The truck stopped for a red light, and he shifted in his seat. He traced a finger over her protruding lower lip. “I don’t know if that’s a threat or a promise.”
The contact sent a pleasant chill through her, and she parted her lips with a tiny gasp.
His gaze lingered on her face before he looked away. “That look though—that’s worth spilling a lot of secrets for.”
Geez. What would it take for him to do that again? Traces of his touch lingered, and his husky comment danced in her skull. Taunting her. Fire raced through her cheeks, and she pressed her forehead against the cool glass. The heat from the vents rushed over her skin. How big a deal would it be if she asked him to pull over and run that finger, or all of them, over more of her?
“I would miss everything about you.” His soft comment startled her. “The way you reserve yourself and your judgment until you get to know someone. But you give everyone that chance. That not a lot of people know the real you and that you like to have a lot of fun.”
His compliments didn’t help redirect her thoughts. Instead, they enhanced the desire tingling on her lips. She turned back to him, studying his clenched jaw. The words rolled through her head, simple but surprisingly observant. “Not everyone thinks those are quality traits.”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “Not everyone’s opinion is worth listening to. Besides, since I’m one of the few you let in, I’m biased.”
Giddiness rippled through her. She knew better than to fall hard and fast, and if she made that mistake with Zane, she’d lose one of the two most important people in her life. Only Kenzie mattered to her as much as he did.
This wasn’t falling. She wasn’t stupid. This was the same playfulness they’d always had. But she had a grander appreciation for it now.
This was friendship, nothing more. Even if her skin and her heart whimpered at the denial.
Chapter Five
Cheers for the seriesof games running on TVs around the room echoed in the background, dancing with the clank of mugs on tables and coins sliding into slots.
Zane nudged the plate and last slice of pizza in Riley’s direction. He’d missed this—the less-than-healthy food, the mania of the crowds, all of it.
She pushed it back toward him with a smile and a shake of her head. “Not going to happen.”
His, “Your loss,” was muffled, as he took a large bite and then knocked back the last of his root beer in a single swallow.
She finished scribbling on the paper napkin and stuffed the pen back into the mini purse attached to her wrist. She slid the sketch across the table. “Something like that.”
He studied the blue lines that made up the Chinese dragon. She’d drew it to give him an idea of something she was trying to explain, but he loved the artwork. God damn, she was incredible. “You never cease to amaze me.”
“Thanks.” Pink tinged her cheeks.
This wasn’t a bad sight either. “Can I keep it?”