Page 36 of Hate to Love You

Those are just a few off the top of my head.

“Why would it be weird?”

“Because…” Natalie shoves another fry in her mouth, and I suspect she did that to buy herself some time to come up with an answer to my question.

My eyes fall to her lips. They’re a perfect Cupid’s bow. The urge to close the distance and slant my mouth over hers pounds through me. I’ve been thinking about those lips since Saturday night. The unexpected softness of them took me by surprise. Because we’d been in front of a crowd of people, I hadn’t been able to explore them the way I’d wanted. It makes me wonder if I’ll ever get another chance.

Getting a boner while sitting across from Natalie is not in the game plan right now, so I jerk my gaze back to hers. “Because?” I prompt. I can’t believe how turned on I am just watching her eat a French fry. That’s what this girl does to me. I can’t explain it because I don’t understand it. I’ve never experienced this kind of attraction before. In the three years that I’ve known her, it’s only grown stronger.

Looking uncomfortable, she shifts on the bench. “I know this is going to sound antiquated, but I’ve never had meaningless sex before. All the guys I slept with, we were involved in relationships.”

“We’re involved,” I remind her. “You can ask anyone, and they’ll tell you we’re going out.”

That response gets me a fry pelted at my chest. I grin, relieved that the mood has been lightened.

“We’re not really going out, Brody.” She huffs out a breath. “I have no idea what this is between us.”

We both fall into a comfortable silence before she clears her throat and flicks her eyes to mine. “Just out of curiosity, how many girls have you slept with?”

“You really want to know that?”

“You know a lot about my sex life. Seems only fair that you should share some details with me.” A gleam enters her dark eyes. “What’s the matter, don’t you know?”

I do a rough mental calculation. I started having sex when I was sixteen. It’s been seven years. Which means…

Fine, she’s caught me. I haven’t the slightest clue. It’s not like I’ve been keeping track on my phone. Christ, is there an app for that? I’ll have to check with Cooper. If anyone would know, it would be him.

“I’m not sure,” I hedge, turning the question around on her. “How many guys have you slept with?”

“Three.” She raises her brows. “Now you. Ballpark it if you have to.”

Well, shit…My number is much higher than that. Even if you squared her number and maybe squared it again…It would still be higher.

“I don’t know.” I suck in a breath and admit carefully, “Maybe a hundred or so.” There’s no question about it…It’s definitely the or so. All I can say is that juniors was a crazy time.

“You’ve slept with a hundred women!” she whisper-yells while giving me a disbelieving look. “Are you serious?”

The sound of her incredulous voice leaves me flinching. “Keep it down.” I crane my neck to see if anyone’s staring. Thankfully, no one is paying us the least bit of attention. “It’s just a guess. You said to ballpark it.”

“So, it’s probably more than that,” she points out.

Very possibly.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be that high.” She arches a brow. “You sure like to get around, don’t you?”

I spear my fork in her direction. “Are you slut-shaming me, Davies? Is that what’s going on here?”

“Maybe.” She snickers and shakes her head. “How do you sleep with that many people and not know? Or care?”

I shrug. “You are aware that people have sex because it feels good, right? Not necessarily because they’re involved in a relationship?”

“Of course, I am.” She shifts on her seat as if uncomfortable by the concept.

I lean in, closing the distance between us. “You know, sex is a great stress reliever. Maybe you should try it sometime.”

A blush blooms across her cheeks. “I do other things to relieve stress.” Damn, but she’s adorable.

“Such as?” I ask, unwilling to let the topic drop so easily.

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