“That doesn’t look like a man who knows you don’t date. That looks like a man who’s here towoo.”
Looking at Nick through the window, his smile adorably huge, I can see that Chloe isn’t wrong. That is a man intent on wooing. He’s wearing those snug jeans again, and the way they hug his thighs sends a flurry of not safe for work images flashing through my brain. A full body flush races through me as I mentally flip through some of the most memorable moments from last night.
“Uh huh. That’s what I thought. Just sex, hey?” Chloe asks with a smirk. “We’redefinitelytalking about this later. Right now, though, I need to go. Better gather your wits, and wipe up that drool”—she dabs a finger at the corner of her mouth — “because I’m letting him in.”
She leaves me sitting at the table and lets Nick in as she goes. I’m still flushing hot all over when he sits across from me, laying the bunch of flowers on the table between us.
“Hey,” he says, the grin on his face growing wider. “How are you feeling? I wasn’t sure if I should bring flowers or ice. I settled on the flowers, since I’m pretty sure you have an ice machine around here somewhere.”
An awkward giggle escapes my lips, and I try to tamp down this strange nervousness in my belly.It was just sex, Tina. Calm down. You’ve had sex before without turning into a tittering schoolgirl.But was it just sex? Can it be called that when it’s with such an attentive lover?
This morning Nick woke me by cuddling up to my back while attempting to not stab me with his hard-on. While I appreciated the gesture, I had no interest in a chaste morning cuddle. I pushed him onto his back and put the third condom he brought last night to good use. Then he flipped me over and put his tongue to even better use. It was, by far, the best morning I’ve had in years. Not to mention, I slept like the dead following a night filled with the best sex I’d ever had.
But enough of that. It was just sex. Excellent sex. Still, just sex. I need to remember that. I can’t go letting sex endorphins dick-notize me into a relationship where I’m responsible for looking after a grown ass man. Because look at him. With his floppy blonde hair, his brilliant smile, and the way he runs around in those tiny shorts half the time, he will no doubt need looking after at some point. And I sure as shit don’t want to be the one who’s doing the looking after.
“Thanks, Nick. You’re right, I do have an ice machine. But I’m fine. You didn’t need to come check on me.”
He smiles again, that big stupid grin almost infectious enough to get me to smile back at him. “Well, to be fair, I didn’t come here strictly to check on you. I actually wanted to ask you something.”
Oh, shit.
Please don’t say it. Please don’t say it.
“I had an amazing time last night. And I’m pretty sure you did, too. Right?”
I nod, hoping this isn’t going where I think it is. If he’s already hoping for more, we won’t be able to continue just having fun. It wouldn’t be fair to him. “Yeah, it was fun.”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “It was fun. And I would love to do it again sometime. But maybe next time I can take you out first?”
Nick looks so hopeful that it almost hurts when I blow out a breath and say, “I’m sorry, Nick. That won’t be possible.”
His face drops, and even though he’s still handsome, I almost miss his big grin. “Not possible? What... uh... what do you mean?”
“Maybe I should have told you this before last night, but Nick? I don’t date.”
Not Made For Cornhole
Nick
“At all?”
“That’s what she said.”
I left Tina’s restaurant with a fake smile on my face, and the crushing weight of disappointment slowing my steps. I’d needed to change and step into the ring with Rhett for some sparring before I’d calmed down enough to talk it through. I wasn’t angry, but I was confused.
Scratch that. Iamconfused.
And it seems like Rhett is confused, too. “Like,at all, at all? Did she say why?”
I shrug, swiping a towel over my forehead. “No. All she said is that she doesn’t date. Then she told me she had a bunch of work to do and said she’d see me around.” She didn’t even look at me when she rejected me, just waved me off and went back to work.
Rhett laughs, slapping me on the shoulder as he walks by me to his locker. “Shit, dude. You got dismissed. I guess you didn’t live up to her expectations last night. Relying too much on boat size and not putting enough motion in the ocean?”
I throw my sweaty towel at him, hitting him squarely in the face, laughing at his splutter of outrage. “There’s plenty of motion in my ocean. Don’t you worry about that.”
“So, what is it then? You were on cloud nine when you strolled out of here earlier with plans to ask her out. I can’t imagine you’re willing to throw in the towel”—he coughs a laugh and throws my towel back at me—“yet. So now what?”
“Right now, I need to grab a shower and get ready for my lesson with Peter. As for what I’ll do about Tina? I’m not entirely sure. She said she doesn’t date. I don’t think pressuring her will change her mind.”
