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“I wish we didn’t have to take your air-polluting truck though,” I said as we approached it. He gasped in faux shock and placed his hand on his chest.
“Don’t say that out loud! She’s very sensitive!” He grinned and patted the side of the truck.
“Sorry, truck. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” I said with a sarcastic tone, sliding into the passenger seat.
We made the forty-five-minute trip in silence. I stole occasional glances at him as he drove, having strange thoughts. So many questions bounced around in my mind. What happened after we have sex? How would our roommate situation change? Where would this “relationship” or whatever it was stand afterwards? Most of all, what if I accidentally fell for him? Whether I wanted to admit it or not, O’Shea was fun to be around, despite his annoying ways. He made me laugh and kept me on my toes with his nonsense, almost to the point that I actually looked forward to it. I found myself bored when he’d be at work during the day and enjoyed his company when he’d sit and talk with me or watch TV—until he decided to start teasing me and turn me into a walking sexually frustrated ticking time bomb.
But we’d both made it clear that we weren’t looking for a relationship, which made me a bit worried. I slowly felt myself attaching to this unpredictable man, but I also wanted to hold back. I was still afraid of giving myself to someone, no matter what my body wanted. I knew I couldn’t logically hold Steve’s mistake over his head, but it didn’t stop me from over rationalizing our current situation. He was my roommate for crying out loud. Of course O’Shea had gone through his own heartbreak, so I took comfort in knowing that he knew how it felt to be burned by the one you loved. I just didn’t know just how it had truly affected him and whether or not he was jaded when it came to relationships.
“What?” he asked, glancing over at me. I’d been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t realized I’d been staring at him this whole time.
“Oh, um, nothing. Sorry,” I stammered. He turned his eyes back to the road with an amused expression on his face for the duration of the ride.
∞∞∞
We pulled into the parking lot of Frankie’s Fun Park. He got out of the truck and walked over to my side, opening the door and bowing as I got out.
“You really don’t have to do all that,” I protested with a giggle. He shook his head and closed the door.
“Just showing that chivalry isn’t dead and that I’m not always an asshole, believe it or not,” he said with a wink. Why do I have stupid butterflies? It was refreshing to see that he possessed some manners in public. O’Shea and I filed in with the rest of the entering patrons and stopped in the lobby.
“What you wanna do first?” he asked. I tapped my chin and looked around at the different attractions and games, my eyes widening when I saw the flashing lights from the laser tag room.
“That,” I said, pointing.
He followed my gaze and waved a hand at me as he shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good thing to play if we’re supposed to be having a friendly outing.”
I put a hand on my hip. “And why not? Scared you’ll lose?”
“No. Because I’m sure you probably won’t want to come back here with me again after I annihilate your team,” he teased.
I let out a sarcastic belly laugh, clutching his arm as I slapped my knee. “You are one hilarious man, O’Shea. You should be a comic instead of a mechanic. Obviously you’ve never played against me.”
“Okay, then let’s bet on something.”
“What’s up with you and making bets?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest. He mirrored my stance.
“Because they make things interesting.”
“What’s on the table?”
“If I win…”he trailed, looking up at the ceiling for a brief moment. “You owe me dinner while wearing lingerie.”
Holy hell. I turned and examined the group of people standing outside of the laser tag attraction waiting for the current players to finish their game. With all the built-up sexual energy I had inside, there was no way I’d be able to make it until midnight if he started his shenanigans while I wore lingerie. He smirked at me, awaiting my answer.
“Dinner tonight?” I asked slowly.
“Yep. As soon as we get home, sex kitten,” he murmured, the wicked grin never leaving his face.
I rolled my eyes. I’d eventually learn my lesson about making deals with the devil. “Fine. But if I win…” What could I possibly want from him? I could say he could make me dinner naked, but that would be a joy for him and another teasing mechanism that would backfire on me. “Um…if I win, you owe me a free oil change.”
He gave me a look that said, “Really?” I gave him a sheepish shrug and strolled over to wait with the others. Kids, teens, and adults rushed out, excited voices surrounding us as the winners boasted about their scores. The losing team looked up at the scoreboard and shook their head.
O’Shea leaned in closer to me. “That’s going to be you in a few minutes,” he whispered. I scoffed and rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the throb that started between my legs at the smell of his cologne.
Once he paid our admission, we picked teams and suited up. O’Shea was stuck with three kids and two teenagers while I had two teens and three adults. This was going to be a piece of cake.
“So when can I drop my car off for my oil change?” I joked as we headed to our respective bases.
