Free Collide by Melissa Toppen

last night. I was drunker than I realized. I acted irrationally which is very out of character for me. I just don't want something like a stupid kiss to ruin my friendship with Alec. He's like a brother to me. And he loves you Gracie, more than you even realize. I hope you understand why I reacted the way I did. Alec can not find out about any of this.” He states matter of fact, like I have no say in the matter what so ever. Not that I would ever tell Alec but that's not the point.
    “You've made your point clear Zayne, I got it. Big mistake, best friend's little sister and nothing more, never tell Alec. Does that about cover it?” I ask, acting completely annoyed when in reality he has hurt me far deeper than I will ever let him know.
    “There you go again.” He says, nudging the side of my leg with his foot. I look up to meet his gaze, confusion clear on my face. “Pretending.... I've gotta admit, you're good.” He says, a slow smile creeping across his lips.
    “You're delusional, you realize this right?” I ask, rolling my eyes. He laughs lightly but it's short lived.
    “No, I'm very observant.” He says, his eyes growing more serious. “I see you Grace, even if you don't see yourself.” His words send a chill straight through my core and I do my best not to let him see how much his words are getting to me. Am I that superficial? Can he see through me that easily? I refuse to believe that.
    “You seem very sure of yourself.” I say, stretching my legs out across the bench and crossing my arms in front of my chest. “I have a feeling you're not used to being wrong about things.”
    “I don't pretend to know everything but this is one area where I am always right.” He says, mirroring my action and crossing his arms in front of himself.
    “And I am a master at proving people wrong.” I say, my voice dropping low.
    “Is that a challenge?” He asks, a smile breaking across his impossibly handsome face. “Because I must warn you, I never back down from a challenge.” His eyes sparkle as his smile grows wider.
    I try to fight my own smile but fail miserably. It's impossible to contain when he's looking at me like that. “You're impossible.” I say, once again rolling my eyes.
    “I fucking hate that.” He says, gesturing to my eye roll. I do it again just to fuck with him even more. He smiles wickedly at me. “You're playing a very dangerous game Ms. Morgan.” He says, his voice dropping low in warning.
    “You say that like I care Mr. Evans.” I say back just as seriously and tack on another eye roll for good measure. Without warning, he pulls my legs hard, causing my entire body to slide down the length of the bench. He moves so quickly that I can barely register his actions. One minute he's next to me, the next he's hovering over me, my arms pinned above my head.
    “You forget, your brother is my best friend. I know exactly how to make you crack.” He smiles, securing my wrist with one hand and running his free hand down my side. My entire body tenses and my breath catches in my throat. What the hell is he doing?
    Then he squeezes my side, hard. I buck under him trying to shake him off as a half laugh, half scream bursts from my throat. “Stop! Please stop!” I plead through my laughter but that only eggs him on more.
    I manage to get one hand free long enough for him to stop tickling me. In the process of him trying to reel in my now free hand, I push my body as hard as I can to the side, trying to roll him off of me. Only problem is that it works too well and I go rolling off the side of the bench right along with him, landing directly on top of his body with a hard thud.
    We both break into laughter and for a moment all the weirdness and tension just melts away. I realize almost immediately that this is a side of Zayne that not many people get to see. Fun, carefree. He always seems so damn serious all the time and honestly it's intimidating as hell.
    But as the laughter dies off and the