me, Dare. Of anyone, I get it. I know how it feels to have him inside your brain, making you second-guess everyone. But you can't let him do that to you. Don't let him get between us again."
Zed reached out and grasped my wrist, pulling my thumbnail away from my teeth. He didn't let go, though. Instead, he used my wrist to pull me closer as he stepped into my breathing space.
"Between us?" I repeated, feeling like my brain had just turned to mush.
The corners of his lips tugged up in a half smile, and his free hand cupped the back of my neck. "Yes. Us. When are you going to quit playing dumb and admit there's a hell of a lot more to us than mere friendship? There always has been."
Words totally failed me as I stared back into his eyes and found his gaze overflowing with desire and pain. Fuck. What was I doing to us? My stubborn refusal to see what was right under my nose was going to destroy our bond much faster than any failed romance.
"Zed..." I breathed his name like a plea, but I had no idea what it was that I really wanted. For him to drop this whole thing and go back to the way things used to be? Back when I refused to admit I'd never fully gotten over my crush on him and couldn't seem to look away when he was making out with random women in our clubs? Yeah, fat load of use that would do me. Despite my stubborn level of denial, I couldn't even lie to myself that I would take that situation well. Not now. And no one needed me going off and killing innocent girls for hooking up with him.
I never claimed to be rational when it came to Zayden De Rosa. But previously, I'd kept those feelings on lockdown, never to see the light of day.
"Dare," he replied, his own voice a husky whisper as his eyes searched my face. "You can't act like you don't feel the same way for me. I know you too well."
I sucked in a short breath, preparing to deny his accusation. But... no words came. The next thing I knew, I was leaning in, closing the gap between us, and kissing him softly. Zed stiffened like that had been the last thing he'd expected, but before I could pull away in embarrassment, he kissed me back.
His hand tightened on the back of my neck, pulling me closer as he released my wrist and grabbed my waist. Our mouths moved together like we were sharing one brain, one soul, and knew precisely what the other wanted... needed.
Then the door slammed open like someone had deliberately shoved it, and I all but leapt away from Zed like he was electrified.
"Oh, whoops," Lucas said in the most sarcastic voice I'd heard in my life. "Was I interrupting something? My bad. Nothing worse than being cockblocked, huh, Zeddy Bear?"
A laugh bubbled up in my throat before I could clap a hand over my mouth, and Zed speared me with a pained glare.
"Sorry," I muttered. "It's pretty funny."
Zed swung his glare back to Lucas. "Call me that again and I'll shove my foot so far up your ass you'll be licking my toes. Now fuck off; we were in the middle of something."
Lucas's grin was pure evil. "Aw, snookums, no need for that level of animosity. Hayden, Cass is asking for you. He says his shoulder is aching and he can't find the pain pills."
Zed threw his hands up in exasperation, stalking away a couple of paces. "It was barely a fucking scratch; he's being a baby."
I shook my head at their antics and decided it was probably for the best. Zed and I had been rocking the friendzone for twelve years. What was a little longer?
Biting back a smile, I met Zed's heated gaze and instantly shivered. "Raincheck," I muttered before I could filter that promise. His brows hitched and a small smile tugged at his lips as he nodded.
"I'll hold you to that," he replied, and I quickly made my exit before I came up with an insane plan like inviting Lucas to stay and join us while we destroyed the friendzone once and for all.
As I headed back in the direction of the living room, I caught Lucas's voice again.
"Payback's a bitch, huh?" Then he groaned. "Ow, not cool, Zeddy Bear. Don't solve problems with violence."