Page 20 of The Storm

“The smoke from the fire isn’t… I don’t like it.”

I feel like I’m see-through. Like he can glance at me and read everything I’m thinking and feeling, which would be a feat seeing as I’m so thoroughly confused about all of it myself.

He’s dialed down the hostility for a second. For now, he almost seems mildly curious. He sits up so suddenly the whole table wobbles. My arm shoots out instinctively to steady it, but instead of the table, I end up slamming my hand down on his thigh.

We both freeze.

Everything goes very quiet. My breath stutters in my lungs.

It’s barely anything. Just denim under my palm. His thigh is firm and solid against my fingertips. What would it feel like without the fabric between his skin and mine?

I pull my hand back like I’ve touched something electric.

“Sorry,” I mutter, blushing even harder.

What the fuck is happening?

“It’s fine.” He sounds infuriatingly calm and untouchable.

He swings his legs over the side so he’s sitting upright. Now he’s close. Closer than I realized. If I were to lean forward an inch and tilt my head up…

The look on his face is more intense than I’ve ever seen it before.

There’s an insane second where I think he mightkissme.

If he did… Would I stop him?

My pulse is impossibly loud in my ears. It drowns out every other sound.

He does lean in slightly then. Maybe not on purpose. Or maybeonpurpose.

I… I don’t know. I can’t tell.

His knee brushes mine.

My stomach flips. Not like nerves before stepping on a stage. It’s not adrenaline. It’s different. It’s something that makes my pulse jump and my heart pound too loudly.

His gaze drops, just for a second, to my mouth.

The world tilts.

Heat floods my face again, and my chest is too tight.

He’s still eyeing me calmly. Like he’s waiting. Observing. Mildly interested in the outcome.

And I realize, with a violent jolt that feels like a sucker punch into my gut, that if I moved forward even a little bit…

He wouldn’t stop me.

I don’t know how I know.

But he wouldn’t stop me.

And then what?

The thought is terrifying.

I scramble to get up. Stand too fast and feel dizzy.