Hostile

by Nicole Dykes

Blair sighs and shakes her head. “So glad I asked.” She cringes but then laughs because she’s cool as hell.

He looks at her fondly—like the mother he never had—and shakes his head.

All the rumors. Everything but the actual truth . . . I’m gay.

She grips his jaw and then kisses him quickly on the lips, and he smiles. How a big-ass, stoic guy like Rhys is putty in a tiny woman’s hands, I have no idea, but he loves her. That’s for damn sure.

There’s no denying my insane attraction to this painfully elusive, beautiful boy. And no part of me wants to fight it.

I hate that he’s here in my space, doing better with these kids than me. But I can’t deny them this if, for whatever reason, they like him.

“What’s your sudden interest in me?” He meets my eyes. “I think we established I’ve had an interest in you for a while.” Shit.

And it’s been proven, time and time again, what I want doesn’t seem to be a priority.

Annoyed, I can handle. More turned-on than I’ve ever been in my entire life? Yeah, that’s new.

“I always thought I was nothing.”

“I mean . . . sexually.” He looks away from me and out the side window. “I thought I wasn’t interested in sex. To the point I was sure I was totally broken.”

“I wasn’t attracted to anyone. Not on a level where I wanted to kiss them. I’d see a pretty girl or a good-looking guy and admit they were attractive, but I didn’t want to kiss them.”

See what I mean about a pain in the ass? Who the hell just blurts out questions like that?

Seriously? This is the one person I’m attracted to?

“It’s hard to explain. I went through puberty like everyone else. I’d get completely unexplained boners and the urge to jerk-off all the time, but it wasn’t to the thought of anyone in particular. In fact, the idea of doing that with anyone else usually stressed me out.”

Please don’t kick me out, Rhett. I don’t know if my heart could take it.

“Please don’t kick me out, Rhett. Not yet.”

his voice remains a quiet plea. “I’ll go if you want me to, but please, not right away.”

I can barely breathe through my jealousy.

They don’t know he’s had his lips on every inch of my body, and I loved every single second of it. And suddenly, it’s all too damn much. I apologize to Bree and dart out of the gym, trying like hell to catch my breath.

I want it to be hard. I want him to feel me for days.