Page 12 of Ruck Me

We’dfind a way to be okay, too.

The door banged closed and when I turned to remove my coat, he was leaning against it, a smirk on his face. His eyes scanned me from head to toe and his grin widened. “It’s a good thing you decided not to sleep with me after all. I don’t think you’d have the stamina.”

And just like that, all the tension was gone. We were back to being Aoife and Eoin, friends who’d been taking the piss out of each other for as long as I could remember.

My lips turning up at the corners, I tossed a scathing look his way. “You’re just sorry you’ll neverknow.”

“Damn straight,” he agreed, pushing off the door and sailingpast.

As he did, I caught a whiff of his scent floating on the breeze. It wasn’t anything special, just coco butter, but it lodged in my brain. I was pretty sure that from now on, whenever I smelled it, my mouth was going to water.

Hello Pavlov, meet your lust filleddog.

“Can I get you anything?” he tossed over his shoulder as he leaned into the fridge and pulled out a bottle ofbeer.

“Just water, thanks,” I answered, mindful of how I could get when I was drunk around pretty people.

And Eoin was as pretty as theycame.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t handle my booze, per se, but I became very affectionate when I was buzzed. A couple of months ago I’d kissed my friend Claire after a night fueled by gin. I’d never kissed a girl before and while I didn’t regret it, I also didn’t want to get in the habit of kissing people I shouldn’t. And since Eoin was at the very top of that list, staying away from alcohol when I was near him was a pretty solid plan. If I could kiss a friend I wasn’t sexually attracted to, I didn’t want to know what would happen when I was alone and drunk with one who Iwas.

“Your loss,” he said, filling a glass and handing it to me before settling atop a stool and taking a deep pull from his drink. Setting it down on the counter, he eyed me speculatively while I fidgeted under the weight of his stare.

Had I thought the tension between us was gone? That must have been a fluke because it was suddenly back in full force. Must be all that thinking about things you shouldn’t do with friends you shouldn’t be attracted to, I thought, eyeing the apartment for somewhere to sit that wasn’t quite so close to his half-nakedbody.

As if sensing my unease, Eoin chuckled. “Relax, I don’t bite.” He took another drink. “Unless you want meto.”

I rolled my eyes and then, taking a sip of water to moisten my dry mouth, perched on the edge of a chair. “So, what now?” I asked, wanting to get the ball rolling. We’d spent so much time trying to coordinate this … meeting … that I wasn’t sure we’d ever stopped to consider what would actually happen once we were alone together.

“What do youmean?”

I set my glass on a small table next to the chair. “Well, we never really talked about how this was going towork.”

“Not your best plan then?” he asked with a gleam in hiseye.

“Fuck you,” I shot back with a smirk. “I have awesome plans.”

“You really don’t.”

“Hey!” I picked up a small, oblong pillow and tossed it at his head but missed.

“Easy there, killer. All I’m saying is I think you don’t actually plan things. You’re more of a go-with-the-flow type of girl. You come up with an idea and you run with it. I’m not saying that’s bad. It’s just how youare.”

“Well, it sounds bad when you put it likethat.”

“Oh come on, you’ve always been that way. Shit, I wish I could be that way sometimes.”

When I cast him a skeptical look, he said, “No, I mean it. I eat the same food every day at the same time so I don’t upset the system.” He waved his hand in front of his chiseled abs, drawing my eye to an area I’d been trying to avoid staring at. “A few beers here and there is really all I ever deviate from the plan.” He held up the bottle he was drinking from and studied the label. Taking one final gulp, he set it on the counter behind him and turned back to me. “I only get one day to myself and I spend it getting caught up on all the things I didn’t get to during the week. So when you think about it, even my free day is planned out too.” His smile dimmed and his eyes turned thoughtful. “I admire your spontaneity is all I’m saying.”

And that’s when I had a strange realization. While I’d been trying to plan something out for once in my life, Eoin had likely viewed stopping that plan as an opportunity to do something wild and crazy. He could temper my impulsive streak, while I could push him out of his comfort zone. No doubt, I could probably use a bit of reigning in, but the weight of responsibility of breaking Eoin out of his shell didn’t sit well. I didn’t want to push him to do things he wasn’t comfortable with. I didn’t want to be the person who messed up his carefully ordered life when things were going sowell.

“Deal’s off,” I announced, walking toward thedoor.

He jumped off his stool and followed close behind. “What are you talking about?”

“We’re not doing this. It’s a bad idea,” I answered as he continued stalking towardme.

When I had nowhere else to go, he quit his advance, our bodies inches apart. Boxing me in with one hand on the door near my head and the other on the counter, Eoin leaned in close. “You are not giving up your virginity to Kevin. You promised.”

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