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“The restaurant is called Prince and Pauper. It was relatively fancy. But the staff was pretty relaxed. We even didn’t stand out in our ski clothes. We did stand out, but no one took offense.”

“I’ve heard of P and P!” I exclaimed. “It’s supposed to have great food. Authentic, organic, local, down-to-earth, and high-quality.”

Shane rolled onto his back. “I enjoyed it.”

I gazed at him and he grinned broadly at me.

“In any case, I’m pretty exhausted. How was your day?” he asked with a big yawn.

“Even though I worked almost fifteen hours today, it’s nice here. They make sure that these long shifts aren’t the norm. Often, that’s a given. Sometimes, it’s not so bad. But I don’t think it’s great all the time.”

Shane stroked my side and I had trouble concentrating on his question. I was busy simultaneously sucking in my stomach, lying down more sideways so as not to appear too chubby, and struggling to appear as relaxed as possible.

“No. That doesn’t sound easy.” Shane pulled me closer to him. “But now you can completely relax. This is the ultimate comfort zone.” He held me tighter and enveloped me in his Shane scent.

Yes. Wrapped in his arms was an absolute comfort zone. Warm, strong, gentle. Heaven. I even forgot to worry about anything.

Almost.

“Did you hook up with that guy from the beach?” Except for that kind of nonsense. It dripped from my mouth. “Forget it. It’s none of my business.”

Shane paused for a moment, hesitated briefly, and finally slid his hand under my T-shirt. He slowly traced circles on my bare skin while I cursed myself and my stupid mouth.

“No. I won’t forget. We’ll have to talk about it, eventually. We might as well do it now.”

I groaned. “I don’t want to talk.” Especially not about who Shane had been involved with.

“I know that,” Shane growled against my neck. “Still, we need to address this.” He grabbed my shirt with both hands and pulled it over my head.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re going to talk now!” Shane grumbled as he ran his hands over my chest. He stroked one nipple with his thumb. He twirled the other with his other hand.

I inhaled sharply. “Is that how you want to talk?”

“I have a feeling you’re more receptive when your senses are stimulated.”

“Are you sure about that?” I replied. What was I supposed to be receptive to? Except Shane.

“It’s worth a try. You avoid me on the phone. When we talk with our clothes on, you find excuses and run away.”

“Shane!” I tried to protest again. I wanted to defend myself against the accusations. I wanted to counter him with something. I wanted . . . I wanted Shane more.

“You asked a question, now let me answer.”

I had nothing more to say, anyway.

“I’m not going to lie to you. I wasn’t celibate during the fall.”

Hearing that hurt. I pressed my lips together and closed my eyes. It wasn’t surprising at all, and I didn’t blame Shane in the slightest. It was just that I had been busy for months dealing with the breakup with Shane and finding myself. I hadn’t been interested in other guys at all. Unfortunately. How I would love to fuck my problems away.

“I was hurt and wanted to prove something to myself.” He shook his head. “Hey.” Shane kissed my shoulder, my neck, and my ear. “I’m here, okay? And I don’t want to be anywhere else. To be here with you is all I need.”

“I’m not blaming you,” I replied, more sourly than I had intended.

“You’re still stiff. And not in a good way.” The word wizard ran his hand over my stomach to my waistband and stroked my cock, which was hard. Maybe not as much as it had been a few minutes ago. But Shane had only himself to blame for that, with his talk about other guys.

He unzipped my pants and slid his hand into my boxer briefs. He immediately wrapped his hand around my dick. The traitor twitched greedily in his grip.