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.“We’ll see about that.”A few minutes later, Alec was much happier as I was forced to remove my last sock, and we were both barefoot.“One more shot,” he said with a laugh, “and I get to see some skin.”I gulped when I realized the tough spot I was in.I didn’t want to take anything else off any more than I wanted Alec to.Either way, no matter who won this next shot, things were about to get a lot more interesting.I should walk away.Now.“Check.” He bounced the ball to me.I held onto it a second, briefly debating my next move, before I returned it to him with a returned, “Check.”Alec could play, I had to give him that.I tried, hard, but he beat me to the basket, floated the ball over my head, and scored.“It’s really not fair considering how much taller you are than me,” I whined.Alec ignored my complaints as he dribbled toward me.His mind wasn’t on the logistics of the game at the moment.His eyes wandered over me expectantly.“Well? What’s it going to be?”I lowered my eyes, unable to meet his.My pulse jumped and a bead of sweat trickled down the back of my neck—and it wasn’t from the physical exertion.Pants or shirt?Shit.Pants or shirt?I wasn’t happy with either option.I considered telling Alec I didn’t want to play anymore, and back out of this game with my clothes on.It was heading in a dangerous direction I wasn’t so sure I was ready to handle.But I was no quitter either, and I wasn’t about to back down to Alec.Not with the way he was looking at me, daring me to continue.I decided to call his bluff, and force him to back down first…if that were even possible.After considering my choices, I opted to remove my jeans.I was wearing the least sexy panties ever made, and my shirt was long enough to cover them up, so it wasn’t like Alec would get to see much.Regardless, he raised his eyebrows as I tossed my pants to the side.“Interesting choice.”I shrugged and took the ball from him.“Check.”I was on a mission this time, and Alec didn’t stand a chance.It wasn’t difficult, considering how distracted he was now.I easily slapped the ball out of his hands and made a run for the basket, scoring effortlessly.As I turned around triumphantly, Alec was already happily slipping out of his jeans.Luckily, he still had on a pair of boxers.I kept my eyes on the ball to keep them off him.No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t ignore how aware I was of just how little clothing remained between us.“I’m getting the next one,” he taunted, spreading his arms out wide to block me.“You’re not getting by me.”I made a move, but hesitated at the thought of scoring again, and forcing Alec to lose his boxers.The hesitation was enough for him to poke the ball away from me, and sink his own basket.Catching the ball as it dropped through the net, Alec turned to me expectantly.“I’m not taking anything else off,” I said.Alec shrugged, undeterred, and took a step toward me.“Okay.I’ll do it.”My heart wasn’t anywhere near my chest by the time he reached me.I tried to back away from him, but my feet were stuck, frozen under his gaze.And, maybe, a part of me didn’t want to move.He gave me just enough time to stop him if I wanted, but I didn’t, and his hands reached out and caught the hem of my shirt.His fingers brushed against my skin and involuntary goose-bumps prickled the surface of my stomach.Alec must have noticed because he smiled knowingly as he inched the fabric higher.His hands stopped near my ribcage, where he gripped me tightly.Though his touch felt incredible, I couldn’t prevent the stiffening of my spine and the short puff of air that slipped between my lips.Alec’s eyes lifted to mine.“I won’t if you don’t want me to.”“I don’t want you to,” I said, unable to raise my voice above a whisper.“Okay.” He let go of my shirt, letting it fall, but his hands remained underneath it, and encircled around my waist.“And what if I were to kiss you?”I tried to block out the way his thumbs tracing over the spot just above my belly button felt—because it felt amazing.Such a simple motion on his part, but it was doing a hell of a job at tearing down my walls.“Would you want me to do that?” Alec asked softly.“No.” The word shook as it came out of my mouth, and didn’t pack the punch I had hoped for.“I don’t believe you.”That made two of us.Knowing I would be at his mercy if I looked into his eyes, I fixed my gaze on his hand as it trailed slowly up my arm and over my shoulder.The goose-bumps his touch left behind sent a shiver up my spine.A good shiver.Definitely a good shiver.Too good, in fact.“Alec…”His fingers brushed along the curve of my neck, coming to a rest under my chin.With one finger, he forced my head back.His eyes were aflame, not with evil, but with a desire that melted most of the rest of my resolve.I had to close my eyes to regain my composure.“I know you want me to.” His mouth brushed against my upper lip, teasing, tempting me.Oh, I wanted him to kiss me.Physically, my body was responding to Alec the way he wanted it to, the way it has to him before.But my body didn’t know that my heart belonged to someone else.“Tell me to kiss you, Kris.” His hand stroked the side of my face, further fogging my thoughts and nearly making me forget the reasons why we shouldn’t be doing this.I opened my eyes at last, and realized, too late, how bad of an idea that was.He was close.Really close.It would be so easy, so natural, so right in so many ways to give in.I had only a small sliver of willpower left, and I held on to that with all my might [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]