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She opens her mouth to speak but closes it instead.
“I know it sounds douchey, but they respected you too much to allow any of themselves to think with their dicks around you. I can appreciate it now, but at the time, I wasn’t thrilled. I really liked you, but I also knew how much work my brother had put into building the perfect team. I didn’t want to ruin that for him. Plus, at the time, I really wasn’t looking for a relationship. While I wanted to take you out and get to know you, I didn’t see myself just changing my plan. I’ve always been more focused on work than relationships. I bit the bullet, so to speak, and agreed to their stupid rule. I promised.”
She studies me, her bottom lip pulled through her teeth. Her lack of opinion on the matter makes me nervous.
“Say something, please.” I lean closer to her.
With her brows drawn, she says, “So it was a loyalty thing? To Dex?”
I nod.Good, she gets it.“Exactly.”
“Okay, I can understand that. I would have loved that answer instead of the blow off you gave me, but I understand that hindsight is 20/20, so I probably would have been pissed.”
I grin. “Probably.”
But her features turn pensive. “So what made you decide to pursue me? What changed?”
“Well, I always felt like I did a damn good job keeping my feelings for you on ice. But it was easier because I didn’t see you all that often—which worked for me. After I moved in with the guys, I started seeing you more and in a different light. Suddenly, you weren’t this twenty-one-year-old gamer girl who spent all your time with my brother and his friends. You were a woman who was sexy as fuck in next to nothing after spending hours pole dancing. You were this stunning woman at a wedding I was dying to wrap in my arms and dance with. I hate dancing.”
She giggles. “My god. I thought I was going to die when I ran smack into you in your wet towel that one day.”
I grin when she blushes.
“So that’s all it was? You were suddenly attracted to me?”
“No. To be clear, I’ve always been attracted to you. But you were suddenly around more, and I couldn’t ignore my attraction. But also, Matt happened.”
She scoffs. “My goodness, Wade. How many times do I have to tell you? Matt and I were never a thing.”
“He wanted you badly. At Dex’s bachelor party, all he could talk about was how he wanted to hook up with you. And I hated every minute of it. For starters, he was being a tool about how he talked about you. On top of that, the guys didn’t care.” I nearly growl at the memory of that night.
“They didn’t care?” she says.
“No, let me rephrase. They didn’t tell him you were off limits. They pretty much blew him off, like they knew nothing would happen with hm.”
“’Kay, that sounds more like it. They knew I had been turning him down since day one.”
“Yeah, well, they weren’t worried about the team breaking up if Matt fucked up with you.”
“Because I wasn’t interested. They knew that,” she says with a huff.
“My point is, I decided I didn’t care. But then we started spending time together, and it turns out I do care. I hated that I made a promise to my brother and was going behind his back.”
She studies me for a moment. “Hmm. I can’t say that I agree with your actions, but I do understand why you struggled with it all. You and Dex have always been close. He looks up to you.”
I shift in my seat. “I’m sorry I made you think I was embarrassed by you. That was never the case. I was just carrying a lot of guilt around.”
She pushes out her chair and stands, then walks around the table and moves toward me. I lean back in my seat as she stands before me. She doesn’t seem like she’s trying to be sexy, but as she slides into my lap, it’s the only thing I can think about.
She snakes her arms around my neck and wiggles a little in my lap.
Fuck, my dick starts to stir.
“I’m sorry to hear that being with me wasn’t easy.” She kisses my jaw. “If I had known, I could have been more patient with you, but I understand why you didn’t tell me.” She trails her lips up toward my ear, and her tongue darts out and flicks my earlobe.
Groaning, my hands flex around her waist. This conversation is derailing quickly.
“So just to wrap things up, I was thinking about this whole fucked-up mess a lot tonight.” My voice is rough.
