“No,” I said too fast. I was surely going to pass out.
He slid his hand to my waist, drawing me even closer. His fingers tightened on my ass, and his hands were so large they seemed to envelop me completely. A groan escaped me, making his eyes flutter shut. When he opened them, his pupils wereso dark they almost consumed the blue of his irises. I could see him battling his inner demons.
“This too much?” he whispered.
“I… it’s a little bold, but I’ll accept it.”
He smiled, sliding his hand to the back of my neck.
“You’re mine. Whether it’s fake or not, I don’t share. You okay with that?”
Our hips and knees were touching. We were so close that our breaths were mingling. Fireflies flickered like tiny stars around us, like the sparks we both pretended to ignore.
I tried to pull away, and he grabbed me by the waist again, pulling me into him. I hitched a gasp. He smirked.
Max pressed a finger beneath my chin, tilting my face up so I could see every flicker of blue in his eyes. His lips were so close to mine. His breath was hot on my cheek.
“Are you okay with this?” he whispered.
Dusk held its breath with me.
“It’s… I’m okay.”
He held my gaze, then slowly pulled back. He looked like he wanted to devour me whole.
I’d never seen him like this.
“Okay,” he breathed out.
“Okay,” I repeated.
He snarled, low and fierce, “I want that motherfucker frothing at the mouth every time he sees us. I’m going to bury him alive.”
I liked this version of Max. The thought twisted my stomach. What was wrong with me? More than that, Iwantedhim like this. I wanted the danger. But I felt like I was stepping into a place I wasn’t supposed to go.
I trusted Max. And I felt like if we entered the fire together, we could burn the whole world down.
I imagined us, side by side, unstoppable. We could do it. We had the chemistry. We had the history. We knew each other sowell, and that was both a weapon and a liability. A flicker of worry started in my chest. What if my secret slipped? What if Max said or did something that unraveled everything I’d worked so hard to hide?
I shouldn’t want this. A part of me knew I was doing this because I wanted to be closer to him. More than friends. The pull of him was too sharp to ignore. I knew he could protect me, but what if he burned me alive in the process?
I turned back toward camp. But his footsteps pounded behind me.
“You don’t get to walk away from me that fast,” he said, catching up to me with a sly smile. “I deserve to hold your hand for agreeing to this bullshit.”
He took my hand, lacing his fingers with mine, and we walked back together, past every line we’d ever drawn. Neither of us noticed how fast our hearts were pounding.
7
MAX
Ifucking loved holding her hand. Loved it too much. Because this wasn’t just best friends holding hands anymore. We were more, at least in my mind.
The second her fingers laced with mine, and she looked up at me like I was the only safe thing in her universe, I found myself grinning down at her with the silliest smile I’d ever had.
Fuck.
Was I falling in love with her?