“I was just thinking!”
“It freaked me out.”
Penny gaped at him. “So if I’m too silent, it disturbs your game? When ten minutes ago you said, ‘You're talking so damn much, and I can’t focus!’”
Penny was tempted to laugh at the look on his face, but she held it in. Brett practically had steam coming out of his ears, and as much as he touted being tough on the ice, she didn’t know how much smack talk he could take without blowing a gasket.Though she was tempted to find out . . .
He turned toward her on the couch, then reached out and grabbed her wrist. Penny’s heart rate spiked at his touch, and her skin burned under his fingers as he snatched the controller from her hand.
She scoffed. “Oh, because that’s going to help?”
“This controller is giving you an advantage.”
Her heart jumped in her chest like it had been shocked with defibrillator paddles as she stood and leaned over Brett to pick up his controller off the floor. Energy buzzed between them, and when his hand landed on her head and mussed her perfectly parted hair, Penny squealed. “Seriously? What are we, seven?”
She straightened and stared at him with a look of disbelief. “You just got yourfinger oilsall over my clean hair!” Brett pursed his lips, trying not to laugh. “Are you laughing at me?” Penny punched his shoulder and instantly regretted it. It felt like she’d knocked her fist against a brick wall.
Her eyes flashed as she smoothed her dark waves and tucked her hair behind her ears. She hovered over him, her knees almost touching his. “If we're switching players, we have to switch spots on the couch.”
Brett frowned. “Why would we have to switch spots on the couch?”
“Because otherwise, I have to look diagonal to my screen.”
“And you're not capable of looking diagonal? Seems like you’ve been doing that pretty well for the last six rounds.”
“Iwasn’t looking, and it's more work for my eyes!”
Brett barked a laugh. “More work for your eyes? Are you serious?”
Penny stepped over his knees, then shoved him from his right side, careful not to accidentally hit his leg.
“You're going to have to push a lot harder than that if you want to move me from this spot.”
Penny dug in and shoved as hard as she could, but Brett was like a boulder set in a field after a glacial melt. His blue eyes danced as he watched her pathetic efforts, and that only fueled the fire. All of her training with her brothers came back in full force at that moment, and she remembered the one secret weapon she'd always held against them no matter how much bulk they carried.
With one arm still pressed against his shoulder, she slipped her other hand under his arm and dug her fingers into his ribs.
Brett sucked in a breath, and with a reaction time his Halo soldier would’ve envied, he twirled his arm, grabbed onto hers above the elbow and yanked. Penny flew over the arm of the couch and landed sprawled over his lap. Before she could react, Brett's massive hands stretched over her entire rib cage, playing her ribs like a xylophone until she thought she was going to pee her pants laughing.
“Brett!” she gasped, her face on fire and her lungs tight and desperate for air. “I can't breathe!” she wheezed between staccato laughter.
Brett finally let up, and she scrambled to sit, sucking in air as soon as her diaphragm released.
She smacked his chest. “Not fair!”
“Now you know how I feel. But hey, don’t dish it out if you can’t take it.” He was grinning from ear to ear, obviously pleased with himself.
Penny threw her hair away from her face and back over her shoulders, then closed her eyes and inhaled to calm her racing heart. When she lowered her head, she realized she was full-on straddling Brett with her legs folded against the outsides of his thighs. Their heaving chests were only centimetres apart, and her efforts to calm her nerves seemed suddenly futile.
Brett ran his tongue over his lower lip, and Penny's insides liquified. “You could have just asked nicely,” he panted, his voice low and throaty.
Penny swallowed hard. “I thought I did.”
“No, you demanded—”
“I did it in aniceway.” She barely finished the last word as the citrusy scent her brain had already claimed as uniquely Brett overwhelmed her.Had she just started a tickle fight with him? And why was she still planted in his lap?
She couldn’t make herself move. The feel of his strong legs beneath her and the warmth of his body sent a zing up her spine. Brett's hands twitched on top of her thighs, and every inch of her skin pricked up at attention, just waiting to see what he’d touch next.
