“How does it feel to cram defeat down your throat?” I said, laughing as Jase spared me an amused look.
We were playing air hockey, and I was winning by ten points.
Well… that’s what I told myself. In reality, he was winning by twenty and every time I won, I decided to antagonize him because I was proud of myself.
He just lowered his lashes. “I ain’t done with you yet.”
After entering more credits, I stiffened my stance and prepared for him to play, but he just smiled and stepped around me.
I gazed up in shock.
“You want to win more?” he said then, going behind me. “Let me show you.”
I stared forward when he pressed his back to my front, and heat shot through me every part he touched.
His breath dusted my ear, and I felt my breath shutter when his pine scent invaded every part of me.
As his arms slid around me, I felt my cheeks flush when he caught ahold of my hands and positioned them along the air hockey paddles.
“You hold them like this,” he told me, his pine breath dusting me with fever. “That way you won’t injure your fingers when the puck hits your mallet.”
My cheeks burned a brighter red. “Do you have to stand so close?”
“I’m trying to help you,” was his argument, though his tone was low, predatory. “Here, the puck is coming at you. Try to hit it.”
With a swift movement, he moved his hand with mine, and the puck slammed against the mallet before skidding over to his side… and it slid into his goal.
“The way to do this is to keep your arms relaxed when you hit it,” he told me, his lips inches from my ear. “The goal is your stance, not power. You hit it gently but not too gently. If you hit it too hard, though, you’ll lose control and that’s when it bounces right back and into your goal.”
I felt my breaths go shallow.
“Here it comes again,” he said then, removing his hands from mine and setting them on my hips. “Try to hit it again.”
I breathed shakily as it came at me, but I did as he said and kept my arms relaxed, hitting the puck with medial force despite my nerves being on fire.
The puck immediately slipped straight into his goal.
“Good job,” he said then, chuckling as he moved away. “See? I’m a good teacher.”
My body immediately grew cold, and I gazed over at him when he glanced back at me.
Why was it that… when Twilight did it, I was neutral? But when he got close to me, I felt like I was burning?
Jase just smiled. “Wanna go for ice cream?”
I remained silent, but nodded.
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*****
“WHY DID YOU DITCH US?” Lizzy yelled when I walked in the house. “YOU WALKED WITH HIM, AND THEN YOU FOLLOWED HIM OUT, THEN YOU VANISHED FOR TWO HOURS! I THOUGHT YOU DIED!”
“I didn’t die,” I said then, smiling at her reddened cheeks. “He just bought me dinner, and then took me to get some ice cream.”
And he was surprisingly kind the rest of the night. I talked about myself, and he seemed very interested.
It was odd how he worked… how he seemed so interested in me that he would shut his mouth every time I talked about my life.
He had a very odd case of self-confidence.
At an instant, Lizzy’s anger vanished. “You mean… a date?”
I hesitated but responded. “Yeah.”
“Oh my gosh!” she said, laughing and clapping. “This is a moment to remember forever! My twin bestie finally went on her first date! Where’s my phone? Where’s my phone?”
I watched her scramble around the living room. “Why do you need your phone?”
“I have to take a picture to remember!” she yelled then, finding it and rushing over to me.
I gasped when she caught my hip and shoved herself against my side.
She then raised her phone, preparing for a selfie.
And that’s when I saw my reflection… my reddened cheeks and my sight smile.
Had he seen that the whole time?
My cheeks flooded more, and she clicked the photo.
I blinked when she pulled away, giggling. “Oh my gosh! Did you kiss?”
“Uhmm… no not then.”
Her eyes widened. “YOU KISSED BEFORE?”
Shit. Why did I say anything?
“You should’ve told me!” she yelled then. “I wouldn’t have shoved you and Twilight together then!”
“Just because we kissed doesn’t mean I trust him,” I stated.
But she didn’t seem to hear me. “Was there tongue? Were you moaning? Oh my god, there was totally tongue!”
“No, there wasn’t.”
“Did he kiss your throat?” She gasped when my cheeks burned a bright red. “Oh, my god! He totally did!”
I just sighed and shoved past her. “I’m too tired for this.”
“Hey! Don’t leave me hanging! I need all the details!”
I smiled and closed my bedroom door. “Night!”
She just grumbled when she stopped halfway up the stairs, and she walked off.
I just pressed my back to the door and sighed, closing my eyes tightly.
What am I doing?
Like a moth to a flame, I was being drawn to his fire… it was dangerous… it would kill me.
He would kill me.
But despite the thought…
His dark smile was the only thing I could see.
He truly was alluring.
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