Page 20 of Nash

“Oh,” she laughs. “I already forgot you asked that.”

“But not what you were laughing at.”

A flush dusts her cheeks and she shakes her head. “I can’t,” she says.

“Oh, yousocan,” I say, immediately intrigued. “What was it?”

“Nothing you want to hear about, I assure you.”

“You’re assuming things,” I say. “That’s not fair. How do you know I won’t be interested if you don’t tell me and let me decide for myself?”

She raises her brows, surprise flitting over her features. “Okay then,” she says. “You asked for it,” she murmurs under her breath. “We were discussing…certain nighttime activities and the topic came up of how many times any of us have…arrivedon any given occasion.”

I stand up a little straighter. “I’m definitely interested.”

She shakes her head. “Not the part we were laughing at.”

“Oh, please continue.”

“Anyway, they were teasing me. And it was funny, so I laughed.”

“What were they teasing you about?”

Her blush deepens, and my heart kicks up a notch. Whatever she’s thinking about I desperately want to know.

“Um…” She laughs nervously. “They’ve both had times where they’ve had multiplearrivalsin one night.”

“So,” I say, shrugging. “What were they teasing you about?”

Her gaze widens, and she looks toward the party like we might be overheard, but the glass doors are closed so there’s no way. Besides, no one is paying any attention to us.

“I haven’t,” she answers. “And they weren’t being mean about it. They were suggesting ways I could have multiple…arrivalsin one night. With the right person, and they were getting ridiculously descriptive so we were all laughing?—”

“Hold on,” I say, blinking a few times like that might make me understand better.

“Whew!” A rookie comes out onto the balcony, cutting me off. “I needed the fresh air,” he continues. “And this view is awesome.”

“It is,” I say, then grab Reese’s hand and lead her through the party, finding one of the empty rooms in Clay’s suite. I shut the door behind us. “You’re saying you’ve never been with a partner that didn’t get you off at least twice before he took his turn?” I ask.

She clears her throat, shifting nervously on her feet. “No,” she says. “But it’s fine. I’ve had good sex. It’s not like they were bad?—”

“No,” I cut her off. “If you only get off once, it’s not as good as it could be.” I shake my head, my mind catching up with the rest of her statement. “Andwhowere the girls suggesting help you with this problem?” Irrational jealousy crops up inside me that I can’t deny or explain. The idea of someone else’s hands on her body has my hackles rising when they have no right to. We’ve only kissed, and this relationship isfakefor fuck’s sake.

“You, of course,” she says with an incredulous look. “The popular, bad-boy expert in all things sex,” she laughs.

The breath punches from my lungs.

“Oh,” I say, relief and excitement barreling through me.

“Which I reminded them would be breaking ground rules,” she continues. “Not to mention that you have no interest in me like that whatsoever?—”

“You’re assuming again,” I cut her off, stepping closer to her. “I told you in the beginning, there’s a fine line between hateand passion, and after getting to know you better these last few weeks, Iknowyou don’t hate me. There’s still a whole lot here you can’t deny.” I motion between the two of us.

Her lips open and shut a few times. “Okay,” she says. “Maybe I’ll admit there’s chemistry here. But you’re Nash Stokehill,” she continues. “Infamous bachelor. I can’t compete with everyone vying for your attention.”

“As of a few weeks ago, I’m your boyfriend,” I say. “No one else has my attention.”

“It’s really fine,” she says. “So, my sex life has been a little blah. It’s all good. I can do it better myself.”

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