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Of course, I shouldn’t see any part of you hard, either, should I?
“You’re kidding?” he repeated back to me with narrowed eyes, not quite buying it. Me neither, Ryan. Me neither.
I tossed my hands in the air with dramatic flair. “Oh, come on. Did you really think I was suggesting having sex in my parents’ house?” I faked a laugh. “Or that we sneak over to your room at your mom’s house and do it? I wasn’t serious. That was just a little payback for all the times you drove me nuts over the years.”
“Payback?” He folded his arms, setting his back to the window. His eyes quickly caressed every inch of my visible skin, and I shivered as if he’d made actual contact. “Yesterday in my room, you were kidding about wanting to have sex with a stranger? And last night, the horny bit was a charade to frustrate me?”
I frustrate you? Like . . . sexually?
One eye closed as if he were behind a sniper rifle, and he’d acquired his next target. In this case, me.
“Last night, I was shit-faced and could barely stand. I take no responsibility for my actions.” I cut across my narrow bedroom to stand closer. “But other than that, yeah, I was giving you a hard time.” I lifted my chin, looked directly into his eyes and did my best to maintain some type of steely resolve despite my hangover. “Come on,” I began when his silence made it a little hard to breathe, “do you really think I’d discuss my sex life, or lack thereof in this case, with you?”
He returned my sharp gaze with one of his own, a fierce look that came awfully close to penetrating my defenses. I wrapped my arms tightly around my body to keep my robe from falling to the floor.
Heaven help me, I did want this man to screw me. Right or wrong didn’t matter. The biggest lie was thinking that hooking up with someone else could shake me free from the “Ryan Rossi effect.” And I couldn’t even lie to myself about that.
Did he wear down his enemies out in battle with his looks? Disarm them with a devilish smile?
Ryan cocked his head, still not believing me. I wasn’t the best actress.
I extended my hand between us like a peace offering. “From now on, I’ll consider us even. Although, we’re nowhere near it. I’ll stop busting your balls, okay? We can try and be friends. Get to know each other. If that’s really what you want.”
His gaze dropped to my hand, and I noticed the subtle flare of his nostrils just before he took my palm, then he caught me off guard by tugging me against his hard frame.
My free hand went to his chest as he gently collected my wet hair into a fist, and he leaned in closer.
“You smell like watermelon bubble gum.” His breath fluttered over the sensitive part of my neck, right where it met my shoulder, before his mouth drew near my ear.
“I may have used Chiara’s soap instead of Maria’s.” I shrugged, and fought to stifle the nervous giggle threatening to escape. “Don’t tell me you have an aversion to watermelon, too?” We were too close. He was still holding onto me and I could feel his heart beating wildly beneath my palm. Oh, and there was the fact his mouth was near my neck, and he was holding my hair right now . . . yeah, there was that, too.
I shivered, my body on the verge of going into self-destruct mode, where I lost all willpower and begged him on my hands and knees to save me from this sexual tension purgatory. Because I really did need sex. I just wished like hell I didn’t only want it to be with him.
“I happen to like watermelon.” He slowly eased back, letting go of my hand and hair. “Now, get dressed. Wear something comfortable. I’m taking you out.”
“What? Why?” The whiplash from this man was enough to send me to a chiropractor. Another thing I couldn’t afford. But in all fairness, I’d been doing the same to him since yesterday morning.
“We made a truce, right? Agreed to be friends and get to know each other? We shook on it.”
I arched a brow. “That wasn’t a handshake. That was . . . something else.” Something borderline sinful. Nearly erotic. A touch-myself-at-night-worthy moment to remember.
He smiled and slipped his hands into his pockets. “Why do I get the feeling you’re far from done busting my balls, Talia?”
* * *
“Now I understand why you’re single.” I was panting. Sweaty. Desperate for water. And so tired I could’ve collapsed right there on the floor of the climbing gym.
On second thought, why not?
I stretched out on my back on the blue floor mat, indulging in a quiet moment to catch my breath far enough away from other climbers. The last two hours of climbing at Inner Peaks, an indoor climbing center in the nearby town of Matthews, had been grueling in just the right way.
“Oh yeah, why is that?” Ryan laid out alongside me, and his pinky finger brushed against mine.
He quickly pulled his hand away and linked his palms over his chest. Not out of breath at all.
Of course, you’re not. Once a Teamguy, always a Teamguy, right? The man had endurance, that was for sure.
“Well.” I turned my cheek to look at him, finding his deep brown eyes intensely focused on me, and it took me a second to regain my composure and collect my thoughts. “If your idea of a date is making a woman work for her meal like this, I can understand why you might not make it to a second.”
