from.

A bang behind us had us both shooting apart. The room was bathed in relative brightness from the dim hallway into the even dimmer studio.

“Is this where I record?” A guy stood in the doorway in shadow with a guitar case in hand.

“The other—” Her voice was croaky. She cleared it. “The next set of doors down.” She shook her head. “I’ll show you.”

The escape route I’d denied her before was wide open. Hopping up, she glanced down at me before scurrying away.

I dragged my hands down my face. Pushing her wasn’t what I wanted to do.

The seconds ticked away and I stared at the other side of the wall-wide glass window. A piano, guitars and a full drum kit filled the space. All the buttons and knobs on the sound board were labeled and the computer screen filled the space with a blue glow. Even my own thoughts seemed muted in the soundproofed space. The blood rushing through my veins was muffled and quieted, and a calm stole over me. I got why she liked this place.