I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths as I count to twenty in my head. Counting has always been a great way for meto stay focused and calm my nerves before a game. There's no reason it shouldn’t work now.
One.
Lila is in my bathroom.
Two.
Lila is mostly naked in my bathroom.
Three.
Lila is putting on my clothes.
Four.
Lila is putting on my clothes in my bathroom.
Five.
Lila is mostly naked, putting on my clothes, in my bathroom.
Holy fucking shit.
My mind isn’t any clearer and my heart isn’t any calmer by the time I reach twenty. If anything, I’ve only doubled the images of a naked Lila in my bathroom. Images that really shouldn’t be there if I’m just herfriend.
I groan as I scrub my hand over my face. A deep breath slightly calms my nerves before I open my eyes. My heart doubles its efforts as she cracks open the bathroom door. “Can I, uh, come out now?”
I twist the fabric of my soiled shirt in my hands as I say, “Yeah, you can, um—”Don’t put emphasis on the word come. Don’t put emphasis on the word come.“—come out.”
Lila’s eyes double as the bathroom door bounces off the doorstop with a solid thunk. A quick glance down shows my bare chest where a clean shirt should be.
I look back up to watch in fascination as her pupils dilate and her breathing grows shallow. I only have a moment to take in how damn good she looks in my clothes.
Her eyes trace a path over my naked chest that I can feel all the way to my toes. I don’t recognize the gravel in my voice when I say, “Eyes up here, Sunshine.”
CHAPTER 17
NEMO
LILA
My face turns molten. I spin around so quickly that I bump into his dresser. My hip throbs asShrek,Finding Nemo, andThe Matrixfall to the floor and scatter between us as his neatly organized row of DVDs shifts under the sudden movement.
Nemo’s beady eyes taunt me from the floor as my mind reels with images of a shirtless Kam.
Oh damn.
Damn.
Damn.
Damn.
What a beautiful man.
What a stunningly beautiful man.
The air that rushes over my face as I bend down to pick up the scattered DVD cases is a welcome relief on my overheated face. “I’m, uh, so sorry. I didn’t mean to stare. It’s just that, well, you’re, um.” My fingers fumble against the plastic cases as I take a deep breath to prevent any more embarrassment.
