Page 2 of Impending Consent

That’s a beautifully sculpted work of art, buddy.

“Sail…”

“Hmm…” I hummed, taking in the view a few seconds longer before my eyes moved up the trail of beautiful dark skin to find those intense eyes locked on me.

“Dinner, later, we need to talk.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s a no, I’m busy…” Lie. I wasn’t busy but might as well go ahead and douse these expectations now. The sex was amazing. He was done building the accent wall behind my bed and the one that took up one side of my living room. No point in allowing him to believe this was a thing.

“Change your plans or move some things around. We need to talk through what’s next.”

Wow, okay. No circling back to this one and that’s a shame because it was seriously top tier.

I threw the covers off my naked body and eased to the side of my bed, feeling the delicious reminders of how top tier he truly was. When I lifted to my full height and moved in front of Rival, angling my head back to reach his eyes, I arched one brow in question before repeating the end of his statement. “What’s next?”

“Yes, what’s next.”

My eyes lowered below his waist and he groaned with what I assumed was annoyance and eased away from me. He lifted a pair of gray briefs and stepped into them, followed by relaxed fit jeans which he didn’t bother fastening.

“I need to get home so I can shower and change. I have two consultations and a job I’m starting today. I’ll be done by six, seven at the latest. You can meet me at my home and I’ll cook. This is probably a conversation better had in privacy.”

“In privacy.” My eyes ballooned.Oh shit.“Do you have something? Do I now have something…”

He yanked a T-shirt over his head and adjusted the worn cotton around his torso. “If by something you mean an STD, then no, I’m clean and I would assume you are too.”

When he crossed the room and lifted his shoes, I followed, not caring at all that he was fully clothed and I was still very much naked.

“Of course I am. I get tested regularly and I never have sex without protection.”

“Good to know.” He smirked and proceeded to sit in the corner chair, working his feet into socks and a pair of shoes.

“Then why do we need to talk in private?”

“Because going over the details of our marriage in a public setting might not go over so well. You insisted multiple times that you were fine and knew exactly what you were doing but clearly you were drunk. Regardless, I’m not changing my mind.”

Marriage? Drunk?

He extended to his full height, placing him at least a foot taller, stepped to me, and gently wrapped a hand around the side of my neck. My body betrayed me and settled in a comfortable manner like this was a regular thing. Our thing. A round of annoyance spiked from my core. I attempted to back away but he managed to drop a kiss to my forehead before I could escape.

“Marriage? Maybe you’re the one that’s drunk because we’re not married.”

I jerked my left hand from my side and lifted it into view, wiggling my very bare fingers.

“No ring, buddy.”

He nodded nonchalantly. “I’ll remedy that later. Right now, I have to go or I’ll be late. Dinner, my place. Or should I say our place. It’s all in the prenuptial. You should probably read over that at some point before we meet later.”

I followed him out of my bedroom through the living room where he collected a cellphone and keys from the console table that lined the back of my sofa. My heart began to race.Was he serious? He couldn’t be serious.“What are you talking about?”

He exhaled a sigh as if annoyed.What the fuck is his deal?I watched him move to the kitchen and lift a stack of papers from the counter which he brought to me. “Read these and check your email. I have to go or I’ll be late.”

I yanked the documents from his hand and began scanning what appeared to be a prenuptial agreement. A very legitimate one.

“We’ll talk tonight,” he murmured as my door opened.Is he leaving?I rushed behind him but Rival stopped and turned ahard glare in my direction. His eyes swept my body from head to toe.

“You’re naked.”

“I’m aware.”

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