Page 35 of Wildly Inappropriate

“It was an accident,” I admit, hoping to let the topic die there. Unfortunately, Lila has other plans.

“Oh, no. You’re not getting let off the hook that easily.” Her eyes are wide with delight, and she’s shifted in her chair. Her legs are tucked up under her, and she’s leaning toward me, her elbow on the arm of the chair, her chin resting on her hand. It’s making her flowy green shirt gape a bit, giving me an unimpeded view of her cleavage.

Damn. I shake my head, trying to clear the thoughts on her breasts in my hands, her nipples hardening as I run my thumbs over them.

“JT!” she says, snapping me out of my fantasy. “Tell me more about how you accidentally read an alien romance! How did the algorithm even serve that up to you?”

“Well”—I sigh, leaning back in my chair and staring into the fire—“I was at a tournament in New York a couple of months ago and had just finished the book I was reading. Unfortunately, it was only like seven o’clock, so it was too early to actually go to sleep, and this was the final book in the final series of an author I’d been reading. So I was facing the dreaded book chasm and had no idea what I was going to read next. Well, my Kindle popped up an advertisement, and I was like, hey, Amazon knows what I like better than I do at this point, I trust it. So I just bought it and started reading. No questions asked.”

Lila giggles next to me, clearly anticipating what is coming next, but tries to hide her smile behind her beer bottle.

“I started getting suspicious about twenty pages in, but at that point, I was in, so I decided to see where it went. And now, fuck, I’m not sure I can ever unsee it. There were multiple penises. Peni?”

Lila full-on snorts this time, she’s laughing so hard, but she manages to choke out, “I’m pretty sure it’s penises.”

I narrow my eyes at her, but that just makes her laugh harder.

“Anyway, multiple blue and green penises that changed color depending on how, uhm, aroused the alien was.”

There is a good chance Lila is going to either suffocate or fall out of her chair, she’s laughing so hard. Tears are streaming down her face, creating little trails from her makeup.

“Did you…finish…it?” she asks between gasps for air.

I want to be annoyed that she’s finding this so funny, but I can’t muster any indignation when she’s clearly enjoying it. “I did. And the love story was excellent, thank you very much.”

She’s leaning back, feet on the ground, taking deep breaths, trying to get herself under control. I watch her chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm, my eyes locked on the curves of her body.

“That’s amazing,” she says once she can breathe again. “What’s it called? I want to read it now. You’ve inspired me.”

“I’m not sure. I’ll have to get my Kin—”

I’m cut off by a loud crash of thunder and a sudden cold splash on my shoulder. I look up, surprised to see the storm has gotten so close so quickly.

“Rain!” Lila yells, her voice a mix of glee and warning.

Lila grabs the bottles sitting out on the lip of the firepit while I find the dial to turn the darn thing off. It takes me a minute to get it fully turned off, and by the time I make it inside, the sky has opened up, and I’m drenched.

“Oh, shit!” Lila exclaims. “That’s a storm.”

Jack, who is honestly such an easy dog that I forget about him most of the time, is out of Bryn and Jameson’s room, howling along with the wind raging outside the window.

“Shhh,” Lila says, going over to comfort him.

I shiver, the cold, air-conditioned house chilling the rain on my skin in a thoroughly unpleasant way. “I think I’m going to go grab a quick shower to warm up,” I say.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to shower when there is lightning.”

“Is that true? I thought that was just an old wives' tale.”

She shrugs. “No idea. Are you willing to risk it?” As if Zeus is on her side, a huge bolt of lightning streaks across the entire expanse of the sky.

“Great point. I can figure out another way to warm up.”

She cocks an eyebrow at me.

“I didn’t mean that!” I say, feeling my eyes go round in my head. “I’m just going to go change into some dry clothes. And get under my covers. Alone. Yup. Just me.”

She laughs, turning back to Jack, who has started up his conversation with the wind again.

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