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The frown between his brow is back, wrinkling the skin. It only makes him even more attractive.
"Tell me why you made your move last night."
Well, bingo for the naked sex god.
"What about it?"
His expression turns to one that clearly says he can see right through me and my non-answer.
I exhale, long and drawn out and full of the frustration I've felt since the day Seth popped back in my life. Do I admit to this man that I let my ex railroad my life? I might as well; there's no point in keeping it from him when I've made it pretty clear that I'm using our mutual attraction to gain more than just one hell of an orgasm.
"Just as I said, we can both benefit from this attraction."
"Your ex," I start, earning another frown. "It's been how long since you broke up?"
"I don't know. Somewhere just over a year," he answers.
"Right, same as me and Seth. However, just as you assumed I was still with him, until last night, I figured the same about you and her. I'm at Dirty enough to know she's still around, Shane. But it's the same with Seth that pushed me to make my move."
"Explain."
"God, you're bossy."
"Wrong. I don't like surprises, Nikki. Having all the information means I can avoid that shit."
"Right." I shift, leaning forward, unplugging the drain and letting the water out. "Hand me a towel, please?" I point over his shoulder at the closed linen closet across from my tub.
He stands, his erection still just bobbing around. It takes a lot to keep my hands to myself and not reach out for him, but somehow, I manage. He hands me a towel, and I wrap it around my body before taking his offered hand and stepping out of the tub. He follows silently behind me as I leave the bathroom and walk to my dresser. I pull out one of my sleep shirts; something I think I stole from Ember's husband the last time I crashed at their house. Shane steps behind me and plucks at the sleeve, standing close enough for me to feel the heat of him against my body.
"Who does this belong to?"
I arch my brow. "Probably Nate." His eyes go hard, and I hold up my hands. "Whoa there, tiger."
"The fuck are you doing with his shirt?"
Ignoring the hard bite in his tone, I roll my eyes and turn back to my dresser, pulling out a clean pair of underwear and stepping into them before addressing him. "Pretty sure I ended up with this when his daughter puked all over me and it was on the top of the laundry basket I had just finished folding for Ember. But who knows; maybe it was from the giant orgy I have with them twice a week and every other Sunday."
His grumbled complaint vibrates from his chest. "Take it off."
I turn and blink up at him with my jaw slack. "Pardon me?"
He studies me, his eyes volleying from eye to eye as his nostrils flare. I watch his hands move but just stand there in shock that he would be this angry over a shirt until his fingers push gently between my neck and the collar of the shirt. He holds my confused gaze for a beat before one brow arches; with a quick tug, he literally rips the shirt straight down the center.
"You did not just do that!" I exclaim, jumping back with the ruined shirt floating around me. I jerk it off my shoulders and toss it at Shane's face. He catches it before I hit my mark, his frown gone as a satisfied smirk tips his lips up. "First, I was kidding. Second, I enjoyed that as a sleep shirt, and now it's ruined. Third, what the heck!"
"Don't like you wearing my best friend's shit."
"Clearly," I huff sarcastically.
"I'll fuck that attitude right out of you, Nikki. Find something to cover yourself so we can finish our talk."
I continue to mumble my complaints as I jerk open my dresser and rummage around, looking for another baggy shirt but coming up empty. That's right, you big dummy; that was the last one because all the others had belonged to Seth, and you burned them in the apartment communal grill six months ago. With another heavy exhale, I jerk open my workout drawer and pull a tank top over my head. When I turn, Shane's eyes jump to my chest. The white tank is completely see-through; I know that for a fact after wearing a white sports bra with it the last time I went to the gym and unknowingly gave everyone a nice little sweaty wet tee shirt contest, party of one. I haven't worn it since, but seeing as how Shane hasn't taken his eyes off my boobs, it was a nice revenge choice for tearing my shirt.
"That isn't better," he groans.
"It's all I have since you just ruined my favorite shirt."
"Fuck me," he hisses through clenched teeth. He doesn't say anything else before turning on his heel and stomping through the apartment. I follow behind much slower. He stops at his pile of clothes and grabs his shirt, walking back to me and feeding it over my head a second later. I stand there while he continues to dress me in his shirt, wondering what the hell is going through his mind.
