Page 74 of Mine to Take

And just how I’m going to untangle myself from it.

A little pang of sadness fills me at the idea of never seeing Maverick again or feeling the way his strong hands stroke over me, leaving a trail of delicious sensation in their wake.

“You’ve left me with no choice. I’m pulling out my phone and calling?—”

“Fine… I’ll spill.” I scoot my chair closer to the table and tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear before dropping my voice. “I, um, hooked up with someone. Twice.”

Her jaw drops and her eyes widen until they look like they’re on the verge of falling out of her head and rolling around on the table that sits between us. “Shut up. You’re lying.”

Heat blooms in my cheeks. I wish I could be more blasé about the encounter, but that’s just not me.

And Elle gets that.

She was a virgin before getting together with her boyfriend, who also happens to be her older brother’s best friend.

“Like I’d lie about something like that.”

She presses against the edge of the table, attempting to bridge some of the distance between us. “Now I really need all the details.”

With a jerk of my shoulders, I glance around, hoping that no one is eavesdropping. “It was just a guy I met at a bar.”

“Umm…excuse me? Since when do you hang out at bars?”

“I was out celebrating with River after a game.”

It’s almost comical the way her brows skyrocket into her hairline. “And River let you go home with some dude? Color me stunned. Seriously.”

“He doesn’t know.”

“Well, that makes way more sense. Doesn’t he normally run off any guy who tries to shoot his shot with you?”

“Yup,” I say with a sigh before waving a hand. “It’s one of the reasons I’m here at Western.”

She takes a sip of her bottled water. “Then I should thank him. Otherwise, we would’ve never met.”

Some of the tension filling me drains away. “I suppose not. Although, it’s doubtful he’d appreciate it.”

“So, when are you going to see this mystery man again? Were numbers exchanged?”

“I just saw him yesterday.” Even thinking about the way he laid his hands on me is enough to have sparks of arousal detonating in the pit of my belly.

“Any chance this will turn into something more than casual?”

I shake my head.

Sadness chases away any of the desire that had bloomed to life inside me. “I don’t think so.” The next words tumble from my mouth before I can stop them. “River would definitely have a problem with him.”

“Let’s be real here, River would have a problem with anyone you dated. That’s just facts.”

The girl isn’t wrong.

“You know that I went through something similar with Brayden? He lost his shit when he found out that Carson and I were sneaking around behind his back. It caused a lot of problems in our relationship. And theirs.”

When she ends her story at that point, I say, “You realize that what you’re saying doesn’t make any of this better, right?”

The edges of her lips quirk. “What has helped is time. He needed to wrap his brain around the fact that I was a grown woman who was more than capable of making her own decisions. And mistakes. River needs to do the same.”

“You’re right. It’s just not an easy conversation to have. He’s my twin and super protective.”

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