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My pulse kicks, and Zander notices. “You really want to know what I’m thinking?”

“No.”

“That was fast.”

“Because I don’t care.”

“Another terrible lie.”

I should walk inside. That would be the smart thing to do. Instead, I stay exactly where I am, close enough now that I can see the faint shadow along his jaw and the blue of his eyes even in the dim porch light.

“You’re unbelievably irritating.”

“And you’ve told me that several times.”

“Because you keep earning it.”

He steps closer. Not enough to touch me. Enough that I feel his breath.

“You know what’s driving me insane?”

I lift my chin. “I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”

“You.”

That catches me, not because of the word, but because of the way he says it. The teasing is gone, and he’s looking at me like this stopped being an argument somewhere in the last thirty seconds, and neither of us bothered to acknowledge it.

I swallow. “The feeling is mutual.”

His eyes drop to my mouth again.

“Ruby.”

“What?”

“Tell me to go inside.”

I don’t. He waits just long enough that there’s no question what he’s asking, and by then my heart is pounding hard enough that I can feel it in my throat.

“You talk too much.”

His mouth crashes into mine, and there’s nothing tentative about it.

One second, I’m standing on the porch angry enough to threaten his amplifier, and the next his hand is at the back of my neck, and his mouth is on mine like he’s been holding himself back since the day we met.

I kiss him just as hard.

The sound he makes is low and rough, and it sends heat straight through me.

My fingers fist on the front of his shirt. He backs me one step toward my door, then stops abruptly and pulls away just enough to look at me.

“Still want me to shut up?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

I drag him back down by the shirt. The second kiss is worse.