She’s alreadyonthe app? Anger—of some confusing kind—courses through me. I don’t even know who I’m angry at. Her? That’s certainly not fair. The men she might sleep with? Yeah, definitely them.
But hold on, it’s not like I’m her brother. I’m most certainlynother brother. Because her brother would not, for a split second, have thought about taking her up on her offer.
Because having sex with Delilah would be nothing short of—
I clear my throat. “Delete the app, Delilah,” I say.
She glares at me. “No.”
“There are creepy guys on there. Guys who will take advantage of you.”
“Well, good for everyone that ‘being taken advantage of’ is exactly what I’m looking for,” she says matter-of-factly. “It’s a win-win.”
“No, you—” I sputter, images of Delilah withother menspiraling through my brain and making my head explode. Delilah and me would certainly be a bad idea. But Delilah and anyone else? Worse. So much worse. So bad that …
“I’ll do it,” I say, against my better judgement. Against the voice at the back of my head telling me that Harrison will kick my skull in if he ever found out. Against the tiny part of me that seems to want Delilah a bit more than I probably should. Against all of it, I agree.
She widens her eyes. “Excuse me?”
“Delete that stupid app. I’ll have sex with you.”
She huffs and then rolls her eyes. “Well, thankyou, Graham. It’s not like you just practically gagged at the prospect of it five minutes ago.”
I grit my teeth. Has she always been this aggravating? “You know that’s not—”
“You saidno. I’m not about to beg you, and I don’t want weird, pity sex. So, offer rescinded.” She shakes her head.
“JesusChrist, Delilah,” I mutter.
“Why are you—” she starts, but I span the distance between us on the couch, sinking to the floor in front of her, my hands resting gently on her knees. She stops, mid-sentence, staring down at me.
“Dee,” I say softly. “I am on my knees begging you to choose me over that app. I am exactly like every other man on this planet in that I would give my right arm to be able to do every disgusting, filthy thing I can think of with you. The only difference is thatI’llkeep you safe. So please, if you need someone, let it be me.”
Shock skates across Delilah’s features, and I wonder if that same shock is mirrored in my own expression, because I cannot fully believe that I’m down on my knees in front of a woman, declaring … what? What am I even declaring? What the fuck am I even doing? All I know is that I want her to say yes.
“Okay,” she breathes.
“Yeah?” I ask, suddenly breathless.
“Yeah.” She nods.
Holy fuck. We just agreed to …
“Ground rules,” she says simply, although her voice is still soft, her cheeks pink, her breath shallow. “It’s temporary.”
I nod.
“No feelings.”
I’m a master at that.
“And no telling Harrison.”
“Obviously,” I agree.
The silence—loud and charged—stretches between us. Finally, Delilah offers me a soft smile. And something about it has my chest tightening, my cock hardening, and my brain going fuzzy.
Fuck, this is a really bad idea.
