Page 86 of False Start

“I’m only telling the truth. You’re not great at everything, Texas.”

“Only most things.”

Her palm fell away from my face and down my abs. She stalled at the waistband of my boxers. “This changes nothing.”

Her thumb grazed the trail of hair leading away from my belly button, my rigid cock pressing against her thighs.

“Meaning we’re still not friends?”

“Meaning, if you want to have sex, it’ll be just like the kiss.”

“Average? I don’t have average sex.”

“It won’t mean anything. I’m not your girlfriend.” The statement should have been a relief. And that exact phrase had eased my mind on more than one occasion. But somehow, the words didn’t hit the same way this time. They didn’t bring that same amount of relief. Or any relief, really.

“Right. Not my friend. Not my girlfriend. A temporary fuck buddy during a rally?”

“A one-time fling. A mistake.”

“One we’re both making sober.” Despite the numerous offers of drinks and shots by the expo attendees, I’d held onto a half-empty beer the entire night. But the sobering reminder of the table full of margaritas gave me pause.

“Yep.” She nodded. “I had one margarita. Hayden drank the rest. But just so you know, this never would have happened if we hadn’t shared a hotel room.”

In a thousand years, I wouldn’t have guessed we’d end up in bed together. Or more accurately, that I would have wanted to end up in bed with Kit this badly.

“You’re probably right.”

“This is a one-time deal,” she added firmly.

Her certainty gnawed at my ego. “Let’s just save discussion for afterward. When you find out what a mind-blowing lover I am.”

“Ew.” She squirmed against me.

The negative reaction didn’t tamp by arousal.

“Ew?”

“Lover? What are you? A 1970s porn star?” She nuzzled closer, her body warm. I draped an arm over her shoulders, rubbing the middle of her back even as she teased me.

“I’m a romantic,” I lied. I’d been called a lot of things by the women I’ve slept with. Romantic didn’t make the top ten.

“Hardly. You’re horny, and I’m the only person around.” She paused. “Only person who’s not married or in a committed relationship. Unless that doesn’t normally stop you.”

I squeezed her. “Only when there aren’t better, if not slightly hostile, options.”

“I’m not being hostile,” she murmured, the tension in her back easing as I swiped my thumb down her spine. “Not as much as usual, anyway. And you’re still hard, so clearly you’re notnotinto it.”

“As you said, I’m incredibly horny, and my standards aren’t the highest right now. So, if you’re going to be mean to me while we fuck, maybe try not to make me cry.”

“I’ve never made you cry.”

“Not in front of you, anyway.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

KIT

Trent’s fingertipsslipped under the hem of my shirt, his knuckles slipping down my spine.

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