CHAPTER 10
~MARI~
My heart was pounding in my chest, beating harder than I’d ever felt it as I leaned toward Trystan’s face. It wasn’t a conscious plan. I didn’t think, hey, let’s kiss Trystan on the cheek and then grin like an idiot. Instead, I found my body moving without my consent. I was so happy he didn’t sleep with her. I was so glad that it flooded my body like liquid sunshine coursing through my veins. Before I could stop myself, I felt my lips brush his cheek. Wildly fighting every urge within me, I made sure it was just a peck. I made sure I didn’t take his gorgeous face in my palms and pull his lips to mine. Breathing steadily, I looked up at him when I stepped away, trying to ignore the jitters that were making me giddy.
Trystan’s voice was airy and filled with shock, “What was that for?”
The perplexed look on his face made me say it. “What?” I asked, looking at him from the corner of my eyes. I could feel the smile spreading across my lips and I couldn’t hide it. “You’re the only one who can steal a kiss?”
Trystan blinked like he didn’t hear me right. It was a moment that I’d play over in my mind again and again. Everything about it was perfect. That look, that baffled look on his face, made me want to dance. Unable to hide my giddiness, I swallowed a giggle, but it sounded like a sultry laugh instead.
Trystan tilted his head to the side, eyes wide, like he didn’t know what came over me. Before I could say anything, he stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. The vixen, that seemed to possess me moments ago, fled when Trystan’s fingers started tickling my sides.
His lips were next to my ear. I could feel his breath wash over my neck as he teased, “Kiss stealer.”
I laughed hysterically, my knees buckling from under me. Trystan scooped me up in his arms and tossed me in the air. I shrieked as I fell straight down onto the couch. Before I could breath, Trystan pinned me by sitting on my legs and continued to tickle me.
“Kiss ninja,” I laughed, trying to get my fingers to wiggle in a ticklish spot on Trystan’s lean body.
“Kiss ninja?” he laughed, moving his hands over my sides, applying the perfect amount of pressure to make me laugh the hardest.
Between hysterical giggles I managed, “Yeah, because you sneak up all stealthy like a ninja.”
“Kiss thief,” he said smiling, his fingers moving between my belly and my underarms. Laughter made me shake so hard I couldn’t stop. The glimpses I got of Trystan were filled with pure joy. His eyes sparkled, brilliant blue as he laughed.
“Kiss cowboy,” I blurted out. That one made him chuckle really hard.
“Kiss bandit.”
Right then his hands were on both sides of my waist, applying enough pressure to make me squealing with laughter. “Kiss assassin! You’re killing me! Stop!” I laughed, certain I was going to explode in a ball of giggles. As we wrestled on the couch, Trystan leaned into me. From trying to pull away my hair was covering my face, several curls stuck to my lips.
Panting hard, he stilled and brushed the hair out of my face. “A kiss assassin sounds kind of sexy. I’d like to see one of those.”
“Grab a mirror, because I’m totally looking at one. He has bright blue eyes, a killer smile, and he’s a closet musician.” A wicked grin spread across my lips. “All the kiss assassins are—”
Before I could say anything else, his fingers tickled me again. This time when I stopped laughing, something changed. I was more aware that here he was, how he was laying with half of his body on top of mine, on the couch—the nearness of his mouth and his breath on my face.
Trystan looked down at me, still smiling softly. My heart hammered in my chest, but this time it wasn’t from tickles or silly words. His gaze pinned me in place, those sapphire eyes stole my breath and my brains in one look. They swept over my face, moving slowly from my eyes to my lips, and back again. Trystan’s mouth parted like he was going to say something, but he didn’t. He froze like that, watching me beneath him with an unreadable expression on his face. Just when I thought my heart couldn’t take another shock, the door above us banged open.
Tucker’s voice bellowed down the stairs, “Scott, get up here. Now!”
As soon as we heard the door open, we shot apart. Trystan pushed himself upright, and stood as I rolled to my side and patted my hair, trying to make it look normal and not like we’d been doing something naughty. I glanced over at him. Trystan didn’t meet my eyes. Instead, he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away. Before he got to the stairs, he looked over his shoulder. “Later, kiss thief.” He treated me to a dimpled grin and I nearly died.
Ignoring the fact that my heart was half way up my throat, I slumped back into the couch nodding and said, “You know it, ninja.”