The Relationship Pact(60)

“What time do you have to be there?” I ask her.

“Let’s see, it’s six now,” she says. “Everyone will show up around eight or eight thirty, I bet. As long as I’m there by nine, it’ll be fine. What time are you planning on going?”

I grab jeans, shirt, and keys and head for the door. “Right now.”

“Already?”

“Look,” I say, opening the hotel room door and walking into the hallway, “if you’re planning on being in the shower and I’m just here by myself—”

“I’ll go unlock the door.”

I laugh. “That’s my girl.”

And I might just mean that. Maybe.





Nineteen





Hollis





“I hate wet hair,” Larissa says as she climbs into bed next to me.

I slide an arm under her and pull her into my body. She curls up next to me and smiles against my chest.

“Wet anything on you is good, beautiful,” I tell her.

She hums against me as her eyes flutter closed.

I settle back into her pillows and close my eyes too.

I could get used to this.

The words rattle through my brain.

My eyes open, and I feel the burst of energy that always comes when I get too comfortable in a situation. I learned in a football lecture once that the shock of energy is my Fight or Flight instinct. It happens when you feel like your life might be in danger.

I catch my breath before it gets out of control and settle myself.

You are fine. You are good.

I look down at Riss.

You are more than good.

I run my fingers through her hair. She’s so attractive. But the thing I see when I look at her isn’t her beauty at first. It’s the aura around her, the genuineness that exudes out of her pores. It’s her bright smile and the way she reaches for me like she wants to be as close as she can to me.

Like now.

A warmth spreads through my body, and I pull her closer.

This whole thing blindsided me. When I came here, I expected to spend my days sitting on the beach or checking out the tourist traps. Never in a million years did I expect to be lying in a woman’s bed.

And acknowledging that I don’t want to leave.

I sigh, closing my eyes and trying to slow myself down.

This thing between us happened so fast—like a tornado in the summer.

Could this thing actually work out between us?

I want to laugh at myself—at the possibility that Larissa Mason would want anything to do with me for an extended time. Why would she?

But the way she feels in my arms and the way she looks at me gives me a little … hope.

I don’t even know if it’s safe to hope. Every time I’ve wished for something, it bit me in the ass. The last time I almost believed that things were going to work out, I watched Philip and Kim’s car pull down the street without me.

Maybe this could be different? Maybe my luck has somehow changed? Perhaps I’m not the same person I was, and my past won’t follow me now.

“What are you thinking about?” she whispers sleepily.

It’s like she can read my mind.

“That shower sex is the best sex with you. Not that I don’t love it all,” I tell her. “But I really loved it in there.”

She grins. “I liked the rooftop sex.”

“Did you now?”

“Yeah. There’s something about the first time that’s special.”

I open my mouth to tell her that I can see her point when I realize—she might have first times with other men at some point. If I leave and this doesn’t work out, then she definitely will.

I want to climb out of my skin at the thought. The sensation of needing to move sweeps over me again but, this time, I oblige it.

Rolling her over onto her back—ignoring her protest—I position myself so that I’m hovering over her.

She looks up at me like I’m some kind of saint.

Sweet, confused girl.

I smile. “How about we try out after-shower sex and see where it ranks?”

Her knees fall to the side as she raises her hips. “Good idea.”

I start to move towards her but stop.

“I don’t have a condom,” I say. “Shit.”

She nibbles her bottom lip. “I’m on the pill. Actually, I have the shot and it’s good for a very long time.”

“I’m clean. I have physicals constantly, and I always use protection.” I swallow hard. “Like, always. This kind of freaks me out.”

“Then don’t do it.”

I look into her eyes and feel something stir inside me. It’s not a need to get off or to prove my prowess.

I just want to be close to her.

“You okay with it?” I ask her.

She grins shyly. “Yes.”

Instead of sinking into her, I kiss her. It takes her by surprise. Hell, it does me too.

She grips the sides of my face and kisses me gently. Her lips work on mine, telling them a story that I can’t quite make out.

I slip my cock between her legs and press into her soft body. She moans into my mouth.

Her hands slip down my chest, around my sides, and to my back. Her hips rock as she pushes on me to go harder.