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“What are you doing?”

“I told you I would pick you up at seven. Don’t tell me you’re not ready yet.”

“Shut up and get back in here. Where are we going?”

“I’m going to give you two choices. We can go out and do the dinner and a movie thing, or we can stay here.”

“That’s it? I’m disappointed. I expected you to say something crude.”

“Well, if you're interested, my fucking your brains out could be option number three.”

“There it is,” I said, laughing. “Actually I was looking forward to staying home and renting a movie.”

“Score! I have a cheap date!” He laughed. “How about ordering from Palermo’s?”

“That would be perfect.”

I changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and after eating dinner, we went to the living room, sat on the couch, and watched a couple of movies. I didn’t feel like we were on a date, it felt normal and natural even though we rarely spent time in the house together.

“So, I’m a little confused,” I said.

“What about? Zoolander is a male model,” he said slowly, enunciating each word.

“Not that, you jerk. I thought you didn’t want anything to happen between us.”

“Right, I do lie naked with all of my friends.” Shane pulled my feet up, put them on his lap, and stroked my leg.

“It’s a good thing you don’t have any then.”

“Seriously though, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about us. I hear in certain places it’s perfectly normal to screw around with your friends, so maybe we should give it a try.”

“I can’t believe I agreed to go on a date with you.” I shook my head. “You’re a child.”

He turned off the television and turned to face me, his eyes looking into me like only he could. I thought about our night at the hotel and turned away from his stare in case he could read my mind.

“I know what you’re thinking about. I haven’t forgotten about that night either,” he said, his voice husky. “Or any night I’ve slept in the room next to yours. You’re all I think about, Rosalie.” He stood and opened the front door. “I don’t know what’s right anymore. But please do me a favor and go to your room and lock your door. Your skin is so damn soft, just touching your leg gave me a hard on. I don’t want to do anything I might regret.”

He stepped outside and I stood to follow him, then stopped myself. I didn’t want to be a regret of his.

I went to my bedroom and, like he asked, I locked my door. After getting ready for bed, I lay in the dark and stared up at the ceiling as I listened to the house.

The shutter outside my window creaked as the wind blew. A car drove past. Shane’s footsteps echoed in the hall as he went to his room. I lost track of time, but none of it mattered because all I could think about was his naked body lying against me. I covered my face with a pillow as I tried to suffocate myself to sleep.

Tap tap tap.

What was that? I pushed the pillow aside and waited, but didn’t hear anything. Probably a squirrel in the attic.

Tap tap tap.

I knew what the sound was that time. I got up and stood in front of the closed bathroom door.

“Shane?” I whispered.

Tap tap tap.

I opened the door. Shane was shirtless but still in his jeans. He grabbed my face with his hands and pressed his lips against mine. I threw my arms around his neck and as he picked me up, I wrapped my legs around his waist.

As he lay me on the bed, he pushed his jeans off and they dropped to the floor. His body looked even more cut in the moonlight. Pulling the blanket back, I slid over and he got into bed with me.

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