The Risk (Kings of Linwood Academy 3)

“Oh. Uh…”

I was, actually. The past several times they’ve come to my room, to collect me before school or whatever, they’ve arrived as a pair. I know them so well by now that I’d never mistake one twin for the other, but I have gotten used to the two of them together. A pair.

Scrunching my nose up, I squint at him. “No?”

He chuckles, his smile easy and amused. “Yeah, you were. It’s okay. Everybody does it, even our parents. Even River and Linc. We ask for it, with how much time we spend together. But we’re identical twins, not conjoined ones.”

A laugh bursts out of me, the first genuine moment of levity I’ve had in days. “Right.”

I step back a little and open the door wider, gesturing him inside. The pajamas I was going to change into are still sitting on top of the dresser. I got distracted before I could put them on, and I forgot until this exact moment that all I’m wearing is a towel.

But when Chase’s gaze flickers down and then back up, and I see him draw in a deep breath, I’m suddenly hyper-aware of how little I’m wearing.

My heart thuds a little harder in my chest as I close the door, looking over my shoulder at Chase, who stopped several feet away in the middle of the room.

“What’s up?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer for a moment.

He just gazes at me with an intent expression on his face, like he’s trying to see all of me, to take in every bit of me at once. My skin heats under the close scrutiny, and I lean against the door, my hands unconsciously going to the top edge of the towel that’s wrapped around me.

Still not speaking, he crosses back to me and rests his hands on the heavy wood on either side of my head, bracing himself against it and caging me between his arms.

We’re so close that I can see the little flecks of green in his blue eyes and feel the warmth coming off his golden skin. His pupils dilate and contract as his gaze tracks over my face, as if his eyes are cameras, and he’s preserving this image in his mind.

As if he’ll remember me, in this moment, forever.

“Chase,” I whisper, just to break the silence, to break the spell his blue eyes are casting on me.

Maybe my voice breaks the spell on him too, because he blinks, shaking his head a little like he’s coming out of a daze.

“I don’t think you know what you do to us, Low,” he murmurs.

Another laugh bubbles up my chest. “What I do to you?”

Jesus. If he could feel my heart slamming against my ribs, the energy zapping through me, making every one of my nerve endings come alive, he’d understand what they do to me. All of these boys.

He grins, like maybe he does have some idea after all, and his hands leave the wall to trail down my arms as he takes a small step closer.

“I don’t mean like that. Well…” He clears his throat and glances down at where a visible erection is growing in his sweats. “I guess I do mean like that. But not just that.”

His fingertips are made of fire, burning little trails up and down my skin. I struggle to keep my eyelids from drooping as arousal spreads through me like a drug.

“I’ve been close with Dax since the day I was born, and we’ve been friends with River and Linc for years,” he murmurs. “But when you came to Fox Hill, you changed everything. You gave us… purpose.”

“What purpose?”

I reach for him as I ask, unable to stop myself, pulling him closer so I can run my hands over his back and lean waist, feeling the muscles through his soft t-shirt.

Chase’s hands glide up my arms, up my n

eck, until he’s cradling my head, his fingers threading through my hair at the scalp as he tilts my face up a little.

“You. Protecting you. Making you happy.” He lets out a soft laugh. “Maybe one day, if we all come out of this alive, taking you on a proper fucking date.”

His words send a ripple of hope and fear through me, and I tighten my grip on him, shaking my head as the fear wins out. “Chase. You guys don’t have to—”

“Yeah, we do, Low. We’re with you. Always.” He smiles softly. “Didn’t you just hear what I said? That’s our purpose.”