Page 84 of Cross Checked
CADE: what about it?
ME: your hands
The typing bubble appeared instantly.
CADE: where?
I squeezed my eyes shut.
This man was going to be the death of me.
ME: my hips
CADE: keep going
ME: my waist
CADE: keep going
My breath came out uneven.
ME: my wrist
CADE: and?
My stomach tightened.
ME: behind me
There was a pause long enough to make my whole body pulse.
CADE: you felt me
I stared at the words.
ME: yes
CADE: and you still said no when I asked if you needed me to step back
ME: yes
CADE: why?
I sat back on the bed, the mattress dipping beneath me as rain tapped harder against the window. I could have lied. I could have said I didn’t know. Could have hidden behind adrenaline or tension or the fact that everything had happened too fast when it had been happening since that first night at Hockey house that now feels years ago.
But I was so tired of pretending my own want was some kind of accident.
ME: because I liked it
My breath stopped after I sent it.
Cade FaceTimed me. The screen lit up with his face so fast I almost dropped the phone.
CADE MERCER
For one frantic second, I just stared at it, heart in my throat, body hot and shaky beneath his hoodie.
Then a text came through beneath the ringing call.
