Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men #9)(56)

‘That is so f*cking so,” I assured him, my jaw clenched tight.

He grinned. “Game on, baby doll.” And he picked me up, freaking picked me up, and tossed me over his shoulder in the fireman’s carry.

“Colton!” I screamed, too afraid to kick or slap him in fear he’d drop me. I mean, I was staring at the floor!

He gave an affable wave to Sasha and Chad and started for the hallway. “Carry on,” he told them. “We’re getting out of your hair now.”

“Thanks,” Chad called, only to add, “oh, hey, man. Here you go.” He tossed something our way, and Colton let go of one of his hands holding my leg to catch it one-handed, which made me shriek and clutch his torso for dear life.

By the time I could focus on what Chad had thrown at us, Colton was grinning and holding up a strip of condoms, saying, “Awesome. Thank you.”

And down the hall we went.

“So why were you so against the idea of your roommate knowing about us?” he asked as he entered the room and toed the door shut. “Because, you know…a girl doesn’t tell her friends about something for only two reasons: because she doesn’t deem it important enough or because she’s ashamed of it.” He bent down and helped me back onto the floor, then he helped me straighten until I was facing him. “Where does that leave me?”

The blood was still rushing from my head from hanging upside down. It was hard to concentrate. I wanted to be all upset that he’d just picked me up and entered my room without my permission, but I was still rocking some crazy attraction for him, and yet my skin felt all flushed and tight from the embarrassment I’d gone through in the front room. I wasn’t sure how to feel or react.

But when I focused on his face and saw the tinge of worry, I just couldn’t make him think I was ever ashamed of him.

“I just… You can’t… Damn you,” I muttered, scowling. It wasn’t right how he’d so easily flipped this around on me. Flustered and tongue-tied, I glared at him a moment before very slowly and succinctly saying, “I thought we agreed we weren’t going to tell certain people about our arrangement.”

“Certain people,” he repeated slowly. “Yeah, like my brother, because he’d give us both f*cking grief about it. You think your roommate Sasha would give us grief? She seemed pretty cool about it to me.”

“No, I don’t think she’d…” Still too agitated to talk right, I took a moment to draw in a deep breath, then I more calmly explained, “It’s not her exactly that I’m worried about. I just…dammit, I don’t want my dad finding out, okay? And she might accidentally slip and let the cat out the bag if he called, or something.”

Colton blinked, stunned silent. Then he shook his head. “Your dad?”

With a nod, I sighed and scrubbed my face.

“Why don’t you think your dad would like me? Everyone loves me.” He looked genuinely confused.

I dropped my hands and stared at him a moment, feeling defeated before finally admitting, “He’s an investigator for this equal rights group where he works. All he sees day in and day out are his people getting treated unfairly, and it’s given him a certain perspective on life.”

“Okay,” Colton answered slowly, still not catching on. I frowned at him a moment, wondering if he was being purposely obtuse or if he really just didn’t get it.

Grinding my teeth, I shook my head and whispered, “I’ve never dated a white guy before. I’m not exactly sure how he’d handle it.”

“Oh.” This time it sank in clear as day. He glanced down at his forearm, the light skin peppered with some freckles and short, dark hairs, and he frowned. “Yeah, that’s not something I can change.”

I felt suddenly shitty as if I’d just told him he wasn’t good enough or something. Unable to help myself, I stepped forward and cupped his face in my hands. He finally moved his gaze from his skin to my face. Worry laced his stare. “You’re, like, not going to get in trouble or anything for being with me, are you?”

He seemed so concerned about my safety, I shook my head even as I gulped unsteadily. The truth was I had no idea how my dad would react. I mean, he’d never hurt me. But disown me… I wasn’t sure.

What I said, however, was, “Of course not. I’m just a daddy’s girl. Determined to seek his approval, no matter what. I just don’t want to unnecessarily disappoint him, especially since there’s nothing here…” I motioned between the two of us, “for him to even worry about because we’re not attempting anything serious or anything like that. We’re just…”

When words failed me, he said, “Fucking.”

I swallowed hard. “Right,” I agreed in a small voice, even though it felt all kinds of wrong to call it that.

Colton nodded as if understanding. Then he threw me for a loop when he asked, “What about Brandt?”

I blinked, not expecting that name to come up at all since we had just agreed it never would. “What about him?”

“You wanted something with him, and he’s white.”

Not sure what point he was trying to make, I shook my head. “What?”

“Didn’t you worry about what your dad would think about him?”

“No,” I answered before I could even censor myself. “I mean…” Huh, I really hadn’t worried about that with Brandt. Strange. I wondered why that was even as I tried to explain why to Colton. “Brandt and I didn’t even make it through a single date. Why the hell would I start worrying about my father’s opinion unless I actually thought something might come from—why the hell are you grinning like that?”