Page 105 of What We Brave
My heart's slamming against my ribs. She stops inches away, close enough that I can see the uncertainty in her eyes. The fear.
She's waiting for me to fuck this up. Waiting for the cruel version of Blake to resurface and ruin everything.
I stay still. Let her come to me. Let her set the pace.
She rises on her toes. Her hand finds my jaw—cold fingers against stubble—and tilts my face down toward hers.
Her lips brush mine.
It's barely a kiss. A ghost of contact. But it sends electricity straight down my spine, shorts out every circuit in my brain.
She pulls back. Searches my face.
I search hers. Looking for regret. For second thoughts. For the moment she realizes what she's done and takes it back.
Her eyes flick to Reid. Then back to me. Reid. Me. Gauging. Measuring.
Waiting for the fallout.
"It's okay," I say. My voice comes out steadier than I expected. "I'm not about to beat his ass out of jealousy. That'd be a waste of a perfectly good afternoon."
Reid snorts. "I'd like to see you try."
"I'd win."
"You would not win."
"I would absolutely win. You fight like a cheerleader."
"That's offensive to cheerleaders. Those girls could kick both our asses."
"Fair point."
Laine's laugh breaks through—bright and surprised and real. The tension shatters. All the fear and uncertainty and careful testing—gone. Replaced by three idiots standing in a half-demolished garage, arguing about cheerleaders.
"Oh my God." She presses her hands to her face. "You two are ridiculous."
"He started it," Reid says.
"You started it by existing."
"That doesn't even make sense."
"Your face doesn't make sense."
Laine drops her hands. She's grinning. Actually grinning, despite the cold and the nerves and everything that just happened. "This is what I signed up for, isn't it? Mediating your bickering for the rest of my life. Um, I mean. Yeah. Well you know what I mean."
The rest of my life.
Want hits me hard and deep.
"Pretty much," Reid says cheerfully. "Hope you're ready."
"I worked pediatric ER for six months. I can handle you two."
"That's hurtful. We're way more mature than children."
"Debatable."
