Page 56 of Heart of Thorns

Our lips touch. Brief butholy shit. She pulls away too fast, and I mask my frown.

“Sorry,” she murmurs. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

My dick twitches in my pants. “We’re going to have to work on that. After all, practice makes perfect.”

CHAPTER 19

BRIAR

“Ow.”I clench my jaw and raise my leg again.

“One more.”

I grumble under my breath. I do as Thorne says, though, because hedoesknow what he’s doing when it comes to strength training. My leg thuds to the mat like it weighs three hundred pounds when I’m finished with my final rep.

He laughs and takes a seat beside me. Our legs brush against each other. I can hardly feel it through my leggings, but heat still moves through me.

It’s because he kissed me.

It was the briefest of brief kisses. Like, a split second. I pulled away because I was surprised over the fact that he went straight inandbecause of the zip of butterflies that came with it.

Even thinking about it causes my head to spin.

It left me feeling… curious.

“Has Ben cornered you or anything since I threatened him?”

My heart skips a beat with the thought.Cornered. Trapped. They’re too similar in meaning, and it forces me to think of a certainsomeone.

“He has, hasn’t he?” Thorne’s lips flatten. “I’ll take care of it.”

“No.” I’m quick to reach my hand out and place it over his. I think he’s just as surprised as I am because we both snap our attention to it. “He hasn’t talked to me since.”

Thorne searches my face. His golden eyes narrow, like he thinks I’m lying.

I give his hand a squeeze. “I’m telling the truth. I may be a grumpy catas you like to say, but I’m not a liar.”

His lip lifts into a smile, and I’m pretty sure I feel a few butterflies flying around my stomach—which I will continue to ignore.

“You don’t lie, huh?”

I jerk my hand back because I’m not sure I like the way his honey-colored eyes darken with something enticing. “No.”

Thorne leans backward onto his hands, appearing cool, calm, and collected. He has this nonchalant attitude that I crave to have. Instead, I’m “prickly” and “uptight”, according to those around me.

“Okay, tell me this.” Thorne turns and gives me no room to look away. “What did you think of me kissing you the other day?”

My nostrils flare.

Shit.

Heat burns my cheeks, and I’m sweating even more than before. Thorne shakes his hair off his forehead and waits for my answer.

I shrug. “It was fine.”

“Then why’d you pull away so quickly?” he asks, smirking.

Because.