Page 46 of Camera Shy

Because the way Finn is looking at me like he’s going to devour me whole, makes me think this one night is going to be the redemption of my entire lackluster sexual saga.

Here. We. Go.

Finn lifts me like I’m light and places me on the counter in the middle of the master closet. I flinch when the cool granite touches the bare back of my thighs. That’s how you know this is a multimillionaire’s closet. Why the fuck do you need granite in a closet?

I swing my dangling legs out of nerves, my heels hitting the back of the cabinets like an antsy child.

Finn pulls off his shirt, disorienting me with his chest and abs that are so perfectly sculpted I want to touch them to make sure they’re real. He stands between my legs and presses his palms against the tops of my thighs to stop my fidgeting. “I know you’re nervous,” he says with a sly smile. I nod in reply, expecting him to tell me not to be, but he goes in a different direction. “You should be.”

“Should I?”

He scrunches his face. “Yeah, of course. I always get a little nervous when something really fucking amazing is about to happen.” It’s like a shot of adrenaline pools between my thighs.

My lips part in surprise. “See? How do you do that?”

Wrapping his muscular arm around my back, he runs his lips up and down my neck. I start to go hazy from his heady smell of sweat and cologne. He smells so damn good I want to taste him. “How do I do what, Avery?” he growls into my ear.

“You talk about sex like it’s natural.”

“It is.”

“You seem so sure this is going to feel good for both of us.”

He nods into the crook of my neck. “I am.”

“How do—”

“Are you still on your period?” he asks, interrupting my questioning.

I shake my head. “No, it was the tail end yesterday, completely gone today.” I clear my throat. “Would that have been a…should I not…you know. Is that a deal breaker for guys?” His forehead crinkles as he raises his brows.

“Not for me. Dex has the best walk-in shower to fuck in. It has a bench.”

He’s not wrong. I love Dex’s shower. There are two rain shower heads and massage jets in the center. His large built-in teakwood bench is clearly custom-made. Although, my stomach churns when I think about how Finn knows Dex’s shower is ideal for sex. He’s done it here before. I wonder how many other women he’s put in front of this mirror.

But it’s not my business. That’s not what we’re here for. He’s my teacher, and I’m a student with questions.

“Dammit,” I say as I cringe. “I don’t have condoms.”

Finn bites his bottom lip. “Dex does. Third drawer of his nightstand.”

I close my eyes so Finn doesn’t see me roll them. And why the hell is he having so much sex at his friend’s house anyway?

“But we may not need them. Are you on birth control?”

Of all things to wind me, of all moments…why now? Don’t cry. Don’t you dare cry.

“Yep,” I squeak.

But my stupid eyes give me away. Finn won’t move on from the subject when he sees me tearing up. “Why are you upset? We can use a condom if that makes you more comfortable. I just know you’re not the fuck around type and I got tested a while back. I’m clean, and I haven’t been with anyone since.”

“Okay,” I say, trying to push the intrusive thoughts away from my mind. “That’s fine.”

The truth is when I found Mason’s engagement ring in the closet, I made an appointment with my gynecologist about family planning. They were booked out for six months, but I figured it was perfect timing. Within six months, surely Mason would’ve proposed.

I’m thirty. I want kids and I already feel a little late to planning. I figured Mason and I would have a brief engagement and would want children shortly after we got married. I made an appointment to have my IUD removed. An appointment that I missed last week because I’m not in California, I’m not engaged, and I’m about to have sex with a man I’ve known for about a week for the sole purpose of understanding what I’m doing wrong in the bedroom. I would’ve never guessed this is where I’d be when I booked that damn appointment.

“Talk to me,” Finn says. “What’s on your mind?” He finds my eyes and cocks his head to the side.

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