"Yes." His eyes narrowed. "And you do not like knowing that."
"I'll take the 5th on that one."
"No. No more hiding between us. No more subterfuge."
"I don't lie to you." He had to know that.
"But you've lied about me."
"What do you mean?"
"Never acknowledging what I am to you to anyone else." His expression had gone hard.
Tor may have agreed to their friends with benefits deal, but she thought she was seeing for the first time how he really felt about that. She should have realized long before now that a man with his pride would chafe against being kept a secret.
"And what are you?" she asked, seeking clarification.
Yesterday they hadn't been speaking. A few minutes ago, they'd been kissing like they were both starved for it.
"I am your damn boyfriend, Blythe."
There was nothing left in her emotional reserves to deny that claim. "Yes."
"Finally, we make progress."
"Don't be so smug."
He reached out and cupped her nape, his thumb brushing along sensitive nerve endings. "Shouldn't I feel smug? I have you here beside me."
"And that's a good thing?"
"Very good." His dark brows drew together in a frown. "Don't you think?"
"Yes." No more denials. No more subterfuge.
She had spent the last year pining. She was done with the whole giving him up for his own good thing. He hadn't dated in the last year either. The way he acted, he'd missed her nearly as badly as she'd missed him.
A shiver of dread skated down her spine even as her heart rejoiced at the implication of that truth.