Page 131 of The Trouble With Bad Boys

“Good night.”

When the door shuts and I flop onto his bed with a sigh, I realize then that if the opportunity to stay for the week still stands, I will take it. The attraction between us is heady.

And I’m not ready to come up for air yet.

Five

COLTER

“What were you doing sleeping on the couch last night?” Reed asks, padding into the kitchen while rubbing his eyes.

It’s after six in the morning. We leave soon for our strength and conditioning practice, and I’m too exhausted to get deep with my answers.

I nod, taking a sip of my coffee. “Friend of mine. She’ll be here for a bit while she waits for her apartment to free up. I let her take my bed.”

Reed studies me quietly but doesn’t say a word.

It’s not like he can argue with me. It’s my house. Passed down to me from my father when he passed away. It sat empty for a couple of years. Since my parents were divorced, there was nothing my mom could do about it until I was eighteen.

Reed heats his oatmeal and grabs a bottle of water before disappearing down the hall to his room, leaving me alone in my thoughts again.

I was up most of the night, tossing and turning. It’s not like sleep will come easy when you’re six-foot-five and pushing three hundred pounds. I have no business sleeping on this damn pull-out, but all that flies out the window when Ava comes strolling into the kitchen.

Her hair is up in one of those messy buns, heavy on the messy. Strands hang down around her face, some that appear to have fallen out too.

She’s wearing one of my T-shirts I loaned her and a pair of shorts, which you can barely see beneath the length of the top. Damn, does she look fuckin’ good wearing my clothes, though.

“Mornin’,” she greets me, her eyes heavy but her voice light and sweet. Everything I’ve come to expect from Ava.

“Mornin’,” I mutter, turning to open the cupboard and pull out a mug for her.

She whispers a low thank you, lifting the coffee pot to pour herself a glass.

“Sugar?” I ask, and she hums, smiling up at me.

She tilts her head for a moment, and for a second, I wonder if she even heard me until I lift the packet in front of her.

“Oh, I thought you were—” She stops herself and shakes her head.

Her face heats, and I smirk, connecting the dots that she thought I was calling her sugar.

“You are as sweet as sugar, but I was offering you some.” I chuckle, and she ducks her head, rolling her eyes as she takes a sip.

Her long blond hair falls wildly around her. Her skin is tan, and I can picture her having spent days out in the sun. Her long lashes fan out along the apples of her cheeks dotted with freckles.

Don’t get me started on those plump lips. I’ve been fighting against the urge to kiss her since we stood in this same spot last night, but I don’t want to move things too fast.

I played with fire by offering her a place to stay. When the guys discover who she is, I don’t doubt they’ll give me hell for it too. She took me up on the offer, though. I guess it’s more appealing than staying with Alec.

I’m sure the fact he lives thirty minutes away, on the other side of the Savannah River, in Georgia, has something to do with it too. Not exactly a far drive but not close either.

“How’d you sleep?” I ask, grabbing the paper I picked up off the front step and pad over to the dining room table.

Ava studies me for a quiet moment before she follows, claiming the seat next to me.

“Probably better than you did.” I exhale a chuckle and shrug. “No, but your bed is comfortable. Thank you again.”

I nod, unfolding the newspaper and laying it flat on the table. Call me old-fashioned, but I enjoy sipping my coffee and reading the paper.

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