“I’m not a virgin.”
Maybe she’s not. Either way, I’m offering to fuck her. “I’m happy to oblige.” That’s it. One offer. If she says she’s not interested, I leave. Call someone else.
“I don’t need your pity sex.”
Pity? Is she out of her mind? “There’d be no pity about it. I want to fuck you too.”
“There’s no too. I don’t want to… I don’t date.”
“It’s just sex. I might let you buy me breakfast in the morning, but it’s not a date.”
Her eyes go wide. Interest spreads all over her face. She stammers, looking for words, failing to find them.
Meg turns the radio up. Leans back in her seat. Looks out the window.
It is a beautiful night. The sky is a clear, deep blue. There are even a few stars.
Meg stays quiet until I pull off the freeway. She directs me to her friends’ place, helps her friend out of the car, up the stairs.
They linger at her apartment door. Talking about something.
They’re too far away. I can’t tell if it’s a serious conversation. Or if it’s the usual good night.
Are women as depraved as men?
Is her friend whispering something about she can’t wait to feel Drew’s cock inside her? How she wants him to come on her massive tits?
Somehow, I doubt it.
Fuck, that will piss him off like nothing else. I compose a message in my head.
Your friend’s tits looked amazing in that dress. You think she has them out for a reason? You think she’d want them around my cock?
I bet someone’s going to come on them.
If it’s not you…
He might actually hit me for that.
A thud pulls me back to the moment.
Meg is on the ground, on her hands and knees. She leans back, rubs her skinned knee with her hands.
Shit.
I need to pay more attention.
I get out of the car. “Hey.” I move closer slowly, so I don’t scare her.
She looks up at me, equal parts confused and relieved.
“You mind?” I kneel next to her.
“It’s fine. I can clean up at home.”
“You’re bleeding.”
She nods okay.
I look closer. I’m not exactly an ER surgeon, but I’ve cleaned up after enough fights to know first aid.
My fingers skim her calf. The outside of her knee. The top of her thigh.
Her eyelids flutter closed.
She sucks a breath through her teeth. But I can’t tell if it’s pain or arousal.
Either way—
She needs closer attention. “This is a bad scrape. You have a first aid kit?”
Her brow scrunches with concentration. “I can handle it.”
I shake my head. There’s no way I’m sending her home injured. “I bruised plenty of knuckles in my day. I’m bandaging that. Either we do it at your apartment, or we go to a twenty-four-hour pharmacy.”
She nods. “My place.”
I lead her to the car. Open the door for her.
She looks at me funny, like she doesn’t buy me as a gentleman, but she still gets in. Mumbles a thank you.
I slide into my seat. Turn the car on. Ask for her address.
It’s close.
A five-minute drive this time of night.
She rolls down the window, closes her eyes, soaks in the feeling of fresh air.
A sigh of relief falls off her lips.
It’s exactly how I feel.
This girl is a breath of fresh air. Maybe that’s a sign I should walk away.
Too bad I’m not going to listen to it.
Read the full story of Miles and Meg in Sing Your Heart Out. Fancy a different man from Sinful Serenade? You can read each book as a standalone, so skip right to your favorite:
Sinful Serenade
Sing Your Heart Out - Miles
Strum Your Heart Out - Drew
Rock Your Heart Out - Tom
Play Your Heart Out - Pete
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ABOUT THE BOOK
Storm Hardy wants her, but he can’t have her.
Lotus Irving wants him, but doesn’t know who he really is.
He left Ocean Beach to pursue a career in the music industry.
She stayed behind, her world rocked by one terrible tragedy after another.
What if all your best memories are behind you? What if you lost the one friend who understood you better than anyone else? What if your greatest wish is to recreate the past instead of imagining a brighter future?
Storm by New York Times bestselling author Michelle Mankin is a novel about never giving up, no matter what life throws at you. It’s about the importance of love and learning to dream again. It’s about looking beyond the wind, rain, and lightning to find the calm. It’s about holding on to the right person who helps you to be strong.
Lotus
Fifteen years ago
“Out of my way!” Dwayne Ray shouted.
Without time to move, I fell as he shoved me in the back, landing hard on my hands and knees. My back hurt, and so did my hands. Lifting them from the gravel, I flipped them over. The skin on my palms was red, and several cuts were bleeding.
Tears filled my eyes and my bottom lip trembled. All the other kids on the playground had seen me fall.
“Leave her alone, Dwayne!” a strong voice said, and an older boy approached.
“What’s it to you, Storm Hardy?” Dwayne tilted his head back as the older boy stopped directly in front of him.
Storm planted his feet. “She’s just a girl, and she’s smaller than you. You should be more careful.”
Dwayne’s nostrils flared. “She should stay out of my way.”
“You’re a bully.” Storm crossed his arms over his chest, and his dark brown brows slammed together. He was mad too, but it was a different kind of anger, directed at Dwayne and not me.
“I’m not a bully.” Dwayne’s mouth twisted. “You are. You’re the one who’s always in trouble with the teacher.”
“I only get in trouble if I need to.” Storm’s eyes flashed. “Would you like some trouble? I’m happy to give it to you.”
“No.” Dwayne’s eyes widened and he took a small step back.
“Then. Go. Away. Now,” Storm said slowly and quietly.
Dwayne dropped his shoulders, shoved his hands in his pockets, and turned away.
“Thank you,” I said as Storm crouched beside me. Staring at him, I tried to figure out why he’d helped me. I’d noticed him, but he’d never talked to me before. He usually had a different recess period.
“Are you okay?” he asked gently.
“I think so.” I met his gaze, and my bruised heart melted at the softest suede-brown eyes I’d ever seen. “I’m Lotus.”
“I’m Storm. I won’t let Dwayne hurt you again,” he said firmly. “Or anyone else. Don’t be afraid of me. Okay?”