I peer around the room for any sign that she’s still healing but can’t find anything. No unused bandages. No pill bottles. “Bet,” I reply.
She narrows her gaze. “I can safely take that bet.”
She holds out her hand, and I shake it.
I laugh because I already know she’s going down. No way am I losing. I never do. Not in the things that matter.
“You never really said why you were here,” Tab says. “Except to eat one of the strawberries you gifted me.”
“I thought it was obvious. To spend time with you.” Tab opens her mouth, no doubt to dispute, but I cut her off. “Let’s just move past the part where you don’t believe me and get on board with the idea we’ll be spending time together from now on. Your texts today weren’t enough to satisfy me. I need face-to-face contact.”
“Do you want your muffins from yesterday back or something? If you do, you’re wasting your time. I ate them all.”
“Funny,” I tell her.
“You know, I thought pro football players would be busier than you appear to be. You seem to have a lot of free time to text and visit.”
“I make time for what’s important to me.”
“Fine. So say you’re sincere?—”
“I am.”
“Say you’re sincere,” she repeats. “Theoretically, what would we be doing when we spend time together?”
I pick out another strawberry. “For starters, eating these. Maybe watching TV, going for coffee… Though you’d have to agree to meet to do that.” There are so many more things I want to offer but I’m not actually sure how much of me she can handle right now.
My mind has already gone years ahead. Tab and I dating, madly in love with each other, married.
“And?” Tab prompts like she’s trying to get me to say the real reason I’m here.
“We’ll see where that takes us,” I answer, raising my brows.
She laughs. The beautiful sound filling the room in a sort of crazed, lunatic way. But the genuine joy softens any impact it would have had on me. “You can’t be this hard up for friends…or for a partner.”
“I’m not, actually.”
“Then this has to be about ticking something off a list. Is this some weird thing you have with Micah? Like you want to fuck me to get back at him for something?”
“Woah, woah. Who said anything about wanting to fuck you?” I hold my hands up like I’m truly shocked at the idea.
Her eyes practically pop out of her head, and then her cheeks go red.
“I mean, I do want to, but I hadn’t said that yet.”
Her shoulders relax, but it doesn’t last long. She swats at me. “You’re an ass.”
“Probably, but I can also safely say this has nothing to do with Micah.”
“Good because he’s warned me to stay away from you like a billion times.”
Damn. Thanks, brother. Talk about a cock blocker.
“You should definitelynotlisten to him.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. Her robe splits open, and I catch a glimpse of cleavage. What I wouldn’t give to reach out and work my fingers against her curves right now, cupping her tits in my palms, rubbing her in all the right places. I wonder what Tab’s O face looks like. I bet it’s beautiful, unrestricted.
Fuck. I’m horny. I’ve been horny since I saw her at the coffee shop. I was horny walking up the fire escape. And now I’m needy, growing with want. I shift to release the pressure from my pants against my erection, and her stare lowers, no doubt seeing everything.
