Page 56 of Offside Attraction

Rhonda nodded, staring at the empty driveway. The house wasn’t much to look at. It was an older bungalow, likely built in the mid-twentieth century, with weathered red-brick cladding on the lower half, transitioning into painted cream wood siding above. With the snow collecting on its roof, it almost looked charming.

As soon as he put the truck in park, Rhonda grabbed her bag and opened the door. “Thank you,” she whispered, then closed it behind her and walked up the driveway. She didn’t register that Jordan had turned the engine off until she was putting her key into the lock.

Rhonda heard his footsteps and turned. “What are you doing?”

Jordan paused. “I thought I’d get my coat.”

She clamped her mouth shut. Right. With her key still in the lock, she shrugged it off her shoulders. Jordan walked forward and stopped in front of her on the snow covered walkway, and as Rhonda pulled her hands through the sleeves, something inside of her snapped. The pressure in her chest, the ache in her gut—she knew the solution for this. It wasn’t more talking.

She shivered, and instead of handing him the coat, she turned her key in the lock and pushed the door open to her dark entryway.

“Rhonda—”

She stepped inside and flicked on a light, leaving the door wide open behind her.

Chapter

Seventeen

Jordan

Light pouredfrom the house onto the snow, outlining Rhonda’s footprints in glitter. That look. Her doe-eyes. Her slightly parted lips. He didn’t even realize he’d been craving it until she turned back with his coat hanging off her shoulders.

But this time, if he walked through that door, he would be doing it with eyes wide open. He’d figured out her patterns by now. Rhonda didn’t run from his apartment because something had gone wrong. She ran because she’d let her guard down.

No names.He understood, now. Everytime she got skittish, it wasn’t because he’d missed the vein, it was because he’d pierced it, and she was terrified she was going to bleed out.

But his jeans had been stretched tight since the second she sat on his lap in her car. And she was inviting him in. He could just get his coat.

Jordan stepped toward the door. He could tell her he wasn’t going to play this game, and?—

Rhonda was topless. Wearing his coat.

Jordan gripped the doorframe, unable to tear his eyes away from her standing a few feet in front of him. Her shirt was draped over the couch. Her shoes were off. And the top button of her pants was undone.

Anything he thought he knew five seconds ago disappeared the second he saw her breasts.They’d done this before and it was fine, wasn’t it?

He ran a hand over his face. No. That was then. This was now. He’d skipped a game to go looking for her. He’d sent flirty, annoying texts all weekend hoping to get her attention, and she hadn’t given it. Which only made him try harder. It was embarrassing as hell.

Jordan stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He didn’t try to talk. He knew the rules—understood what this was. Rhonda had been vulnerable tonight. Sex wasn’t connection for her, it was control. This was her sitting on his lap and rubbing against him. She wanted to see what she could do. What she couldmake himdo.

Right then with her bare skin against the inside of his coat, it was anything.

_____

Jordan turned over, dropping his arm across Rhonda’s bare back. It was dark outside her bedroom window. Quiet. He wasn’t sure when the wind had stopped howling, but the worst of the storm seemed to be over.

She was asleep, her lips parted, and her dark curls splayed out on the pillow. She inhaled and blew out a breath. Jordan swallowed hard and slowly pulled the comforter out from under her. She groaned and curled into a ball, and he covered her with the blankets.

He climbed out of bed and pulled on his clothes, knowing that when he walked back out to his truck, he wouldn’t be able to keep his insides from oozing out. He’d done it again. Fallen for someone who only needed him to solve her problems. He was a grown ass man, and he was sneaking out of Rhonda’s room like a high schooler who didn't want to get caught by her parents.

Because he couldn’t bear the thought of having the inevitable moment of Rhonda waking up and wishing she could hurry out like last time, then realizing she was in her own house. He’d make it easy. He always did.

Jordan grabbed his phone and coat, then walked out of the room. He used the bathroom in the hall, then pulled on his boots and stepped out into the snow. Flakes were falling gently now, and windswept dunes covered the yard and driveway.

It was the silence, the peace of early morning, that made him stop next to his truck. He drew in a lungful of biting November air, then swiped open his messages. He found the group with Rhonda and her friends and exited the chat.

_____

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