He kisses me again, but then he stops, his forehead resting against mine.
“Pretty girl, I’m about to pick you up and take you to my room. If that isn’t what you want, I need you to tell me.”
I nod.
“Is that a yes?” he chuckles. “I would like you to stay with me tonight.”
“I want to stay with you.” I trace his jaw, desperate for another kiss. “But…”
CHAPTER TWELVE
DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES
COLSEN
I’m so hard that I can barely think straight.
Everything between me and Taryn was going in the direction I was hoping for until her “but.”
That single word has the effect of an ice-cold shower on me, and I take one step back, putting some much needed distance between me and her tempting body.
But I immediately miss the contact with her soft body and I keep my fingers laced with hers as I try to figure out why she just hesitated.
“Did I do anything wrong? If so, I need you to tell me. If you want to stay here just because you’re tired, it’s totally fine. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”
Taryn shakes her head. “It’s not that. It’s just that we just met and I…”
“I mean it, pretty girl. I’m willing to wait if this was as far as you wanted to go tonight. I can drive you back right now, or if you want to stay, we can just cuddle.”
Her green eyes widen. “Would you be ok with just cuddling?”
I nod, lifting her hand to bring her knuckles to my lips. “Absolutely. Would I love to explore that sexy body of yours a little more? Sure. But I don’t want you to feel like you have to do anything more than what you’re comfortable doing.”
Her gaze shifts from my face down the length of my body to the obvious bulge in my jeans.
She doesn’t need to say anything to express her thoughts right now.
“Yeah, of course I’m hard. But I’m not an animal, and I can keep you in my arms and just sleep if that’s what you want.”
The corners of her lips tip up in a little smile. “What if that isn’t what I want?”
“I’m a little confused.” I admit. “You said you wanted to stay. Did you change your mind? Or did you want me to sleep on the couch? I’m ok with that too. I can tuck you in just like you did with Tucker.”
Finally, Taryn puts me out of my misery.
“No, I want to stay and I want to sleep in your bed with you. And I don’t want to just cuddle.”
My pulse quickens and my cock perks up at her words. “Then why did you sound unsure a second ago? When I say I don’t want to do anything unless you want it too, I mean it.”
“I know.” She exhales. “It’s just that you and Tucker were competing for who got to take me home. And now we kissed and I want more with you but I also want more with Tucker.”
Oh, I get it. Or at least I think I do. “So what you’re saying is that you like us both? And that you still want to hang out with Tucker when he’s a little more… present?”
Taryn nods, but lowers her gaze. “I’m sorry. If that changes your mind, I understand.”
“Pretty girl,” I coax her to look at me, lifting her chin with gentle fingers. “No, it doesn’t change my mind. Look, I would deny what I’m going to say even under torture, but Tucker isa great guy. He can be a jackass with all his pranks, but deep down, he’s got the biggest, most honest heart in the world. I trust him with my life on and off the ice. So I don’t blame you for being into him. If you’d tried to see both of us behind our backs, I would have been very disappointed. Your honesty, though, is refreshing, and it tells me that my first impression about you was right.”
Some of the tension in her shoulders eases at hearing my words. “Good. I had so much fun tonight, and the way you and Tucker laugh and joke and compete with each other was one of my favorite things about hanging out with you guys. And I would like to hang out with you and Tucker again.”
