I laughed, remembering the warning Kelly gave me about him. “When Kelly warned me about you after coming back from shopping. It’s funny because I thought to myself ‘this guy looks full of himself’ as I watched you instigating fights in your own front yard. When did you see me first?”

He started playing with my hair as he had a teasing smile on his lips. “Sometime earlier than that. I saw you in the neighborhood and was very grateful to have you as a neighbor. Why did you kiss me in the closet?”

I slapped his chest. “You wouldn’t stop talking about it! Why did you want to kiss me?”

“Because,” he said, moving his hand up to grip my chin, slowly swiping his thumb across my bottom lip. A spark of heat shot straight through my body, warming up the inside of my thighs. “You talk back so much I wanted to know how sour your words tasted, but when you kissed me, you were as sweet as honey. Can I do it again?”

My room shrank a million times. The tension in the air so thick I could taste it. The pull between us so magnetic–even if it was temporary–made me want to do something that I’d regret in the morning.

“I–” My words caught in my throat. What did I say to that? My brain was malfunctioning. “What if I want more?” The words slipped out before I knew what I was saying.

“Blondie...” his voice was so guttural and deep that it had me gripping his arm, digging my nails in.

Oh, hell. I just did myself in, didn’t I?

With fresh goosebumps prickling my skin and unfiltered thoughts slipping out, I felt drunk on whatever was flowing through my veins. “Why do you call me Blondie?” I breathed.

He was barely containing himself, but obliged my extra question. Our faces were brought dangerously close together while he focused on my lips with a hunger that scared me. “Because I love watching you squirm.”

My lips parted open in surprise and I found my nerve. I took his lower lip between mine and grazed my teeth across it and felt him shudder. My heart pounded so loudly that it was apparent to both of us. The rush in my ears told me adrenaline was taking over and lust filled my bones.

In the moment it took me to take a single breath, he flipped me over and pinned my hands to the bed. “Don’t play with me, Fallon.” His tone was deathly serious.

“I’m not playing. What if I want more?” I challenged him from my very disadvantaged position, my eyes grazing every inch of his body.

Oh. My. God. What was I doing?

He released my hands from his grip to peel his shirt off. What a fucking body.

I was probably drooling.