"Right. What are you doing?"
"You want more, I'll let you know the next time I have laundry to do and you can steal all the shit you want, but any man's clothes on your body had better be mine."
"That's pretty possessive for someone who claims he doesn't want more than sex."
He shrugs. The confusing man just shrugs. Nothing more.
"I want you to be my boyfriend. And before you get all 'I don't do relationships, Nicole,' I don't mean a real boyfriend. We go out when you aren't working. I'll come to Dirty, and you'll give me some more nights like last night. For anyone watching, we look together, but for us, we're just good friends who have amazing sex."
"And why would we act like we're together?"
"Because, Shane, we both have needy and crazy exes. I don't know about yours, but mine seems to think I'm not serious about never getting back together with him because I have, in his words, not moved on."
"So you want him to see you moving on so he'll leave you alone?"
"Bingo, big man."
"What do I get out of this?"
"Aside from being able to finally scrape off the shadow I've seen leering around you every time I come to Dirty?" He nods. "I guess you get to keep having phenomenal sex with me."
"Phenomenal, huh?"
"You don't need your ego stroked just as I don't need to waste my breath when you know it was."
I almost lose my footing when his face goes soft. "You're right; my ego is fine."
"I'm glad we figured that out," I whisper, my body swaying toward him when he steps closer, taking me in his arms and pressing a kiss so unlike him to my temple.
"Let me ask you ... when this is all over and both of our exes are done trying to get something they have no chance at, then what?"
I swallow, the heavy lump struggling to get down. "Well, then we go our separate ways."
He nods, but I can tell he wants to say more. I have a feeling he doesn't believe
we'll just be able to walk away in the end. And, if I'm honest with myself, I'm not sure he's wrong.
ANOTHER GLASS FUMBLES OUT OF my hold, slipping free from the towel I had been using to polish it and tumbling to the floor. The sound of glass splintering makes me flinch, and I brace for Nate's commentary. He's been giving me wide berth for a few weeks now, but I know he's just seconds away from not biting his tongue any longer.
When I look up from my mess and see Nate giving me a sideways glance, I ignore him and continue cleaning up the shattered glass. This stupid glass might as well be a metaphor for my week. A mess that's becoming my new normal ever since Nikki's bombshell proposition. Not that I'm counting, but it's actually been three weeks and a one fucking day since that Thursday night. Not one peep from her. She hasn't been in Dirty, she hasn't called, not a single text. Nothing. And I can't figure out if I'm more pissed about her lack of communication after that night or if it's that I even care at all.
"What the fuck, dude?"
Ah, there it is.
Ignoring Nate, I continue to sweep the broken glass into the dustpan with the broom we keep behind the bar. There's no way Nate's going to give up without pulling answers from me. Not since he's finally stopped looking at me like keeping his mouth shut is the worst thing he's ever had to deal with. Swear to fuck, I've never met a grown damn man who could pout better than a toddler. Surly bastard.
"What the fuck, what? Glass slipped, I didn't exactly want it to."
"You need to get laid. Maybe you won't have butterfingers if you work out that frustration that's had you acting like a moody son of a bitch for weeks."
I don't respond, but my mood sure does fucking sour a little more at the mention of getting laid, which only fills my brain with the memories of Nikki coming undone beneath me. I haven't even been able to think about getting laid if it wasn't with her. No one else will do. How fucked up is that?
"Seriously, Shane," Nate tries again, leaning in to nudge my shoulder with his. "What's crawled up your ass? Even when we used to handle all this inventory and prep shit by ourselves, we could fly through it, but today, it's like you aren't even fucking here."
"Nothing's up, Nate," I grumble, putting the broom and dustpan back under the bar and standing, placing my hands on the wood and dropping my head with a loud exhale to look at my booted feet. When I look back up, my eyes scan the empty room around us before glancing over my shoulder at my best friend. I sigh, shake my head, and hold his probing gaze. "Fuck, Nate, I'm not even sure I can explain it all without breaking more shit."
