“If you ask nicely, I could…” His eyes drift back down to my neck, stopping on the swell of my breasts pressed against my arm. “You know, I—”
“Please don’t say another word.”
He holds up his hands in defeat. “I’m just saying—if you ever change your mind, I’d be down. It’d be a win-win situation. A way for us to both break the dry spell. Loosen us both up.”
He says it lightly, but I’m having a hard time figuring out whether he really means it—maybe he just wants to get a rise out of me, after all. A situationship with Donovan? I weigh up the pros and cons. He annoys me nine times out of ten. I have zero desire to date him. He’s very attractive. He’d definitely be a good alternative to John.
“Let’s say that,” I start slowly, “let’s just suppose that for one crazy minute, in some parallel universe, I actually considered it—we would just keep it physical, right? Like—nothing complicated, just good vibes?”
His eyes snap back to mine. “Absolutely.”
“You understand this has nothing to do with me liking you, and I would basically just be using you for your dick?”
“Wow. You really know how to talk to a guy…”
We sit there staring at each other for a long beat, but a part of me—a hot, aching part, specifically in the lower half—has already made the decision.
“Got protection?” I ask as detached as I can.
He shakes his head.
I roll my eyes.
“This was never the plan,” he protests.
“The first rule of book boyfriends—never leave the house without a condom in your back pocket.”
“Who actually does that?” Donovan laughs. “And I’m wearing gym shorts. No pockets.”
I roll onto my side and crawl over to my bedside table, slipping open the bottom drawer and rummaging around for the box.Nice to see you again!Plucking out a condom, I scoot back over to Donovan. The way he looks at me makes me want to jump out the window, but I toss him the little foil packet with a curt nod.
He flips it from hand to hand with this unnerving smirk.
“Come here,” he commands.
I shouldn’t. Should I? Tomorrow-me is so going to regret this…
I draw closer, breathing in as I swing a leg over to straddle him. My heart is racing as I wait for what he’ll do next. A few seconds pass, and when he sets his palms along my thighs, I nearly swallow my own tongue.
He slides his hands up under my top. “You plan on keeping your ‘sleep shirt’ and socks on?”
“Yes.”
“What about your panties?”
Oh God!I’m wearing my favorite granny pair. I twist in his lap as I tug them off one leg and then the next.
He cocks an eyebrow. “You know, I could’ve just ripped them off, like they do in books.”
I shove his shoulder lightly. “In real life, literally nobody does that.”
Tossing them as far as possible toward the back of the room, I make the mistake of sitting back down without the thin barrier of cotton, and the moment my bare heat settles against him, every nerve in my body snaps to attention. I can feel how hard he is through the fabric of his shorts. This is… a lot. I’m definitely keeping the shirt on, though. There’s no way I’m getting naked in front of him.
“Okay, then.” He gently taps the sides of my thighs. “Lights on or off?”
“Off.”
He reaches for the lamp and flicks the switch, and although we’re cloaked in darkness, I can still make out the outlines of his face.
