AllFreeNovel
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“I lied.”
I reroute his head, my hands on either side of his face. I tighten my hold, squishing his cheeks and put a smacking kiss on the center of his lips. “It’d mean so much to me.”
He expels a put-upon sigh, pulls my hands away, and kisses each of my palms. “Fine. But I’m doing it with a boner.” He gestures to his pants. “And this thing isn’t going away anytime soon.”
“I vow to take good care of it after.” I mime crossing my heart.
His eyes sear right through my clothes. “Now it’s not going away ever.”
We left Dax and Becca and came back to Barrett’s place like we’d planned. He’s been staying with me lately, so I decided to give him a break and let him be in his own space tonight. Neither of us are interested in sleeping alone any longer. I did on Tuesday, and it sucked.
He clears his throat. I grab a pillow from the couch and curl up with it. Then he opens his mouth and sings a Michael Bublé song as I melt into a puddle of longing.
He sings to me without theatrics, sweetly brushing my hair from my eyes during the chorus. When he finishes serenading me with that golden voice, he concludes with, “That’s it.”
“You’re exceptionally talented. Why the football aspirations? You should start a band.”
“Had a band,” he says. “We weren’t that good.”
“You and Burke sounded good to me.”
“No offense, but you’re a journalist, not a record producer. That’s like me saying I decided to be a writer because I wrote a few columns.”
“You could.”
“No, thanks. Some struggles are fun—like training and practicing nonstop for a big game. Other struggles are not. Like willing your brain to read words the right way instead of shaking up the letters like a game of Boggle.”
“I love Boggle.”
“You would.” He ends our banter by kissing me. My eyes sink shut and aren’t quick about reopening. “You’re tired.”
“I’m okay.”
“Go to bed, Kitty Cat.”
“But your boner.” I push my bottom lip forward. “I promised.”
His laugh shakes his shoulders. He rubs one hand over my bare thigh, then tugs the edge of my shorts. “It’s been a long day. Grab some Zs and I’ll join you in a few.”
“But—”
“We can turn each other inside out in the morning. You’re not going anywhere except to my bed.”
Isn’t that the truth? I don’t want to be anywhere but Barrett’s bed. Or my bed if he’s in it. Or at work where he’s sitting across the office from me.
“As someone who recently bombed in the relationship department, it’s hard to believe I’d enter another one this soon.”
“Preaching to the choir, honey,” he agrees.
“Dax said you were a good boyfriend. How does he know? Did you used to date him or something?”
That earns me a smile.
“He knows I delivered my share of flowers and candy to Beth. Talked my way back into her life a number of times. We always found our way back out. I’m not blameless. I did a lot of dumb shit.”
“I can’t imagine you doing anything shortsighted, Fox.”
“Don’t sass me or you’ll earn a slap on that firm ass.” His eyebrows lift when my jaw drops. “Ever get kinky in the bedroom, Kitty Cat? A little slap and tickle?”
