Thoughtful (Thoughtless, #1.5)(21)

“Sure. What did you have in mind?” I was pretty sure I knew what she wanted, but it was always good to double check. I wouldn’t want to assume and look like an *.

“I have an apartment on Capitol Hill,” she said, and giggled again.

“Sounds great,” I told her. Wrapping my hands around the girl’s hips, I eased her onto the floor. She played with a long strand of pitch-black hair while she waited for me to join her. I carefully extracted myself from the group of girls around me, making them groan, whine, and toss nasty insults at my date. She didn’t say anything, just gave them a vindictive smile. “Play nice, ladies,” I told all of them before hopping down to join her.

She wrapped her arms around my waist the minute she was able to. I put my arm around her shoulder and started leading her toward the doors. The crowds were thinner now than before the show, but the bar was still pretty full, and women reached out to stroke me as I weaved us toward the exit.

I led the girl to my car and opened the door for her. She slid in and moved all the way over to my side on the bench seat. When I sat down behind the steering wheel, there was hardly enough room for me. Her hand was instantly on my inner thigh, her mouth once again on my neck. Her tongue flicked against the vein in my throat and I suppressed a groan. This was going to be a long car ride if she kept this up. “Where to?” I asked.

Nibbling on my ear, she told me which way to go. When we reached her place, my date grabbed my hand and rushed me up the steps to her apartment. We dashed inside, and she immediately led me to the bedroom. I wasn’t quite sure why she was in such a hurry. I certainly wasn’t going anywhere for a while.

Once we were inside her room, she closed the door, wrapped her arms around my neck, and forcefully pulled me over to her bed. It was almost like she was afraid I would disappear if she didn’t get me under the covers as soon as possible. “This is going to be so much fun,” she purred before ripping my shirt off.

About twenty minutes later, when we were both spent, I lay back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She was already fast asleep, her naked body sprawled across her side of the mattress. I felt strange. She’d been right, that had been a lot of fun, but there was something missing. All I had been able to think of as I’d plunged into her was Denny and Kiera, which was a weird thought to be having at the time. But their tenderness and gentle touches were kind of what I’d been hoping for tonight. My date hadn’t given me that though. She’d wanted it hard, rough, and athletic. And noisy. I’d gotten the job done, and I’d had a pretty good climax, but I wouldn’t say I’d enjoyed it. Liked it, maybe.

Feeling ready to leave, I quietly got up, found my clothes from where they were strewn about the room, and got dressed. After tugging on my boots, I opened the door and left her apartment. Feeling unsatisfied, I walked to my car with my head down.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but I knew I wanted more than this. Maybe it was time I took a break from sex. Maybe I was just burned out.





Chapter 5





Roommates and D-Bags




I felt better after a few hours of sleep. Perky, even. I didn’t have anything to do until rehearsal later and was looking forward to a lazy day with my roommates. I just felt like hanging out with Denny and getting to know Kiera a little better. I was continually surprised by her. She was different from most girls I knew. Different in a good way. And she had the most amazing smile…

I was sipping on my coffee and finishing the newspaper article I’d started earlier when she ambled into the kitchen. Her hair was a mass of snarls from sleep, and she shuffled instead of walked. She obviously wasn’t a morning person. She glanced at me sitting at the table, dressed and ready for the day, and I swear irritation darkened her eyes and tightened her mouth. It was hard to tell if it was directed at me though. She could have just as easily been cursing the sun for rising.

“Mornin’,” I cheerily told her.

She made a grunting noise that sounded like “Uh.”

I figured some coffee would cheer her up, so I returned my eyes to my paper and left her to it. I waited until she was seated and had a sip in her before I asked the question I’d been dying to ask her since our set ended last night. “Well, what did you think?” I couldn’t help my cocky grin. I knew from her face while she was dancing that she’d enjoyed herself.

She struggled with her expression, like she was going to try to pull one over on me, but I wasn’t buying it. Her joy hadn’t been faked. “You guys were amazing. Really, it was unbelievable.”

I nodded, sipping my coffee. I knew it. “Thanks, I’ll tell the guys you liked it.” Curious how she’d respond, I peeked up and asked, “Less offensive?”

Her face flashed with remembered embarrassment, but then a small smile lightened her features. Her eyes were more of a brown color today, a shade of warm honey that hinted at the caring nature of the soul behind them. Sensuality surrounded by a crisp green line of determination. Remarkable. “Yes, much better…thank you.”

I laughed at her response, then we nursed our coffees in comfortable silence. Well, it was silent until Kiera blurted out, “Joey was the roommate before us?”

I slowly set down my mug as tension seeped into the room. Would she judge me for what happened with my ex-roommate? Chalk me up as a womanizer, a player, a self-absorbed *? It was really disappointing to think she might see me that way. Damn. Why the hell did Griffin always have to open his big-ass mouth at the most inopportune time? “Yeah…she left a while before Denny called about the room.” Let’s just leave it at that.