He leaned up on his elbow and raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“Like you care,” I ground out.
“Oh, I do care, baby,” he droned. “Please tell me all the ways I confuse you so that I can clarify things for you.”
“Screw you, Austin.”
He laughed and sat up. “I was just tryin’ to do that. You stopped it.”
“You are such a jerk!”
“I’m not tryin’ to be, Dani.” He dragged his hands down his face. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”
I sighed. “You’re everything my parents warned me against. You’re secretive, but you’re also honest. I feel wholly protected by you, but then you scare me more than anyone I’ve ever known. You’re a bad boy, but when I dated a so-called good one, he turned out to be the devil, so, yeah, I don’t get you because you’re not what I expected. You drive me crazier than anyone I’ve ever met, but then you make me feel complete. I’m feeling things I don’t quite know how to process and that makes me want to run. I don’t want to give up something that might be really, really good, but I also don’t want to be stupid and fall for a boy just because he’s super pretty and makes me come.”
He shrugged, his nonchalance back in place. “I did tell you I would.”
“You also promised you’d do it more than once.”
“Happy to oblige.”
I tied my robe with an angry swoosh. “I’m pouring my heart out to you and you’re talking about making me come again?”
He sighed and dragged his hands down his face. “Dani.”
“What, Austin? I don’t know what kinds of women you’ve dated in the past, but I’m not one who can be manipulated with your ability to be really good at oral sex, or kissing, or... well, anything oral,” I said, lamely. “I deserve to be treated with respect and if you’re not willing to do that, then see you later.”
“Pain in my ass,” he grumbled.
“Thenleave!” I stepped into the bathroom and slammed the door.
My tirade had completely counteracted my body’s sated state just moments before and that made me mad. I wanted to go back to my post-climax glow. I stared in the mirror and scowled at myself. I shouldn’t look this way. My eyes were bright, my skin was flushed, and I looked more alive than I had in a long time. Despite my tirade, I felt happy. Austin did that for me. I knew that I could be totally honest with him. Show him one hundred percent of myself, even if it wasn’t pretty. The door opened and I caught Austin’s eye in the mirror. “I thought you were leaving.”
He wrapped his arms around me from behind, pulled my hair to the side, and kissed my neck. “You show me that and expect me to leave?” he challenged.
“Yeah, kinda. It’s been three days and I’m showing you everything.” I sighed. “So much for wanting to be sexy and mysterious.”
He turned me to face him. “You couldn’t be more beautiful to me, Dani.”
“I think there’s something psychologically wrong with you.”
“You could be onto something.” Austin chuckled. “Meeting my brothers is a big deal, but I’ve been trying to downplay it, so you don’t panic on me.”
“Maybe it’s too soon, then.”
He shook his head, cupping my neck. “They need to know who you are to me.”
“Who am I to you?”
“Everything, baby,” he said. “Everything.”
“How can you say that?” I asked. “It’s been less than a week.”
Austin smiled. “You’re what I want, Dani.”
“Well that explainseverything.”
“You want out at any point in the night, you tell me. I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”
