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“I guess. A few.” I shrug once. “There was one boy Ireally liked a lot in high school. He asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes. He stole a kiss the same night he went to a party and slept with another girl.”
“And then?”
“And then I dumped him.” I roll my eyes. “Duh.”
“I mean after him. Who came after him?”
I shake my head. “After that? No one serious.”
“Wrong.” Cash regards me with the intensity of a man capable of complete consumption. Entire destruction. Like at any moment he’ll devour me whole. “I came after.”
“Cash.” I’m about to tell him that’s not quite fact, because this isn’t real, but I close my mouth. He doesn’t like me reminding him of that in private. I don’t figure he’ll be too impressed I do it when his friends have the chance of overhearing.
“Tell your dad about us, yeah?”
I wet my lips. His eyes heat. “I’ll tell him I have a new roommate.”
Cash rolls his lips. He doesn’t look impressed. I think he’s going to say more, but instead, he just instructs, “Go put on a swimsuit.”
fourteen
Wrenlee
I decide on the white bikini for two reasons. One: I still have a little summer glow in my skin, so I don’t look like a ghost quite yet. And two: Cash picked it.
In my mirror, I feel a lot exposed, but I figure any bikini will make me feel exposed, so there’s no getting around that. I still have the sweater Cash gave me, so I pull that over my head and head out the room. As I climb the stairs to the second level, I hear the group laughing. Candace lets out a scream and I smile even as my heart thunders at the sound of a splash. They’re having fun.
Fun, I admit, isn’t something I’ve had since I left home. From the moment I moved here, it’s beennothing but work. I’ve existed entirely in survival mode, so letting lose—not worrying about how I’m going to make rent or afford to eat—it feels good. Like a weight has been lifted off my chest.
“Hey, pretty girl,” Kane is the first to catch sight of me, and I give him an awkward wave and a blush I can’t keep contained. Kane, I’m realizing, is a flirt.
Water drips from Cash as he lifts himself from the pool and it’s all I can do to keep my jaw from unhinging. The man is hot with clothes on. Without—he’s another thing altogether.
The man is ripped. Muscles bulge from—every inch of him—as he moves closer to me.
In my chest, my heart knocks. My stomach flips as he gets close, dropping his mouth to my ear to growl. “That’s mine.”
“W—what?” Is he mad I’m wearing his sweater?
“Your blush.” His hand comes up, and I feel the wet of it against my hot cheek. “You don’t give him this,” he warns. “You don’t give any man this. It’s mine.”
I blink, confused and a little alarmed. “You’re crazy.”
“You make me crazy.”
Is he playing with me?
He’s playing with me.
I shiver. It’s because he’s staring at me so intensely, but I blame it on the cold. “It’s cold out here.”
“Pool is heated.”
Is he for real?“Are you serious?”
“Yep. And the hot tub is hotter. But I’m hottest.” He finally gives me his crooked grin. “You won’t be cold.”
I peer up at him, not sure if he’s telling me he’ll be keeping me warm with his body. I don’t find Cash easy to read on a regular, but tonight, he’s especially hard.
