Page 96 of Gamebreaker

"I'm saying that trying to be friends is killing me. I'm saying that three days of not touching you have been the longest three days of my life. I'm saying that I know this won't fix anything, that tomorrow we'll still be incompatible, but tonight—" Her hands tightened on my arms. "Tonight, I just want you. Just for tonight. Can we do that?"

I should've said no. I should've been the responsible one, should've protected us both from the inevitable disaster this would become.

But Harper was looking at me like I was the only person in the bar that mattered, and I was so tired of being responsible.

I pulled out my phone. "My place. I'm ordering a car."

"How long?"

“One can be here in two minutes probably."

Her eyes danced in the dim lighting. "That's too long."

"It's two minutes."

"Still too long." She was already moving toward the exit, and I followed. I called out to my teammates without looking back.

"Leaving!"

Someone whistled. Morgan shouted approval. I could feel Trish’s stare on my back, and wasn’t ready to face whether it was a positive or negative reaction.

Outside, the cool night air hit my flushed face like a rebuke. I opened the SHAU4 app with shaking hands.

"Car's two minutes away," I confirmed after I'd put in the request.

"Okay."

"Last chance to change your mind," I said.

"Do you want me to change my mind?"

“No. Do you?”

"No. But I need you to be sure. Because I can't do this halfway, Cam. Either we're doing this, or we're not. Either you want me enough to deal with the consequences tomorrow, or we stop right now."

"I want you," I said, and meant it. That terrified me. "I've wanted you since you looked up from your phone in that tunnel and told me to go to hell. I've wanted you through every argument, every moment of banter, every time you've looked at me like you can see right through every wall I've built. I want you so much it's consuming me."

"Good." She stepped closer, close enough that I could feel her breath. "Because I want you just as much. And tomorrow, when this gets complicated—and it will get complicated—I need you to remember that I chose this. That we both chose this."

The car pulled up. We climbed into the backseat, and the driver took off for the hills. The divider was already up, giving us privacy from the front seat.

We sat in careful silence for exactly ten seconds.

Then Harper's hand found mine in the dark, lacing our fingers together, and the contact sent heat straight through me.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi."

"This is insane."

"Yeah."

"We're really doing this?"

"Unless you want to stop."

"I really, really don't want to stop."