Page 69 of Dirty Pucker

Those big blue eyes gaze at me, sparkling and soft all at once.

That protectiveness that I’ve felt all night for Ingrid—that I’ve felt pretty much ever since I met her—surges through me.

“Because I like you, Ingrid. A lot. And no one gets away with saying that kind of shit about you.”

Her mouth parts open like she’s shocked to hear my answer. Her chest rises with the breath she takes and her cheeks flush rosy red.

“I’m not used to this.”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

“No guy has ever defended me like you did.” She shakes her head. “Not like this sort of thing happens to me often.” She blinks and I notice a sheen of pain in her beautiful blue eyes. “My ex would never have done what you did.”

She presses her eyes shut and shakes her head, like she regrets what she said. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know why I brought him up. My head is all over the place right now.”

That protectiveness inside of me flares up. I suddenly want to know more about this guy who was lucky enough to date Ingrid but blew it.

“What did your ex do to you?”

Ingrid blinks at me. “Nothing like what Owen did. He just…didn’t really think much of my work in social media. He made fun of me for it a lot. At first, I just thought he was just teasing me good-naturedly, but then it became a running joke for him. His friends would make fun of me too, for being an influencer.”

Anger crackles in my gut. What kind of an asshole makes fun of his girlfriend and encourages his friends to do it too?

“They were all lawyers and accountants,” she says. “They didn’t have a lot of respect for nontraditional jobs like mine. And whenever they’d make fun of me in front of my ex, he just laughed along with them. It really hurt my feelings.”

“What a piece of shit,” I mutter.

“I realize that now. Looking back, I should have broken things off the first time he did it. Even when I told him how much it bothered me when he made fun of my work, he didn’t care. He still did it.”

Her gaze falls to our joined hands. After a second, she looks up at me. “I don’t mean like…I didn’t expect him to beat the crap out of his friends for making fun of me.”

“I would have. Fuck those assholes.”

A soft smile tugs at her lips. Her expression turns sad again a moment later. “I just wanted him to care enough about me to stand up for me.”

“If I ever see your ex, I’m shoving him into the nearest wall.”

She lets out a chuckle that sounds so light and happy.

I hold her gaze. “I care about you, Ingrid. A lot. I’ll never just stand there while some dipshit insults you. Ever.”

There’s a flash of something raw and intense in her eyes.

A moment later, she rests her hands on my chest. Then she leans up and kisses me.

I moan against her lips, savoring how sweet her lush mouth feels against mine.

“Hey, guys.”

We both jolt back, breaking our kiss. There’s Blomdahl standing a few feet from us.

He chuckles and gestures to our room door. “I, uh, was gonna go inside, but if you two are planning to…um…”

Ingrid touches a hand to her lips and smiles. She turns to me. “Wanna go to my room?”

I grab her hand. “Yeah.” I look at Blomdahl. “Room’s all yours, man.”

He pumps a fist. Ingrid and I laugh as we walk down the rest of the hallway to her room. She unlocks the door and I follow her inside.

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