Piece by Piece

15. Safe Word

Millie had no idea what was happening, at what point her life had turned from minding her own business and practicing for Julliard into kissing some random guy she didn't even like much in a swimming pool.

But as much as she told herself otherwise, he wasn't a random guy. It was the guy she had ensured she'd be there for, the one who promised the same thing back. The one who, for some reason, she let get away with all the nastiness because she knew there had to be something good inside him.

And apparently, there was. At least the way he kissed, which had shivers running down her spine, warmed her body more effectively than anything ever could. For a ill-fated second, she'd allowed herself to admit that he was attractive, and it was all it took for their tentative friendship to turn into this.

She liked this, she didn't need the friendship. Friends were overrated. As was breathing.

She needed to breathe.

It was the only reason she pulled away, gasping for air. Somewhere along the way she'd wrapped her arms around his neck. He still had his hands on her thighs and the way he watched her, the haze in his dark-blue eyes, it only made her want to kiss him again, never stop. Because it shut him up and ensured that she only saw the good side of him. His looks and his ability to turn the fire on inside of her.

This time, it was him moving in close, searching for her mouth, exploring and holding her closer, moving his hands to her back, to the string of Diana's tiny bikini. She drew a sharp breath as his fingers started playing with it.

He pulled back, a grin on his face. "Relax, I'm not going to undo it."

She believed him, but still couldn't relax. Without the intoxicating kissed, what she'd just done finally caught up with her. Her heart pounded so hard, it drowned out everything else. A part of her couldn't believe what had just happened. The other part just wanted to escape sanity and kiss him again. A mild panic attack made her breathing shallow.

"Hey." Davyn frowned, but his voice was soothing. It was an inflection she'd never heard before, and it made her even warmer if possible. "What's wrong?"

Nothing was wrong.

Everything was wrong.

She was still in his arms and too afraid to let go and get out because then she'd drown and she couldn't believe she'd just had her first kiss in a swimming pool with the guy she was convinced was jerkiness and insensitivity personified.

"I... I..." Her jaw trembled too much and she couldn't speak.

She had to get some words out. It was the end of a kiss, of her first kiss, and it couldn't turn into her blubbering and crying becauss she had no idea what to do with the feelings inside her chest.

It was so much, and yet, not enough.

She wanted more, so much more. But she couldn't say that. Apparently, she couldn't say anything.

Oh, God, this was turning into a disaster.

Davyn looked really concerned now and he moved through the water with ease, towards the edge of the pool, carrying her along towards safety. With the fear of drowning gone, the consequences of her inability to produce any words completely took over

What if he thought he'd sucked and that was why she was panicking? What if he thought she sucked?

"Millie?"

"I'm sorry, I'm..." Gah, she needed to get out of the water. She couldn't remain stuck to him for another moment. This was like sensory overload, ready to explode. She didn't think she'd ever felt so out of control and it was terrifying.