“Did you sleep?” I felt her turn, my eyes still glued to the ceiling as she shuffled closer to me.
“A little.” Which wasn’t a lie if you counted the time I got on the couch before she’d noticed me. That was before my plan went to shit, and sleeping was still a possibility.
My eyes dipped down, treated to the skin on display and I was grateful she was taking it easy on me. The parts that had started most of the trouble were kept under wraps, her body encased in a fluffy white cocoon.
“You want some coffee?” I asked, deciding I needed to get out of the bed before I made a decision I wasn’t sure would be a bad one. “I can go get us some breakfast if you want?”
“Coffee sounds amazing,” she groaned, unintentionally—or not, who knew anymore—making shit worse. “No breakfast though, I’m more of a lunch girl but feel free to help yourself.”
Oh, I wanted to help myself, just not to the contents of her pantry.
“Yep, coffee. Anything else?” I hesitated, because I was a masochist and clearly hated having functioning balls.
And that’s where I underestimated myself, my eyes connecting with hers and I knew whatever I’d been trying to avoid was happening. I didn’t even give her a chance to respond, pressing my mouth to hers in what was supposed to be a gentle good morning. Instead it turned into a dirty how-are-ya that was going to undo all the good work I’d done by not sleeping with her.
“I’m so glad you didn’t get weird again,” she mumbled against my lips. “I didn’t want to have to go ahead and call your mot—”
“Don’t you dare say it,” I warned, chuckling. “We agreed.”
She nodded silently, moving her mouth to mine. It was slower this time, the kiss less urgent probably on account she’d been the one controlling the tempo.
“Look, we can both agree that when it comes to you, I’m incredibly bad at saying no.” I blew out a breath. “And while I’m still not convinced this is the right thing to do, I’m not sure I want to stop.”
She deserved my honesty, to know what the fuck was going on in my mind. And while it probably would’ve been better if we could go back to not touching each other, I wasn’t sure I was capable.
“It doesn’t have to stop,” she breathed into my mouth, the heat of her lips driving me fucking crazy. “If this is what we both want, what’s the harm?”
Ironic I’d asked myself that exact question a million times.
We were two consenting adults and if we wanted to fuck each other’s brains out, then who the hell cared? Except with Presley it wasn’t just sex, the fallout monumental if it all went bad.
“The harm is, I don’t want to fuck this up. You trust me, Pres, and I trust you. We’re friends. You throw sex into the mix, shit gets complicated. This isn’t even about Tibbs anymore. It’s about you. I don’t want to be another jerk in your history.”
There’d been more than a few, her taste in men just as bad as her brother’s taste in women. And while it was completely her prerogative to be with men who let her down, I wasn’t going to be adding my name to that list.
She’d obviously been expecting something else, the reason I’d been keeping my distance taking her by surprise. “You’d never be another jerk. I trust you, Jared. You’ve always been such a good guy. I still remember when you beat up that guy because he tried to grab my ass at Burger King when I was seventeen.”
“He shouldn’t have touched you. No one gets to touch you without permission.” The memory of that piece of shit with his hands on her all those years ago, still making me angry.
She smiled, not seeming to share the same dark feelings of that night. “Right, which is why you’d never hurt me. So what if we had some ground rules? Some guidelines so we don’t have to worry about it?”
“Yeah, because we did so well with those guidelines before.” I laughed, knowing it was asking for trouble.
Her gorgeous brown eyes narrowed, the trouble no longer hypothetical. “So what’s your solution then?”
Christ, if she was looking to me for answers, I knew we were in trouble. “I need to be your friend first. Anything happens to jeopardize that, I’ll never forgive myself. I’m serious, Presley. A choice between sleeping with you or having you in my life, and there’s only one answer.”
“Okay,” she sighed. “When you put it that way, I guess it makes sense.”
I laughed, “I’m glad it does to someone.”
She leaned forward, her finger tracing my bicep. “You’re a really good guy, Leighton. Like really good. And I’m positive we’re going to work this out.”
Wasn’t sure I could agree on either of those statements but wasn’t going to argue either.
“I’ll go get that coffee,” I offered knowing it was only a matter of time before I volunteered to give her something else.
With one last kiss, I moved off the bed and into the kitchen area. The lack of walls meant my vision was not impeded, her hot sexy and very naked body revealed when she pulled off the covers. She knew what she was doing too, taking extra time to complete the task and stretching for effect. Yeah, that evil grin didn’t help either, the slow walk to her bathroom showcasing her ass before she disappeared behind the opaque glass wall.
I even contemplated following her into the room, the idea of her wet, slippery body making me groan under my breath. Yeah, I was definitely going to have to get a handle on things if my resolve not to sleep with her was going to stick. And yes, I knew technically I’d blurred the line, but the technicality was all I was holding onto at the moment.
I purposely didn’t look when I heard the bathroom door open, keeping my eyes focused on my phone. I’d gotten dressed while she’d been in there, thinking about jerking off but decided against it. Last thing I needed was for her to walk out and see me with my cock in my hand. So instead, settled on scrolling through stupid memes Tibbs had sent me. He’d asked how things were and I was grateful to answer honestly that his sister was in the shower and I was chilling on her couch. Might have been a different response if that text had come a little earlier.
“I have to go to a meeting.” She appeared before me, transformed from the hot but disheveled brunette who’d been lounging around in her bed to a sex bomb ready to serve you up your balls.
My eyes widened, taking in the plain dark green dress that fit like it had been molded to her skin, the fact none of it was really showing not stopping the hot visual I had going on. Not sure who her meeting was with, but I was sure they had no idea who they were going up against. I rose to my feet, taking in the view as I grabbed my keys. “Cool, I’ll drive you. Where are we heading?”
“It’s at Diablo, Bennett is meeting me there and it’s the middle of the day. You don’t need to come.” Her brown eyes were focused, connecting with mine in a way I couldn’t read. Not sure if it was some kind of test, or she was trying to throw me off, but I thought we’d established I was going to be her shadow.
“You’re right, I don’t need to come. But I’m here, have a car, and I want to. Never seen Diablo during the day. Plus, it will give me a chance to say hi to Bennett. I didn’t the opportunity the other night.”