Page 107 of Midnight Curfew

“And he’s mature,” I add. “Knows how to take his time in bed.”

“You never complained.”

“I was a virgin,” I remind him.

I didn’t know any better. Which is probably why he liked me.

He exhales a laugh, and I check to see his cock isn’t pressing through his towel anymore. I smirk. Good.

Now, fuck off. See if you can make it home before the cops spot you.

He doesn’t, though. Backing away two steps, he regards me. “I hated your clothes,” he tells me, “and your car and your friends and how you were always looking at me.”

How would he know? He never looked at me except to see if I was gone from his bed yet.

“All the time, fucking staring at me,” he mocks.

I avert my eyes so I’m not staring at him.

“But I liked the dark with you.” He lowers his voice, his tone suddenly serious. “Naked and no talking and never having to see that look in your eyes.”

I swallow, remembering it. I’m surprised he does, too.

“Just the screwing,” he goes on. “Maybe the best I ever had.”

And what should stay in my head spills out, because even though I don’t want him to see all of me, I know the truth is the fastest way to get rid of him.

“Because my heart was in every touch,” I tell him. “You felt it but you didn’t have to see it in the dark. Or let me see you.”

He doesn’t move, and now he’s the one staring.

He liked me in the dark, because he didn’t have to face me.

He just felt how much I wanted him.

Turning, I throw open my balcony doors, letting out the heat from his shower. Wind billows the sheer curtains.

“You know, a few years ago,” I offer, “I finally understood you.” Facing him again, I lean back on a desk I’ve never used. “Your mother felt too much and it killed her.”

Slowly, he lifts his chin, his shoulders squaring.

I continue. “So you gorged on everything until nothing at all meant anything.”

I get it. We’re all just reactions to our parents. I don’t want to repeat the pattern any more than he does.

“Smart,” I tell him. “The greatest lesson I ever learned from you.”

People will kill you. Choose wisely who you die for.

Dallas looks away, and I don’t know if he’s about to hit me or walk out, but in a moment, he’s grabbing his black pants from the chair.

Pulling them on, he flings the towel away, and I don’t avert my eyes as I gaze at him. He was right. In the dark, it was incredible. I still love his body and part of me wishes I could look at it at length right now.

But with every moment that passes, I’m feeling better than ever, and tonight’s failures seem ages away. I worried I’d give in to him if he tried to seduce me, but it looks like I have more self-respect than that, after all. Just like Sophia’s knight should.

“Be careful out there,” I tease.

The cops are back at the station, but they’ll be watching the street cameras.