All the Way (Hot Jocks #2)(25)

“Water would be awesome. Thanks.” I take a seat on her floral print couch while Becca grabs me a bottle of water from the fridge and I try to figure out what the hell I’m going to say to her. The last thing I want to do is hurt her or intimidate her, and I’m afraid I could end up doing both if I don’t put a stop to this.

She hands me a bottle of water and sinks down on the couch beside me.

“Did you have plans this morning?” I ask, giving her appearance a once-over. She looks almost good enough to eat in a pair of well-worn jeans and a white T-shirt knotted at the waist. Her hair is twisted into a messy ponytail, a few pieces framing her face.

“Just a coffee date with the girls,” she says. It’s quiet between us for another second, and then Becca turns to face me. “You must think I’m insane.”

“Of course I don’t. What kind of question is that?” Uncapping the chilled bottle, I take a long drink.

She shrugs. “You ran out of here last night like your ass was on fire. I thought we were having fun. Did I do something wrong?”

I swallow again, my mouth suddenly bone dry despite the water. “We were having fun. Maybe a little too much. And you definitely did nothing wrong. You were perfect, Becca. You are perfect.” I grin at her.

Becca presses her lips together and shakes her head, clearly not amused by me. “You’d better start talking, Owen. Tell me what’s really going on.”

I lick my lips, leaning forward. “Truthfully? Things started to get heated, and I freaked out.”

“But why?”

The cute little crease between her brows is endearing, and I know what she’s really asking. Why in the world would the king of hookups panic over a little no-strings-attached nooky?

Well, for starters, because there are a whole bunch of strings. Mountains of them.

First, Becca’s a friend—not only to me, but to my sister. And she has a shaky past that I need to tiptoe around. But last night? Lying in bed with her? All of that flew right out the fucking window.

Because the moment I got my lips on her, the moment my hands wrapped around those soft curves, none of those messy entanglements mattered to me anymore. All I could think about was more, and fuck yeah, and loads of other inappropriate things that would be much better suited for locker room talk.

And then there’s the matter of my sexual tastes . . . which I was blindly hoping wouldn’t even come into play. But seeing as how after one look at her tempting body and then one kiss, my brain scrambled faster than a three-egg omelet. I can see now that was a stupid-ass assumption on my part.

“Just say it, Owen.”

“I’m trying to give you an out here. The things I like in the bedroom aren’t the things you’re going to need from me.” And I have no idea why I ever thought I could give you what you needed. But I don’t say that last part; I only think it.

I would never purposely get too rough with her, nothing like that. But last night showed me how quickly our chemistry can go from zero to nuclear. Forgetting my manners, fucking up with her, pushing her too far—none of that is something I’ll let myself do.

“I think that’s for me to decide, isn’t it? And I came to you because I wanted to be pushed outside my comfort zone, remember?”

I chug some more water before setting it down on the coffee table. “I just . . . I don’t think that’s a good idea because I can’t hurt you, Becca . . . physically or emotionally. I can’t risk that.”

“Is that why you left last night?”

“Yes,” I admit, rubbing the back of my neck with one hand.

“What did you mean about your interests being less vanilla?”

Leave it to Becca to come right out and ask with zero filter. And damn if her lush lower lip isn’t trapped between her teeth as she awaits my answer.

“I like being in control,” I say. “I like pushing boundaries and testing limits.”

She shifts beside me, not like she’s uncomfortable, but more like she’s trying that idea on for size, seeing how it fits with the carefree guy she knows. “I like you being in charge. I liked letting you take the lead and not having to think.”

My heart rate accelerates. “It’s a little more than that. If we keep doing this, I promise to be on my best behavior from here on out. But you need to promise to tell me if it gets to be too much. I still feel like this is a really bad idea.”

Becca’s lips part in a sweet smile as she meets my eyes. “You’re not going to scare me away, you know. I’ve come this far.”

“That’s true. You have.”

I open my hand, and she lays her palm on top of mine. Our fingers interlace on the couch cushion, but otherwise we don’t move. It’s comforting, but at the same time, I can feel the crackle of electricity between us. I hardly so much as breathe. It feels like all the oxygen has been sucked from the damn room, and my heart thunders inside my chest.

“Owen?” she asks in a soft voice, meeting my eyes. “Maybe we could just try it.”

Try it.

She has no idea what she’s asking me for.

Swallowing a wave of lust that rolls through me, I’m blown away at how trusting she is. It’s a huge turn-on, but this isn’t about me, or my overactive libido. This is about the gorgeous, albeit timid woman sitting in front of me.