“So where do your Mom and Coach think you are today?” I ask as I close the door behind her.
“Tony surprised her with a last-minute getaway to the island for the last couple of days of All-Star week so they don’t have a clue.” She toes off her shoes, then puts them in the hall closet beside mine. “Ugh, I need a shower. I stink.”
I wrap my arms around her from behind and rub my nose along her neck. “You smell great.”
She tries to push me away, but I hold fast. “You’re disgusting, and you stink, too!”
“That just means we should shower together.”
I spin her around and heft her over my shoulder in one move.
“Put me down right now!” she shrieks, her hands smacking my back. “You’re going to hurt your shoulder, for Christ’s sake, Kai, you’re being stupid.”
I just shake my head and continue on down the hall. “Settle down, woman. You’re on my nondominant shoulder, so it’s fine. And stop insulting my strength.”
We reach my bathroom, but I still don’t set her down, instead reaching in with my free hand and turning the water on. I don’t wait for it to heat up, nor do I give us a chance to get undressed. Oh no, I step right into the shower, straight under the spray of barely warm water.
“Fuck!” she yelps, and resumes battering my back. But I feel her shaking with laughter. “Oh my God, I’m going to kill you.”
Finally, I slide her down my body, waiting until she’s standing before I let go. I flash an unrepentant smirk. “But if I’m dead, then I can’t do that thing with my dick that made your eyes roll into the back of your head the other night.”
“Oh, well, we can’t have that.” She flutters her eyelashes at me as she starts to lift her wet shirt up and over her head.
“Nope. You wouldn’t survive without it,” I reply casually.
Her shirt lands on the shower floor, and when her gaze meets mine, I could swear she’s fighting the same battle I am — against giving in and admitting that whatever this is between us has already become so much more than casual.
But that means admitting that we’re fucked. Because she’s still leaving.
Neither one of us is ready to face that right now.
“Need some help with that?” I ask, watching her fight to get her sports bra off. I don’t wait for a response, replacing her hands with mine and managing to peel it off. She’s down to just a pair of see-through panties now, and my cock strains against my shorts at the sight.
It’s much easier to get my own clothes off, and soon we’re coming together under the spray of water. There’s a desperation to our actions. An edge to the kiss she plants on my chest as she drops to her knees. And when I lift her up from the floor, grabbing her leg and wrapping it around my hip so I can drive into her, she clings to me. Her nails dig into my back as she presses her face into my shoulder. We don’t say a word, not even when we both hit orgasm within seconds of each other.
After all, the words I want to say right now are words I swore I’d never say again. Words I’ll deny even thinking, much less wanting.
Stay with me.
Let me in.
Love me.
Chapter twenty-nine
Isabelle
“I feel bad that I’m not cooking. Evie only invited me because she wanted me to cook.” I twist my hands together as we walk up to the front door of Rhett and Evie’s apartment building.
“Trust me, that’s not true. If anything, I think she felt bad asking you to cook and this is her way of making up for that.” Kai pauses, tilting his head to the side. “Although, we might regret that. She’s nowhere near as good in the kitchen as you are. And Darling’s not any better.” He pulls out a fob for the front door and buzzes us in to the building. I guess he and Rhett are close enough to have access to each other’s apartments. The evil part of me wonders how many times he’s walked in on his friend and his sister.
“What you should be worrying about is whether or not you can keep your hands to yourself for the evening,” he teases, and I smack his shoulder.
“Wrong. You’re the one who gets all touchy-feely, so you’re far more likely to do or say something. I just have to avoid you and not react,” I fire back.
Kai just laughs and places his hand on my lower back to usher me into the elevator.
“See?” I say in mock annoyance, spinning away from his touch once the door closes on us. “You can’t help yourself. Always touching me and looking like that.” I wave my hand in his general direction.
