Page 49 of Hard to Hold

“This is really good.” He looks at the bag of the take-out. “I’ll have to try this place again.” Another bite. Another sip of beer. “All I ask is that you two fuck monkeys don’t dirty up the surfaces in the house.” Rush and I slide a glance at each other. Johnny freezes. “Fuck, man.”

Rush eyes the island where he’s sitting, and Johnny shoves back, his stool hitting the one beside it with a clang.

“Really? My kitchen counter?” he screeches.

Rush chuckles. “Nah, mate,” Rush lies. “Your bed is pretty comfy though.”

Johnny glares at me, and I can’t hold back my laughter anymore. “We did not have sex in your bed. Lord knows what we would catch if we did.”

“You guys are assholes,” Johnny says as he sits back down to his food again. “Just don’t be”—he motions his hand all around—“you know. Let me catch you or some shit. That is not something I want to walk in on.”

“Should I be offended?” I tease.

“No, the last thing I need to see is that fucker’s dick. I’d be left with an inferiority complex for the rest of my life.”

“No worries there,” Rush says leaning his hip against the island and crossing his arms over his chest, as if it’s an everyday comment on how inferior men feel beside him. “When you walked in, Lennox was telling me why we can’t be shagging anymore anyway.”

I stare at Rush, pissed that he’s trying to involve Johnny in our discussion, no doubt to have him take sides.

“She’s smart,” Johnny says and points his fork at me. “She’s trying to let me keep my sanity.”

“I was telling her I just don’t think that’s going to happen,” Rush says, that smile of his as devastating as ever. “Why turn down a good thing?”

He hooks an arm over my shoulder, and I physically remove it by stepping away. Being close to him is not what I need right now.

“It’s not happening again,” I say and grab a piece of bacon.

“You sure about that?” Rush asks.

“I am,” I say and sigh. “On that note, I need to take a shower and get ready for work.”

“In my bathroom?” Rush asks.

“No, in mine.”

And with one last look his way, I saunter out of the kitchen, leaving the two of them and their testosterone alone.

The funny thing is, despite having sex with Rush, the magnetism didn’t fade.

It always fades. It always loses its luster.

So why, as I climb the stairs one by one, do I admit to myself that this is going to be much harder than it should be?

That working with Rush and keeping my hands off him is going to be a difficult challenge.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

RUSH

SHE’S BEEN AVOIDING ME.

She can say she isn’t. She can pretend to be busy with the hundreds of calls she takes every day. One moment she talks some athlete off the ledge of doubt, and then the next she’s like a bulldog as she negotiates what she wants with a team.

It’s impressive.

It’s a turn-on.

Anyone who says they don’t like a woman who owns her confidence has to have a little dick and not much sense. Because Lennox . . . hell, Lennox is a complete and utter badass.