Page 112 of Manny

“You think Lace is upset because I’ve needed time to process things?”

I fold my arms over my chest. “If there’s no feelings and this is ‘just having fun,’ then what’s to process?”

“I didn’t mean it like that. Will you give me a fuckin’ break?”

“If you don’t have me to bust your balls, I think you’d be sorely disappointed, and you’d get away with hiding out for the rest of your life.”

“You’re cute when you’re angry.”

His words make my breath hitch. “Don’t change the subject, and I could say the same about you, but then I’d be confusing sex with actual feelings, right?”

“You just gotta keep pushin’ me, don’t you?”

I stand my ground. “I fight for the things I believe in. I don’t let anyone I care about feel as if they don’t know where they stand with me. It’s how I am. I can’t help it.”

He’s so fucking close.

He grips my chin, and I flinch for a second. “I would never hurt you.”

“Not physically, Jonah, I believe that, but emotionally? Emotionally, you have the ability to destroy me. I can’t speak for Lace, but?—”

“Why would I have the ability to destroy you?” His words are low, his lips close to mine.

“Because I’ve found something that feels pretty close to fucking perfect and I don’t want to lose it.”

He stares at me, those green eyes like sparkling emeralds. “Who says you’re gonna lose it?”

“You did. I know this is scary?—”

“I thought it was,” he says. “But I’ve realized that you’re right; if I can’t be myself now, then when will I ever be? If I can’t allow my own thoughts and feelings to manifest, then what use am I to anyone?”

“Are you saying you’re useless?”

“Very funny.”

His lips part momentarily, then he moves slowly and presses them to mine. It’s soft, not demanding like all the other times when he’s shoved his tongue into my mouth. This feels intimate. I run a hand up his muscled torso, causing him to groan, and when my ass hits the back of the countertop, I put the brakes on. “Anyone could walk in.” We kiss again.

“You said nobody was here.”

His hard dick presses against mine, and I see stars. I want him so much. “They’re not, but that doesn’t mean?—”

“Relax, not gonna fuck you here, though I’ll bet you’ve thought about it.”

“I admit, I was jealous when I heard that you’d fucked Lace over Jas’s desk.”

“She told you about that, huh?”

I roll my eyes. “Of course she did. She tells me everything.”

His mouth moves down to my pulse point. He nips my neck, cursing quietly as we rub against one another. “You smell so good.”

“I smell like beef bourguignon.”

“Exactly.” He presses his forehead against mine, slowing everything down. I know if we keep going like this, shit’s gonna go down. I don’t want our first time to be rushed, nor do I want someone walking in on us. That might be a little hard to explain to Cash. “What the fuck are we gonna do?”

“Take one day at a time, but don’t run away,” I say.

“This would be so much easier if feelin’s weren’t involved.”

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