“Wear that," he told me.I didn't protest. It was comfortable enough.I grabbed a bra and some panties out of my dresser.He followed me there, digging through the drawer without asking."Nice," he said."I ordered you a few dozen more pairs. The last line of defensebetween me and your pussy is bound to take some casualties.”

“Do you…love me?” I asked him, my chesthurting.“That’s a silly question,” he said, stroking my cheek. “An unnecessary question. I’ve never made a secret of my feelings, Bianca. I know you’re a skeptic, but you must have realized that I fell for you right away.”

“You’re insane,” I told him, and stood up to dress.He hugged me from behind, pressing hard against me, rubbing his smooth chest along my back. He spoke into my ear, “Insane for you, my love.”

“Taking care of you," he said mildly. "I'm getting you ready for bed right now. And if you start throwing up all of that poison you drank tonight, I'll take you to the bathroom and hold your hair out of your face for you.”

“I elbowed James as he shot my army guy in the head yet again. “This game is so sexist,” I complained. “I can’t believe that there isn’t even an option for me to play as a girl.” “Do you think that if you were playing as a busty blonde it would distract me?” James asked, amused. “It couldn’t hurt.” He tossed his controller on the ground. I gave a little embarrassing shriek as he tossed me over his shoulder. “We’re done, guys. Buttercup wants to distract me. Consider me distracted.”

“I love you. I know I said I needed time, but that was a big fat lie. I fell in love with you more than a year ago, and those feelings never went away, not for me. I was just trying to protect my heart when I told you that I needed more time to fall for you. I've been here all along.”

“…I processed that. Stephan was gay. He had told me as much. And she had told me that they were purely platonic. I believed them both. Why does she seek him out in her sleep? Were they really so close? A part of me was insanely jealous at the thought that he was that important to her, but I knew instinctively that I couldn’t indulge that jealousy. The two of them were too close to tolerate anyone coming between them, and I wouldn’t be making that mistake.”