“I give up,” she muttered, pointing at the cabinets. “Myhands hurt from sanding.”
“Wanna switch?I’llsand and you deal withSatan’swallpaper?”
Aurora groaned. “Nah.I’mgiving up for the day.AndIwant to shower.”
My dick liked the idea ofAurorain the shower.Ofher wet hair sticking to her skin as her head was tossed back in the throes of ecstasy.Theway her gasps and moans would echo over the spray of the water.Thedig of her fingers into my skin as she clung to me whileIfucked her against the . . .
I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. “Uh, yep.Shower.Goodcall.”
Aurora smirked like a fucking devil. “Youall right there?”
“Yep.”Ihopped to my feet, then immediately regretted it when my stupid dick tented my fucking shorts.
She lifted a limp arm. “Canyou drag me to the shower?Mylegs don’t work.”
That comment did not help my pants situation.
Instead of backing off likeIknewIshould,Idropped down to the floor and braced my forearms on either side of her head.Aurorasucked in a sharp breath as our lips grazed upside down. “Listenclosely, becauseI’monly going to say this once,”Iwhispered into her mouth. “IfIdrag you into the shower,I’mcoming in there with you.”Inipped the pout of her lower lip. “AndIguarantee you, we’ll be in there so long that the water turns to ice becauseIwill take my fucking time with you.”
I swallowed down her velvet gasp.
“Just once.Nostrings?” she asked in a whisper.
I brushed the tip of her nose with mine. “There’salways strings, baby.”
“Shower sex isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”Aurorawas trying to be funny, but the depth and rasp in her voice were a dead giveaway that she was clinging to the edge of her resolve, trying so desperately to stick to her guns.
“It’ll start in the shower, butIguarantee you—it won’t end there.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “Jack. . .”
“What’s it gonna be,Roar?Anddon’t say once.YouandIboth know one time isn’t going to be enough.”
She swallowed. “Ishould shower here.”
“Fuck what you should do.Whatdo youwant?”Icountered.
I could see it in her eyes.Wewere in a game of chicken, and she was about to turn around and run.
“I want to be able to start over at the end of the summer without baggage.Idon’t want to hurt you.”
“I told youIcan handle nuance.ButIcan’t handle you pretending like it’s going to be a hookup that doesn’t mean anything.”
“You said there’s always strings.”
The melancholy started to set in. “Yeah.Sweetheart.Thereare.Becauseno matter what,I’llmiss you when it’s over.Sexhas nothing to do with that.”
“Sex tangles those strings . . .”
“Aurora, if you’re not into this, just say it.Ican handle it.”
“It’s more complicated than that,” she huffed.
“It’s not.”Ipressed a kiss to her lips.Withthat,Ieased onto my knees and offered her a hand up. “Takeyour shower.I’mgonna run over to my place and rinse off.Youwanna go down toErnie’sand grab dinner?”
She gave me a suspicious look. “Whyare you not acting weird about this?”
Instead of her lips,Ipressed a kiss to her forehead. “BecauseIlike you regardless of what you do or don’t want to get yourself into.”Ipeeled back and wiped the dust from her forehead off my mouth. “Yeah.Youneed a shower.”
