Those same green eyes darken with lust, and I smack him in the chest. “Oh, come on, ya big horndog,” I tell him in hopes of lightening the mood. “I’m just saying that I like you, okay? And not just because you delivered the best freaking orgasms I’ve ever experienced.”
“Best orgasms, eh?”
My cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling so hard, but I seem to do that a lot when I’m around him. And even though we’re discussing some heavy shit, I like how light he still manages to make me feel. “You’re ridiculous.”
“I am,” he acknowledges before pulling me back into him. “But I wasn’t kidding when I said I liked you and that I’d like to give this thing a real shot. Just say the word, and I’m in. I’m all in.”
“And if I say yes? What then? What about Milo? What about Gibson and Jake? What do we do? What do we say? I just…I don’t know! This is so far out of my element that I have no idea how to handle this situation.”
“Neither do I, but we’ll figure it out.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“Easy is overrated. And I’m not the only here who likes it”––he lifts his hips to showcase his swelling erection––“hard.”
Rolling my eyes, I swing my leg over his hips and get ready for the next round because he’s right. I’ve never been one to take the easy road. And in this case, I definitely like it hard.
Crap.
I really am his Floozy.
At least for tonight.
27
Reese
Groggily, I wake up to my phone vibrating in the pocket of my jeans that are still scattered along the ground from yesterday. With absolutely zero desire to answer it, I shove my pillow over my head and squeeze my eyes shut as if that’ll make the damn thing stop.
Shocker.
It doesn’t.
“You gonna get that, Floozy?” a deep voice mumbles beside me.
My heart leaps in my chest before my brain catches up and places the familiar voice.
River.
In my bed.
Naked.
I’ll take it.
With a soft smile, I nuzzle into his warm chest. “Morning.”
“Morning,” he returns in that same gritty voice. “You gonna answer your phone?”
“It can go to voicemail.”
“It’s already gone to voicemail.”
My head is too fuzzy for riddles, so I mumble, “Huh?”
“It’s been buzzing for the past fifteen minutes.”
I groan and burrow a little closer to him, making sure the sheets keep us covered as I get lost in his heat. There’s something comforting about morning snuggles. They scream security and bliss. Two things I wasn’t exactly raised with, and therefore, two things I crave more than anything else in the world. I want to soak up as much of it as I can before reality hits, and I have to pretend that River and I are just friends. Or face the repercussions that we’re more than that, and neither option sounds very appealing.
“Come on, Floozy. The damn thing is giving me a headache, and you don’t want to know what’ll happen if I get up to turn it off and I see your ex’s name flashing across the screen.”
“To be fair, I changed his name to Dickwad, so you wouldn’t see his real name.”
“That’s a small technicality. You sure you wanna toy with that idea?”
“No,” I grumble, throwing off the sheets. “Besides. Like I said, I blocked his number so it wouldn’t pull up by his name, anyway.” The cold from the floor seeps into my bare feet as I pad across it in search of my blasted phone. When I find it, my expression falls.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” River murmurs.
Technically, I don’t know for sure since it’s a random number, but my look says enough.
“Let me answer it, Reese.”
With a jerky shake of my head, I mumble, “I’ll take care of it.” Then I slide my thumb along the screen and lift the phone to my ear.
“What do you want?”
“Hey, baby.”
I glance over at River. “I’m not your baby anymore, Ian. Why are you calling me?”
“Because I heard you think you’re not my baby anymore,” he spits, his anger slowly rising with every passing second. “Which one is he, huh? Is it the pretty boy? The one who sucker-punched me? Did you fuck him yet? I bet you did, didn’t you? You’re such a fucking slut. You know it was a pity fuck, right? Something to pass the time. You’re not pretty enough to be actual girlfriend material for anyone but me, remember? Do you understand that, baby?”
There isn’t anything for me to say, but I still search for a way to make him understand we’re not together anymore. Why does he act like he still cares about me? Why does he think he wants me when he’s never wanted me before? And why would River be interested in a girl like me when I have baggage like Ian, who won’t leave me alone?
“Answer me!” Ian barks like a rabid dog.
I cringe at the familiar tone and squeeze my eyes shut to push away the memories. The moments when his spit would fly through the air and sprinkle down on me as he yelled at me for another stupid situation that was out of my control. Yet here I am, dealing with it all over again.
A set of strong arms snake around my waist as River pulls me against him. I curl into his touch. Carefully, he takes the phone out of my grasp and puts it to his own ear.
“Hey, man. I’m gonna need you to calm down,” River consoles, keeping his tone calm.
“Hey, motherfu––”
“I’m gonna stop you right there.” Looking down at me, his jaw clenches before he continues. “You do not own Reese. She is not an object. She is a person. And while I agree that you lost the best thing that ever happened to you because you couldn’t keep it in your pants, it’s over. You don’t get to dictate when someone falls in or out of love with you. She’s made it very clear she isn’t interested anymore. You need to let her go, and you need to stop calling her. If that is too difficult for you, then I’ll have to intervene and trust me when I say that you really don’t want me to have to do that. Understand?”
So this is what it’s like. To have someone calm and level-headed who cares about you. If he weren’t my brother’s best friend, I could get used to it. Burrowing a little deeper against him while simultaneously pushing away reality, I feel River’s steady heart against my ear as we wait for Ian’s response.
The silence, however, is unbearable. I just want him to leave me alone. Is that too much to ask?
“You’ll be through with her by the end of the week,” Ian growls.
Click.
The call disconnects, and River drops his arm to his side.
“That could’ve gone worse,” he offers dryly.
With a breath of laughter, I squeeze him a little tighter, then press a kiss against his bare pec. “I think you did the best that you could. Although I’m not sure how well he’ll take the thinly veiled threat you tacked on at the end. He’s always been a sucker for a pissing match.”
“He needs to understand that he can’t bully you anymore. You’re not alone. And even if last night had never happened, you would still have me, Sonny, Jake, and Milo to rely on.”