“Is this funny to you?” I asked, my control snapping.
“I mean, you lookpissed. It’s not exactly giving me the right vibes.” She chewed on her bottom lip again, causing all the blood in my body to head south, fast.
“Iampissed. I can think of a million reasons why you shouldn’t say things like that to me.” Dammit, my voice got low again, and the mood shifted. The playful, teasing tone was gone and seeing Ryann’s chest move faster almost did me in.
“But I can’t recall a fucking single one right now.”
Her eyes got hazy and filled with heat. Her hand stilled from playing with her hair, and she shifted her weight on the couch so one leg crossed over the other. “You play on a team with my brother, we live together, and I promised Michael I wouldn’t ever cross a line with a teammate again. Those are a few though.”
“Right.Those.”
She arched one brow and leaned forward, her lips parting, and I scooted closer to her. Whatever she wanted to say took courage because she took a deep breath, pulled her shoulders back, and stared at me head on.
“Did you kiss your date?” I asked, attempting one last time to dim my fire.
She shook her head, and her gaze moved to my mouth, lingering there as her breath came out heavier, needier. “No.”
“Why?”
“You know why, Jonah,” she said, dragging out my name and licking her bottom lip.
I blinked and moved even closer to her. She tilted her head up and brought her fingers to my chin, cupping it. Her hands on me sent me over the edge, and my body shook with need to finally taste this girl. Even though I couldn’t have distractions,notkissing her had become the distraction. It would go away if I just succumbed to desire.
Sure, yeah.
“I think I know a solution for us,” she whispered, dragging her thumb over my lip.
“God,what? Anything, please,” I begged, swallowing hard and loud.
“Fooling around wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”
“Fooling around?” I repeated, already imagining how she’d taste and feel beneath me. How her hair would fall over my chest. “How would this be a solution?”
“A way to release this sexual frustration we’re both feeling.” She licked her bottom lip, and I trailed the movement, my body taut with need. I’d jump over the entire couch to take that lip into my mouth if she asked me to.
And I wanted her to ask.Reallybadly.
“I don’t do relationships. Ever.” There, I said it. She could tell me no, and I’d listen.
A shadow crossed her face, but it was so quick, I convinced myself I made it up.
“Pretty sure we’re not talking about having arelationship,Jonah. If we sleep together, no one knows. Not the team, not Hannah,notMichael. Not a soul.”
Hooking up in secret. No drama. No team bullshit.
I gulped and nodded. “Until the season starts.”
“Should we add this to the rules?” She moved her gaze toward the fridge where she wrote my stupid rules. They seemed trivial now that we were talking about hooking up. I thought she was joking, but worry crept down my spine. This entire up and down, off-kilter feeling just solidified why I didn’t do this shit. Emotions were exhausting, and I didn’t have time to worry about her.
Yet.
I bolted up from the couch, stood a few feet away from her, and rubbed my palms in my eyes. “This is so messed up.”
“How’s that?”
“Neither one of us is happy about this.” I laughed, the unease lightening when she smiled with me. “I’ve never had to…sit down and talk this shit out before anything happened. It’s weird.”
“Yeah, this is a first for me, but I wouldn’t say I’m unhappy.” She leaned against the back of the couch. “I tend to get naked first, talk later.”
