Page 20 of High

“You still want this? Us? A relationship?” He rubbed a thumb along the back of my neck and I leaned harder into his hold.

“You know I do.”

“Don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be.” He worked his fingers between us to tip my chin up and smiled. I held my breath as he danced his thumb along my cheek. “You and I were always simple.”

“I… I worried that you didn’t wait for me.” My stomach tossed. “I thought… maybe that was why you didn’t come.”

He frowned but dragged me into another solid hug.

“You killed that man and didn’t even care, Thio,” I grumbled.

“He was a bad man.”

“Sure he thought the same thing about you,” I snarked, but found myself smiling weakly.

He pushed me back far enough to brush his lips against my cheek, barely missing the bullet burn on it. The touch ached a little, but the thrill sent a sharp stab of need into my gut. “Are we okay?”

“No.” I shrugged. “But I want to be.”

He slid a hand down until he pressed it against my lower back, and I sucked in a sharp breath as my semi—when did I get this hard?—bumped against his thigh.

He smirked. “I can work with that.”