The Rivals - Dylan Allen Page 0,29

says.

I exhale a sigh of relief I didn’t even realize I was holding onto.

“Why don’t you go sit there?” He nods at the stone steps where the rest of the guests are gawking. “You look very pale.”

“No, I want to be close enough for her to hear me,” I tell him. “I’ll wait right here.”

TURD BLOSSOM

CONFIDENCE

“Thank goodness,” Cass cries when my feet touch the ground after the rappel team hauls me to safety.

I wince at a shooting pain in my ankle and immediately bend my knee to take the pressure off it.

The harness is heavy, and when I try to stand on one leg, it’s impossible. I sway a little until a pair of strong hands grab me by the shoulders and steady me.

“Let me hold you up.” Hayes’s deep voice makes my heartbeat quicken. I look up from the three pairs of hands that are working to loosen the various latches and clasps on the contraption that saved my life. When our eyes meet, his are full of worry and warmth that I hadn’t seen up close. I’d been staring up at those eyes while I was sitting on that ledge. They had been my lifeline. I know he never felt fully afraid, but I did. When I landed on that ledge, it took me a full thirty seconds to convince myself that I wasn’t dead.

“Thank you for staying with me.” I reach over the men kneeled around me and grab his outstretched forearm.

“I’m sorry you were out here in the first place,” he says. His eyes are close and hypnotically focused on my mouth. I look at his mouth, too. One of his hands leaves my shoulder and cups my face.

“You scared me, Confidence,” he murmurs.

“You pissed me off, Hayes,” I say softly.

“I’m sorry, if you are,” he says.

“I hold grudges, so I’m not ready to accept your apology,” I say honestly.

He smiles.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“But I’ll work for it if I have to,” he says. His hazel eyes burn into mine. I swallow hard at the heat in them. He’s looking at me like he wishes we were alone. I do, too.

Something happened between us while I was on that ledge. I didn’t feel it fully because no matter how much he did to distract me, I couldn’t forget that I was a few feet away from falling off. But now that I’m safe and in his arms, I’m catching up. And my body is buzzing for an entirely different reason. I smile up at him, bright and wide with my perfectly straight teeth that my mom always called God’s apology for fucking up everything else in my life.

“I’m so glad you followed me out, even though it was your fault. You kept me from going crazy,” I say softly. We’ve run the full gamut of emotions, and we’ve ended up at intrigued and much more than interested.

He leans in slightly—his eyes are open and on mine. My heart is thudding like I’ve just sprinted for a mile. My face is tingling His fingers move in slow, small circles at the base of my neck; his thumbs massage the muscles that are clenched in my jaw. My head falls back and his fingers slip into my hair and cup the base of my skull. He cradles my head like it’s the most delicate thing he’s ever held. I’m liquifying. The adrenaline is mingling with lust, and I’m turned on in a way that I’ve never been before. What they say about near death experiences making you horny is true. His fingers caress my scalp and send chills through me that curl into heat-seeking missiles that turn my entire body into an erogenous zone.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” he murmurs and leans forward to brush a kiss on my mouth. But my lips want more and they cling to his greedily. Kissing him is like being hit with a thousand lightning bolts of full-blown pleasure. He feels like the most worthwhile regret I’ll ever have. I want to make this count.

I sink my teeth into his lower lip and tug. He hisses, but he takes control of the kiss and covers my mouth with his. And then he kisses the shit out of me. It’s so perfect that it feels like I fell off the edge of the cliff just so this could happen.

His lips are soft and demanding. I could get addicted to this man—really fast. My body is singing like it’s just had that