Ryder, whose presence we both forgot, clears her throat over the comms.
“Ah, fuck.”
Ant’s cute grimace, however, makes it impossible to stay butthurt for long.
* * *
Exitingthe bathroom of our luxurious suite, naked and completely clean, I set the douche bulb on the counter, glaring at Ant.
He walks up to me with the world’s worst imitation of an innocent look. “I have standards of cleanliness,” he says, throwing my words back at me.
“You do understand I keep score of all these little infractions, right? That one day in the very near future, I’m going to remember this, and then you’ll pay.”
He rubs his hands together. “I can’t wait.”
I lean in for a kiss, and he takes my hand, dragging me to the bed. It’s much easier to kiss when we’re horizontal, so I take advantage. We roll around a little in the sheets, enjoying the naked slide.
Unfortunately, his words from earlier have continued to bother me. Before we go any further, I peck his lips and grouse, “By the way, I’m not your fuck buddy.”
His eyes turn thoughtful. “No?”
“No,”I insist as I nuzzle his face, loving the smell of his clean skin.
“Then what are you?” he asks, nipping at my nose.
I wipe the tip of my nose, my heart swooning to see this affectionate side of him. Fuckingswooning.
“I’m your friend. And protector.”
His pretty eyes go shiny. “Yeah?”
“Yes,” I grunt. “I thought that was obvious.”
He bites back a smile as he skims his fingernails over my arm, dragging goosebumps in their wake.
“You’re Nacho’s friend,” Ant finally says, drawing his fingers down to mine, threading them together before kissing my knuckles. “You’d protect him if he needed it. He’s your fuck buddy.”
“Stop teasing me. I said no bratting. Also, he’s not my fuck buddy, present tense. Hewasmy fuck buddy. Past tense.”
“Okay. Okay,” he says, unthreading our fingers to hold up his hands. I immediately miss their warmth. “Don’t get your super sexy boxer briefs in a twist. I’m just saying hewasyour fuck buddy under the same circumstances.”
“It’s not the same,” I grumble.
He chuckles, then holds up a finger. “Also? I’m not being a brat to point out the obvious. You’re the one who brought it up,” he says, smirking through what is, objectively, a good point.
“That’s because you and I aren’t like me and Nacho. It’s different.”
“How?” he asks, trying to look innocent.
“It just is.”
He taps his chin. “Does this have anything to do with the fact I’ll be topping you and being the vulnerable one in this situation makes the termfuck buddyseem a little dismissive?”
Huh. Hadn’t considered that. I might owe Nacho an apology.Wait, no. Nacho was the one who called us fuck buddies in the first place.
I shake my head. “No.”
He raises his brows at me.
