Page 33 of Deserving Ryleigh
“Of course,” Ry agreed immediately. “I’ll be right out.”
“Thanks.” Brick took her face in his hands and gently pulled her close. He kissed the top of her head before nodding at Tiny, then striding for the door.
The small growl of displeasure coming from Tiny surprised Ry, and when she turned to face him, the look of irritation on his face was easy to read. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Don’t like his lips on you,” he said.
Ry couldn’t help it. She laughed. It was more a tension-relieving chuckle than one of actual humor, but Tiny was being ridiculous. “He’s madly in love with Alaska.”
“And?” he asked a little belligerently.
She put a hand on his arm. “You know, I can’t remember my father ever kissing me.” She didn’t know where the words were coming from, just knew that she wanted to reassure Tiny. “He never hugged me. Never kissed my boo-boos better. Not that I ever had any, because I wasn’t allowed to play outside, andinside, he kept me in front of a computer, teaching me how to navigate the muddy waters of the dark web. Anyway…what Brick did? It felt nice. Like what a fatherly kiss might feel like. Not tingly-all-over nice, but heavy-warm-blanket nice.”
She immediately felt stupid after her lame explanation. And talking about how much she liked Brick’s platonic gesture probably wasn’t the best move to make when Tiny was all riled up for some reason.
But to her relief, his expression cleared. Then he reached out and pulled her close. Ry went without hesitation. He put a hand on the back of her head and encouraged her to rest against his shoulder. She did, inhaling deeply, loving how his scent seemed to settle into her bones. Her very psyche.
“Tingly-all-over nice?” he asked after a minute. “You felt that before?”
Ry nodded without thought.
She felt a tug on her hair, realizing Tiny had wrapped the strands in his fist and was pulling her head back so he could see her eyes.
“When?” he asked.
“Whenyoukissed my head,” she admitted in a quiet whisper.
“Yeah?” he asked with a small smile. “Like this?” Heleaned in and pressed his lips to her head, like he had before.
A full-body shiver shot through Ry. “Uh-huh.”
“Or maybe like this?” he asked, before moving his lips to her cheek. Then her nose.
Then he barely brushed her lips with his own.
Tingles? No. Flat-out electric bolts was more like it. She stared at Tiny in awe. Suddenly, she deeply regretted her lack of experience. She wasn’t ashamed of it, just wished she knew more than she did so she could make him feel even afractionof what she felt.
“You ever been kissed, Ryleigh?”
She didn’t hear any surprise or mockery in his question, so she shook her head a little. When he didn’t move, she frowned. “Is that bad?”
“No, not at all. On one hand, I’m disappointed, because it means I can’t kiss you like I want to right now. This room isn’t nearly private enough and our friends are all nosey little busy-bodies.”
Ry’s brain felt fuzzy. “You want to kiss me?”
“Very much so. What about you? Do you want to kissme?”
“Oh, yes,” she breathed.
“On the other hand,” Tiny went on, “I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with gratitude and pleasure that I’ll be the first to show you how a proper kiss can curl your toes, make you desperate for more, and help you forget anything and everything but me.”
Ry smiled a little at that. “You’re pretty sure of yourself.”
He didn’t return the smile, just stared at her with an intense look. “And tingles? I don’t know anything aboutthose. What I felt when I put my lips on yours was a nuclear bomb. I’veneverfelt the kind of connection with another woman that I do right now, simply holding you in my arms.”
Ry’s smile died. “You hated me not too long ago,” she reminded him.
“I never hated you,” Tiny countered. “I was confused. The connection we have is intense, and when I found out you’d lied, I fell back into my past. I couldn’t stop thinking about Sonja and how badly she’d tricked me. I lost confidence in myself, in my observational skills and ability to see people for who they are. I painted you with a brush I had no business painting you with. But I came to my senses.”
