“Come on, Charlie, get up. Let’s try again.”
I stood up and brushed my uniform pants off, and without even giving me a minute, he looped his arm around my neck and pressed his body hard against my back. “Come on, Charlie. Kneel on one leg and pull me over with your…”
So Idid.
I dropped down on my right knee, curled my body forward, and yanked him by hisGiover my right shoulder.
Jase flew over me and landed flat on the mat in front of me, slapping out in a perfect fall.
Power.
Strength.
Pride.
I was hooked.
He looked up at me from the mat, blue eyes blazing, lips spread in a huge smile. “Not bad. Get up! Let’s try it, again.”
Hundreds of times. Stances. Punches. Kicks. Again and again.
The three of us, in the dojo, in my backyard. Over and over, Jase taught us to defend ourselves. “You don’t start the fight, guys,” he would say. “But you don’t let anyone push you around. Because once they push you, even an inch, they’ll keep doing it. Teach them thatnobody can ever hurt you.”
Jase didn’t kiss me again after our seven minutes in Heaven, and we never spoke about it. But sometimes…sometimes, I would catch those blue eyes on me, and when I did…
I would look
Right back at him
And henever
Looked away.
Chapter 5
Jase
What the hell was I doing?
You don’t even have to ask me,I’masking me.What the hell was I doing?
I was in her apartment: DayThree. The floors and table were littered with dozens of bottles of wine, pillows, and empty condom wrappers.
Yeah, I was screwed.
Brooke was sitting across from me,in my damn shirt, lifting a forkful of the greasiest Chinese food I’ve ever tasted to her mouth. Her eyes lifted to mine as she opened her lips; her tongue slid along one of the hanging sesame noodles and seductively glided it into her mouth.
Yeah, I was so screwed. I didn’t want a relationship with Brooke, but she wouldn’t listen. It was almost as if she didn’t care what I said. She was wearing my shirt, eating take-out after work with me, and there was a mess of sexual evidence strewn about the apartment. Sure as Hell looked a lot like the relationship I didn’t frigging want. Not now, not with her. Nope, wouldn’t hold up in court. I’d get thrown in some khakis and tied down with a ball and chain wrapped around my neck and secured to my nuts.
Brooke flung her fork back into the little takeout cardboard box our food was delivered in and crawled on all fours over to me. “You’resosexy sitting there. Now I’m hungry for somethingelse,” she purred.
Who the hell was I to say no, right? She washungry, she just said it, and me, well,—I was horny. Again. Iama man, and we were two consenting adults. I didn’t want to think about how screwed I was. I didn’t want to think about how this was someone I worked with. I always tried not to shit where I eat, but hell, when the food was free, and she didn’t mind the smell, screw it. And I’m going to.Screw it, again.
“You’re so sexy,” she murmured, in probably whatshe thoughtwas an erotic tone. It wasn’t. “Just so, so,sosexy,” she repeated. Yeah, I got the memo; I’m sexy. Awesome.Let’s just have a quickie so I can get the hell out of here. I hadn’t been home in three days, and I started to feel a little smothered with what I like to call thebridal gazeshe was giving me. You know the one. After a few nights of sleeping with a girl, and she starts staring at you like she’s listing the names of babies in her mind at the same time she’s redecorating your apartment with little, smelly-ass candles and her personal belongings.
Like a box of thosetampon-pad-things. Hell, I don’t even know if I’m saying that right.
Why would I ever need a box ofthose thingsnext to my damn shaving cream in the bathroom cabinet? Or one of her glittery tubes of lip puffer-upper-whatever-the-hell-that-stuff-is. And all because you’ve stuck a part of your body in a part of her body? What in the world makes women think that means we want tomarrythem?
