Which it’s not.
It’s just another piece of furniture.
Just because we’re sitting on the same bed doesn’t mean we’re going to get naked.
Even if I’ve fantasized about that very thing in this very spot.
So not happening.
Not outside my dreams, anyway.
I clear my throat and force myself to meet his eyes. “I’ll just read your paper and then we can decide on a topic.”
Parker smirks. “Sounds like a plan.”
I lower my eyes to the open document on the screen and read the introductory sentence, though for the life of me, I couldn’t tell you what it said. So I read it again, still not absorbing a damn thing.
Third time’s the charm.
I read it one more time and yeah, no dice.
“It’s impossible to concentrate with you sitting there staring at me,” I say, making a shooing gesture. “Can’t you find something else to entertain yourself while I read?”
“Sure.” He picks up my phone off the bed. “Got any of those pornalicious books I can listen to?”
Yes.
“No.”
“Liar.” He attempts to wake the phone, but it’s locked. “Come on. You want me distracted while you read. This is the distraction I choose.”
Of course it is.
“It’s that or I stretch out next to you in this bed and take a nice long nap.” He chuckles and the quiet rumble speaks directly to my ovaries. “Now that I think about it, I am pretty tired from yesterday’s game.”
He arches his back and raises his arms over his head, feigning the world’s biggest yawn. The movement reveals a sliver of his tanned, sculpted abs and my blood pressure spikes.
“Don’t you dare.” I grab the phone from his hand, unlock the screen, and bring up my audiobook app before handing the phone back. Because while I might be disciplined in the gym, I’m not sure I have the strength to resist Parker here in my bed. Not anymore. Not when I know exactly how good it can be between us. Which is why I need to fortify my defenses. “Knock yourself out, chump. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even learn something.”
He smirks, letting the dig roll right off his back. “Maybe I will.”
25
PARKER
I digmy headphones out of my bag and pair them with Sutton’s phone as she pretends to read my term paper on OTT. It’s obvious she’s not actually reading because every time I glance her way, she hurriedly lowers her eyes.
Maybe I’m twisted, but the fact that she won’t just admit she’s as hot for me as I am for her is a fucking turn on.
The thrill of the chase.
Not something I have a lot of experience with since there’s no shortage of women on campus eager to hook up with athletes, but there’s been the occasional woman who’s played hard to get and I dig it. The knowledge that Sutton isn’t playing—that she truly believes this thing between us isn’t going to happen again—just makes her even more desirable.
I sit down at the desk and scroll through her library. It’s like her own mobile porn stash and, not gonna lie, my mind is blown by the endless covers featuring ripped dudes with broody eyed stares.
Somebody has a type.
And if these books are any indication, I’m it.
