Or at least six bangs. But who’s keeping count?
“Wanna order some food, and then we can go again?” Bethany asks. Her pretty, hooded brown eyes sparkle as she pushes the thick black fringe of her bangs off her forehead.
“Nah,” I say. “We just had breakfast. We can order lunch later.”
Bethany giggles. “It’s almost dinnertime, silly.”
What? No, it’s not.Turning toward my alarm clock, I jolt out of bed, all traces of my previous exhaustion gone. The clock reads three-thirty.
Mira will be here by five.
“Ah, shit, Bethy-baby. We’re going to have to call it quits. I lost track of time between your thighs.”
An adorable blush colors Bethany’s golden cheeks.
I love making women blush. There’s something intoxicating about making a beautiful woman feel pretty or special or desired. I may be cursed when it comes to finding real love, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love appreciating the women I spend a night or two with. If they don’t leave our encounter feeling better about themselves than they did before we started, I’ve fucked up. I figure it’s the least I can offer, since they’re soothing an ache in me. Both of us know this won’t go anywhere, but that doesn’t mean we can’t connect on a cosmic level for the short time we have together.
“Are you sure?” Bethany rolls onto her side. She draws her thin lower lip between her teeth. “I don’t have anything to do tonight.”
“Sorry, but I do. My new roommate is moving in.” I lean over and press a kiss to her abused lips. “Let me clean you up. I’ll be right back.”
Bethany hums, her eyes taking on a mischievous glint. “Is your new roommate as good-looking as you? Maybe he could join us.”
A momentary image of me, Bethany the bunny, and Mira all tangled and naked in bed flashes in my mind’s eye, and I have to remind my dick that Mira may be beautiful, but she’s off-limits. Like, my best friend would chop off my dick, asphyxiate me with it, then bury my body in the woods kind of off-limits.
I shudder at the thought of losing my dick, but then I’m laughing. “Sorry, hot stuff, but I don’t thinkshewould be interested.”
Bethany’s lips pull into a pout. “Oh, I see. I’ve never done it with a woman, but it could be fun.”
Nope, I remind my dick as I stride into my attached bathroom to wet a washcloth for Bethany. I’d offer to let her shower, but the little minx would probably try to turn it into sexy times, and I really need to get dressed before Mira and Maddox arrive. Plus, the guys are waiting for a text so they can come help unload the moving truck, and I need to put in a huge order of Chinese for delivery.
Sadly, I don’t have time for a shower-blowie.
“As hot as that sounds, this is where our sexual journey comes to an end.”
She pouts but doesn’t protest. The women I sleep with know what they’re getting. A night of mind-blowing sex with an attentive partner who will always make them come first, some laughs, and some conversation. It’s well known that I don’t do relationships. I’ll make any woman feel like a goddess for a night, but that’s as far as it goes. One night. Maybe two. I’m not as hardcore about time limits as my buddy and teammate Logan Byrne is. The dude is cynical as fuck and hates love. I don’t.
I’m just cursed. Cursed to never find the real thing. Cursed to fall hard and fast, only to be left depressed, rejected, and alone before we can even celebrate our six-month anniversary. Then those women? The ones I’m madly in love with? They alwaysfind Mr. Right as soon as they dump me. Good for them, I guess? Crappy for me.
Relationships with me have an expiration date. So I might as well make sure they expire before I get my heart broken once again.
“I’d say to call me if you want,” Bethany says as she climbs into the driver’s seat of her little sports car, “but you won’t, will you?”
“Sorry, gorgeous.” I lean down and press a kiss to her cheek. “You’re amazing and stunning and so much fun. And if a relationship was in the cards for me, I’d program your number into my phone in a heartbeat. But it’s not.”
She offers me a sad smile. “I understand. I hope that changes for you someday.”
I’m silent as she closes her door and drives away. I’ve spent too many years hoping to find the woman who completes me. Hell, I’ve read a few hundred romance novels all about findingthe one,so at least I can live vicariously through stories of others finding their match.
That’s not meant for me, though. And no amount of hoping will change things.
“Hey, roomie,”I say as I open Mira’s door. I offer her my palm and tug her out of the car when she places her hand in mine. She looks exhausted. There are dark circles under her pretty moss-colored eyes, her long brown hair is falling out of her braid, and her full lips take a moment to curve into a smile.
“Hey, Griff.” She doesn’t pull back when I wrap her fit body in a hug. Just loops her arms around my middle and leans hercheek on my shoulder. Hugging her is nice. She’s the perfect height.
Giving her a grin, I pull back and boop her on the nose because my dick is apparently still in sexy mode from earlier today, and that willnotfly with Mira. Can’t get a hard-on while hugging my best friend’s little sister and my new roomie. Pretty sure that goes against the best friend codeandthe roommate code. “How was the drive, Lil’ Gravesy?”
“Ugh.” Her shoulders slump. “Long. Fine, though.”
