Page 19 of Catching Feeling

I shake my head. “No, that’s it. I just need to turn my key into the administration office on Monday, and I’ll officially be moved out. Thank you, guys, for helping me get it done so quickly.”

“You can thank me with a dance next time we’re at The Redlight.” Grant winks.

“Okay, Casanova, Lane and I carried just as much shit as you did today,” Reese mutters, an unreadable expression on his face.

I refuse to let my gaze dip below his chin. All I need is for him to catch me checking him out, and I’ll never hear the end of it. His ego truly can’t handle getting any larger.

It’s bad enough I remember how it felt to touch him, skin to skin.

It’s bad enough that I had a moment of weakness, and now I know what it feels like to have him inside me.

It’s bad enough that I can’t forget that night, no matter how hard I try to push it out of my head.

“Yeah, but Viv would never dance with you because she hates you, so maybe I will shoot my shot,” Grant retorts to Reese.

“Oh?” Reese says, his dark brows raised in question.

“Y’all are ridiculous,” Eli interjects, wiping sweat from his brow with the hem of his shirt.

Lane shakes his head as he tosses his arm over Hallie’s shoulder and drags her against him. “How about we go to Jack’s and get pizza so I can feed my girl, then the two of you can take out a ruler and continue measuring whose dick’s bigger?”

“It’s mine,” Reese says, shooting Grant the finger.

Grant just rolls his eyes and pulls his phone out of his back pocket when it starts to ring. “Hold on, I’ve gotta take this.”

He puts the phone to his ear and answers with a gruff “Hello?” then walks down the sidewalk away from us.

Lane, Hallie, and Eli are ahead of us now, walking toward Lane’s vehicle, when Reese falls into step beside me, bending his head slightly to whisper, “Think you can vouch for me? Since you know exactly how big my cock is, Viv?”

“Mmm, well, I’d only know if I see Grant’s too. Maybe I should…?” I smart back.

I would be lying if I said a shiver didn’t roll down my spine at his proximity or the low, hoarse sound of his voice. But I firmly tamp down the feeling in my lower belly and don’t let his words have their desired effect on me or at least show him that they do.

I jog ahead and loop my arm in Hallie’s, leaving Reese behind with his jaw agape.

I guess he didn’t expect me to dish his shit right back his way.

After a quick dinner at Jack’s and finally convincing Hallie that I was not actually body snatched by aliens and that I’m fine staying here, I shut the front door to my new house and lock the deadbolt.

Now I’m alone with Reese, and I have no idea what to expect. How to… exist in the same space with him. Especially after the time that shall not be named.

Walking into the living room, I flop down on the other end of the couch next to him, massaging my temples. All I want to do is take off my makeup, put on my favorite T-shirt, and climb into bed.

“Soo… wanna cuddle and watch a movie?” Reese asks nonchalantly from beside me.

For real?

It’s been like two minutes since I sat down, and he’s already testing the boundaries. I guess now is as good a time as any to reinforce them.

“No, Reese, I do not want to cuddle and watch a movie. The only way we are going to make this work is if you understand that there have to be boundaries. We’re roommates… who also happen to have slept together once by mistake.”

“It wasn’t a mistake, Viv.” He snorts. “It was the best sex of my life, and it wasn’t a fucking mistake. Don’t say that shit.”

For a second, I’m actually speechless by his admission, but thankfully, I quickly recover and remember how to speak.

“It was a mistake, Reese. One that we will not be repeating. Not only because my life is complicated enough without any other distractions but because we’re roommates now. We can never cross that line again, alright? I’m serious. From this point forward, I need you to understand that or we will never work as roommates, and I need this to work. We’re going to be two ships passing in the night. We’re not hanging out, and we’re not friends. We’re the kind of roommates that just share space, that’s it.”

“That’s what you want?” he asks.

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