Page 53 of The Chase

He furrowed his brow, and I knew I’d hit a nerve. “What the fuck does that mean?”

I pulled away from him and sat up against my headboard. “TJ, you have a reputation as quite the ladies’ man. You don’t do relationships. Why would you be interested in me anyway? You can have anyone you want—you usually do.”

He sat against the headboard with me. “I hate that you say things like that about yourself. I like you, Max, I really do. I’ve been dumb about women, too afraid of getting hurt that I didn’t put myself out there. Last year, I dated this girl, but I insisted I wanted something casual. I didn’t realize it was a mistake until she was gone. Then I met you when I was visiting my sister at work.”

“To be fair, we’d met before,” I pointed out.

“I know. Noah reminded me of that, but I never talked to you. I was half expecting you to not give me your number, but then you did, and I was too chicken-shit to ask you out.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “So, wait, the reason you never called wasn’t because you moved on to the next puck bunny? It was because you were afraid?”

He nodded sheepishly. “Yeah, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Then I felt bad about that first night. I thought I had messed everything up, but then you gave me a second chance. When you kicked me out, it felt like I fucked up again.”

My face fell, and I had to blink back tears. I never wanted him to feel like it was his fault.

He reached a hand out to brush aside the tears. “Aw, baby girl. Why are you crying?”

“I’m sorry I pushed you away. It’s hard for me to get close to people.”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Believe me, I understand that. We’re quite the pair, eh?”

I laughed.

He pulled me into his lap until I was straddling his thighs. I pressed my forehead against his, and his hands traveled down my back to rest on my hips. He leaned up and captured my lips with his. He kissed me tentatively, exploring my mouth like he had all the time in the world. I wound my hands into his thick, dark hair as I parted my lips. I moaned when his tongue slipped inside, exploring my depths.

I pulled back and smiled at him. “Did you really come over just to give me cuddles and make me feel better?”

He grinned up at me, shooting me that cocky grin I loved, but I knew behind it was a man who was afraid to let his feelings show. “Maybe. Men can like cuddling too, you know! I wanted to know you were okay.”

I nodded. “I am, now that you’re here.” I ground against him, feeling his hard length growing underneath me. “I feel like I need to make it up to you.”

“The only way you need to make it up to me is by telling me you’re officially my girl.”

I grinned. “Okay…yeah.”

“Yeah?” he asked, and his eyes lit up as he smiled at me.

I cupped his firm jaw in my delicate hands. “Yeah. Because you’re my man.”

“I like the sound of that. I want to be your boyfriend…but I’m afraid I’m not gonna be good enough at it.”

“I’m afraid I’m not the girlfriend you want,” I admitted.

“I guess we’ll figure it out together.”

I kissed him again and thought about how happy he made me. I pulled back and peeled my t-shirt off, revealing my naked chest.

“Fuck yeah, no bra!” he cheered as he reached two meaty hands up to cup my breasts while I kissed his neck.

I laughed.

“Bras suck, baby. They’re booby prisons.”

“TJ, you’re too much sometimes.”

He gave me that lopsided grin again while he played with my nipples, and I ground against his lap. His hands felt so good on me.

“Please keep touching me,” I moaned.