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“Did you think I meant me sleeping with you again was a mistake?” I ask, wrapping the question in a soft voice.
“I guess, maybe.”
“Because of my relationship with Cason?” Yeah, he’d give me a beating if he ever found out—hate me for the rest of my life, likely—but she said she’d keep our secret and I trust her.
“Well...no. This isn’t about Cason.”
“Then what?”
She shakes my hand from her chin and turns from me, her long auburn curls falling over her chest. “Can we not talk about this?”
I take a curl between my fingers, rub softly. “I want to talk about it, Peyton. We’re friends.” Honestly if anyone can use a true friend, someone she can trust implicitly, it’s Peyton. “More than friends right now, actually,” I tease, hoping it brings a smile to her face.
“Look,” she says, her dark tone cutting into my thoughts. “It’s no big deal. I just thought you changed your mind about all this.”
“Because I no longer wanted you?”
Shit, right there. Right there, all over her face, lies my answer.
She tries for a casual shrug, but fails miserably. “I just thought you’d changed your mind.”
My God, her screwed-up childhood really did a number on her. I probably didn’t help when I kissed her and walked away, leaving her to believe she wasn’t likable. I just hadn’t wanted to betray her brother.
Doesn’t matter, I never should have started something I couldn’t finish. Not with Peyton. If I could kick my own ass I would. What I can do now, however, is show her she’s everything any man would want, and more. I roll toward her, my body pressing against her leg.
“I like being with you, Peyton.” I brush my hand over her cheek. “I like you.”
She grins and glances down past my waist. “I can tell.”
I chuckle at that. Sure, I’m physically attracted to her, but I like her. She’s a kind, caring and giving woman. I haven’t come across many of those in my life, besides my family. I thought my ex was all those things, but look how that turned out. I hope someday Peyton finds a guy who can give her the family she says she doesn’t want, because I get the sense that she’s just too frightened to put herself out there, afraid that she’s not enough, afraid of getting close, of getting hurt...again.
“You know, for years I kept you at a distance, but you were right when you said it’s your body, yours to do with as you wish, and who you sleep with is none of Cason’s business.” The truth is Cason is completely overprotective of her. I can understand that, though. It was just the two of them against the world. Everything about Peyton, from her big green eyes to the way she tries to hide her vulnerabilities, brings out the protector in me, too. I’d like to put her in a bubble and keep her sheltered from a world that has been cruel to her. Of course, she’d introduce her foot to my nuts if I tried. She’s a grown woman and mistakes or not, her decisions regarding her life and her body are hers.
“Coming around to my way of thinking, are you?”
“When you’re right, you’re right,” I say, and trail my finger down her arm. “But we should have used a condom.” My gaze narrows in on her. “I’m clean, but neither one of us wants a family, right?” I say, my gaze roaming her face. Will she agree with me, or finally admit that she wants more from life? I used to want a family. I used to want a lot of things, but I gave up the idea when I realized women value my status over me.
“That’s right, we don’t, and it’s okay. I’m on the Pill. It regulates my cycle.”
A ridiculous laugh bubbles up inside me and spills from my mouth.
Peyton’s brows arch. “What, does it make you uncomfortable to talk about a woman’s menstruation cycle?”
“Hell no, it’s just...” I shake my head. “This...us... I never in a million years pictured this...” I wave my hand back and forth between our bodies. “Correction, I’ve pictured this, a thousand different ways, but I never thought we’d be having sex, on a rooftop no less, forgetting condoms and talking about your cycle.” I flop onto my back, a grin tugging at my mouth. I like the openness and honesty between us. A little too much, actually.
Careful, Roman.
“You didn’t stand a chance, Roman,” she says, a playful tone in her voice.
“Oh?” I angle my head to see her green eyes glistening with mischief.
She blows on her knuckles and brushes them over her chest. “I go after what I want, and I wanted you.”
Liking that far too much, I roll on top of her and she squeals when I grab her hands and put them over her head. “You’re a tease, you know that.” I brush my lips over hers as I begin to harden again.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” she says, and lifts her hips to grind against my swelling member. My God, I can’t get enough of this woman.
“I think we have another problem.” I press my lips to hers when she arches a questioning brow. “I want to fuck you again.”
