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“What if I might possibly be willing to try a less casual… thing?”
He chuckled and moved far enough away to study my face. “You can’t even say the word relationship?”
I squared my shoulders and met the challenge in his eyes. “Situationship. No more boy toys.”
He nodded slowly. “What if I might be willing to remove your brother from any consideration of arelationshipwith you?”
Were we really talking about this? I’d been burned before. Bad decisions, bad choices, bad boyfriend. The thought of giving part of myself to another person again—one who could do as they wished with my feelings and independence—freaked me out, but when the person was Noah, my misgivings mostly disappeared.
I had no doubt he wanted me—the evidence pressed against my abdomen in a hard line. He was intimately familiar with the bad decisions I’d made. Hello, drunk night with the hockey boy. Noah had nailed it when he said I’d chosen the wrong guys before, but was I willing to take a chance that Noah was the right guy?
“What are your ground rules for the situationship?” I asked.
Noah tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Relationship. I want exclusive access to you. No other guys while we’re together.”
That one was easy. I hadn’t been interested in another guy since I transferred to TU. “Okay. No girls either.”
“Agreed. My schedule can get crazy, even in the spring. I’ll do my best to make you a priority, but sometimes football or my classes have to come first.”
“Same goes for me. Actually, let’s just assume that any rule we decide on goes for both of us.”
He nodded. “That’s fair. You have to talk to me if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable. No keeping things inside until they explode.”
I could have simply agreed, but I had one more thing I wanted to be clear about, even though I knew from experience it could be a deal breaker. “Okay, but you can’t tell me what to wear or how to act or otherwise try to change me. Accept me for who I am or fuck off.”
The words came out more confrontational than I intended, but I had some complicated emotions mixed in with those experiences. Even limiting myself to hookups hadn’t spared me from the misogyny.
Noah frowned. “I’m going to repeat myself for emphasis: you were dating the wrong guys before.”
“No shit. Remember the part where I decided to stop dating? And it was mostly the one guy.” I muttered the last sentence, but he heard me.
His gaze sharpened. “Did he hurt you?”
“Besides my pride, no. Despite recent events, most guys aren’t out to leave bruises, at least not physical ones.”
The intensity cloaking him faded a little, but not entirely. “If we’re doing this, I’m not hiding it from D. “
I raised my brows. “You’re going to ask him permission to rail his sister?”
He sent me a quelling look. “I was going to tell him I was interested in you, but if you want me to go into detail, I can.”
I curled my arms around his neck. “How about this? We test the waters so to speak before we tell anyone. Not a secret so much as a chance to get used to the new dynamic before Mac breaks into song and dance.”
“Do I still get to rail you?”
A giggle tried to break free, but I managed to keep my face solemn as I nodded at him. “Part of the deal.”
A frisson of excitement shivered over my skin. After two years of what I won’t admit was pining, I was finally getting a taste of Noah. Not a second chance since we’d never had a first chance thanks to D. And maybe some of our own holdups.
“How long are we hiding this from D?” he asked.
“Until we’re both sure?”
“That’s a pretty loose bar.”
I ran my hands down his chest, exploring the broad expanse of muscle under his suit. “Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll take it.” He released his grip on my waist to flatten his hand over mine.
