Page 35 of Expiry Dating

Recognising the lust flaring in his eyes was doing nothing to calm her heart rate.

“Okay, sweetness. What do you want to talk about?” His husky voice was nothing short of smouldering, and she found herself momentarily mesmerized by the sight of the heavy rise and fall of his chest.

Snap out of it.

Attempting to redirect her inappropriate thoughts, she shook her head and moved past him. He quietly followed her into the living room, where they both fell into the comfy couch cushions.

“Okay, so, our little scene at Get Pied didn’t go unnoticed—apparently, we’re famous. Oh and my sister knows we’ve been sleeping together, which means by default Jake knows too. So, uh ... we need to get our story straight I guess?”

“Our story?”

“Yes, our story. The whole town thinks we’re dating.”

“So?”

“So?” she repeated.

“Yeah, so what? We’re together, Ali. So what if the town knows it?”

“But we’re not dating, Brady. We’re sleeping together. That’s it, remember? This is casual, nothing more. But now the whole of Bluestone thinks we’re dating and they’re gonna start asking questions. We’re gonna get invites as a couple—they’re gonna try and marry us off!”

She noticed the familiar tick in his jaw as it clenched, his expression granite.

“There is nothing fucking casual about us, Ali, and you damn well know it.”

She did. She’d known for a while. But that didn’t mean she was okay with it. That she was just going to accept it. Sex was all she had to give right now. And if she was going to keep having it with Brady, she needed some new rules. She stood and started to pace.

“We fucked up. We blurred the lines. I know that now, but we can fix this; we just need new rules. We need to set boundaries.” She could hear the desperation in her voice, but she ignored it. “No more overnight stays, no more TV on the couch or meals together.”

It didn’t take a genius to work out that Brady Mitchell was not happy. Especially when he rose and reached out to grab her arm, bringing her pacing to a halt. As he entered her space, his mouth was a flat line and his narrowed eyes a darker shade of brown than normal. He kept advancing until she could feel the warmth of his breath heating her lips.

“You want me to fuck you and leave ... that what you want, Ali? Get off and get gone? Use your body and then kick you out of my house?”

She felt the anger drip off his every word. All of a sudden, she wasn’t feeling so brave. Or sure. She felt sick to her stomach. She couldn’t do this. Any of this. What they’d been doing had clearly messed with her head, but the idea of them having sex and him not holding her after, them not talking or curling up on the couch together, made it all seem so sordid. Wrong even.

What the hell is wrong with me? I’m more broken than I thought.

She could feel her eyes start to well. She wasn’t this girl. She never cried. The first tear trickled down her cheek, but it was caught by Brady’s thumb. Another one began to roll, and he got that one too. Soon his palms were enveloping her face as he tilted her head up to meet his gaze.

“Sweetness, you’re killing me.” Gone was the anger. Back was her Brady. “If you’re not ready to label what we have, then we won’t. Fuck what everyone else thinks. But I’m telling you now, I’m not gonna fuck you and then let you leave. That’s not what we’re doing here.”

He was right. That wasn’t what they were doing here.

All the fight in her was gone. How could she possibly stand there and argue in favour of something she didn’t even want? Was it so wrong that she liked what they had? It’s like Lily said in Beano’s—it’s about what makes them happy that matters. They shouldn’t have to explain themselves to anyone else.

Way to cave immediately, Ali.

She was caving, and while she was at it, she let him pull her into his chest. Melting into him as he held her tight. She wasn’t strong enough to give him more, but she also wasn’t strong enough to let him go or change what they had. So she just stood still with him.

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