Co-Ed(58)

I yawned, put on some sweats, and opened the door.

The sound of moaning suddenly made sense.

I almost wished it had been the sexual kind.

“Put your back into it!” Leo moaned again. “Yeah, just like that. That’s the spot.”

“You tell anyone I touched you, I’m killing you.” Slater massaged his foot harder. “And this is bullshit. You know it is.”

“Ah, the rules clearly state if you want back in, you gotta prove that you haven’t lost all your talent.” He sighed. “My other foot has a fungus. Try to be gentle.”

Slater jerked away.

“I’m kidding!” Leo laughed. “But seriously, if I did have a fungus, you’d have to just go with the flow and pretend it was a flower growing on my big toe.”

Finn frowned. “Did you just rhyme about fungus?”

“Flowers,” Knox corrected, flipping a pancake then stirring some sausage.

I cleared my throat.

And suddenly, four guys were stumbling toward me. Finn pulled me in for a hug then told me my hair looked pretty. Liar.

Leo started rubbing my shoulders while Slater grabbed a blanket and sat me on the couch. He handed me a fresh cup of coffee. And then there was Knox.

Shirtless Knox.

With. Short. Hair.

I covered my mouth with my hands and spoke through my fingers, “You cut your hair!”

He shrugged. “I’m a taken man. Don’t need that Samson hair hanging around when I have you.”

“But the good version of you, not the Bible’s version of a man-hater,” Finn said with a grin.

I ran my fingers through the strands; it still hung to his ears, and it made him look even more attractive, which just irritated me more.

He smiled and leaned in, kissing my neck. “I made you food.”

“We all made you food,” Leo corrected.

“And Slater? Why’s he training?”

“Oh, he swallowed his pride, shotgunned two beers, and is re-training so he can be part of the… What did you call it, bro?” Finn crossed his arms.

Slater gritted his teeth. “Pleasure Ponies.”

I burst out laughing, feeling a bit more like myself. “Catchy, right?” I took a bite out of the pancakes. “And why is Slater joining the, uh, force?”

“I resigned,” Knox said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Something about cutting my hair and claiming the most beautiful woman in the world kind of makes doing favors sound like the worst possible choice I could make.”

“I wouldn’t have made you quit,” I said softly.

“Well, I talked with Wingman, Inc. today. Ian wasn’t super happy that we were down to two — especially since this year was the highest grossing year of usage they’d seen with the new app — so Slater, eavesdropping bastard, said he’d take my place. And here we are.” He smiled.

“Bitch…” Leo pointed to his foot. “…you think you’re done here?”

“Shit, I’m regretting that decision.” Slater sat and grabbed Leo’s foot. “For the record, I know how to do your jobs just as good as you do.”

“Prove it,” Leo challenged.

Slater moved a hand to the back of my neck, hit a spot that gave me chills, and all eyes fell to my chest.

I crossed my arms and glared.

Knox smacked Slater on the back of the head. “Do that again, and I’m throwing you out the window.”

“And the gang’s all back together,” Finn chuckled darkly. “Oh, and that’s the spot for arousal, not chills, but she has Knox so…”

I gulped and tried to act normal when my body suddenly felt heavy, my thighs tingly.

Knox dropped the pancakes onto the table and winked at Slater. “Thanks, man.”

I barely had a chance to say anything when his lips were plastered to mine, and we were back inside my room.

“Is that real?” I asked between kisses and breaths. “The whole arousal thing?”

“Who the fuck cares?” He pulled my shirt off and kissed me harder.

I laughed against his kiss as we stumbled toward the bed, clothes flying. It wasn’t until he was naked, pressed against me, holding me in the middle of the room that I saw the picture of Slater, his arm wrapped around a beautiful girl with big eyes and an even bigger smile.

“Who’s that in the picture with Slater?”

“His sister, Sophie.” He kissed my head. “Why?”

“She was at the party. She — she stumbled into me. I spilled almost my entire drink, the one Jessica had drugged—” I shook my head. “You know what? Never mind…” I kept the thoughts to myself.

Because in a weird way, it made sense.

I turned around in his arms.

I kissed him for her.

I kept him for me.





Epilogue


Knox

“You did good.” Ian sat back against the giant-ass desk in his downtown Seattle office building. Wingman, Inc. was doing well. They didn’t just own floor space; they owned the entire damn building.

“Thanks.” I leaned forward and clasped my hands together. “I’m glad Slater worked out for the last half of the semester.”

Ian tilted his head. “And things between you guys… Are they better?”