Page 8 of Fumbling for Perfection

“No offense, but it wouldn’t have mattered. I saw Riley on the dance floor with you and a swarm of dickless douchebags and nothing could take my eyes off her.”

“Well, shit. Now I’m going to be fantasizing about the two of you while I go home with one of the dickless douchebags.” Kendall gives my hand a squeeze and saunters back onto the dance floor.

“Opposites attract, I take it?” Walker’s front is to my back and his hand rests on my hip.

“She’s mostly all talk.” It’s her defense mechanism so she doesn’t get hurt again. Her bitch mode scares off most men, and the ones who are brave enough to pursue her usually get eaten alive. Control, that’s what she needs after the pain she endured for so long.

“Do you want to leave this place? With me?” he adds.

I nod, and he trails his fingers down my arm until our hands are locked and guides me toward the door.

“Do you have a coat?”

“It was a quick walk from our hotel so we didn’t think we’d need them.” Which was pretty stupid. April in Rhode Island is still cold. But Kendall didn’t want to ruin the look of our slutty dresses, and we were already warm from the Tito’s we drank in our room.

Walker shrugs out of his leather jacket and holds it out for me. “Put this on.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Riley.”

He covers my shoulders with his coat and the warmth of his body heat still permeates it. I slip my arms in the sleeves and stand still as he zips me up. We’re toe-to-toe and when the zipper reaches my chin, he tips my face up with his thumb.

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Okay.” I lift my face to his and open my mouth.

His eyes are filled with lust, and I anticipate him pushing me up against the wall and attacking my mouth with his. I want him to. Desperately. But Walker surprises me by placing a gentle kiss on my lips. He lingers for a few moments, breathing me in, before he pulls away.

Our eyes lock, our breath mingles in the cold air, and my heart hammers in my chest. How the hell did the most tame, sweet, gentle kiss make me want to rip his clothes off and have his babies?

Because right now, I’ll do anything he asks. Even if it tears me in two.

CHAPTER TWO

WALKER

The fuck? I’m not a gentle lover and sure as fuck am not a gentle kisser. But the soft kiss I just experienced with Riley has me wanting to drop everything and worship at her feet for the rest of my life.

Fuck. Me. Now.

When the hell did I get so dramatic? It was my dick talking that got us this far, but it’s not my dick that wants to pledge its allegiance to her. It’s my fucking heart. And here I thought I didn’t have one.

I don’t. It’s gotta be my dick. It hasn’t seen or felt the soft, wet heat of a pussy in so fucking long it’s mixing lust with forever. That kiss we barely shared wasn’t a lust kiss. It was a kiss an old married couple would share, but it fueled my lust for her on a level I’ve never experienced before.

Even if that’s all she offers me tonight, I’ll go back to my room with a smile on my face. Blue balls, too, but it would be worth it. There’s something about Riley with the old-fashioned first name that has me forgetting about the painful hell this weekend is bound to be.

“Come on. Your sexy-ass naked legs are going to get frostbite.” I squeeze her hand and guide her down the block to my hotel.

I don’t maul her in the elevator, or even pin her against the door when I close it behind us in my hotel room like I want. Instead, I take my coat from her, hang it in the minuscule closet, and cross the room to the minibar.

“Would you like a drink?”

Riley folds her hands in front of her, seeming nervous as she takes in her surroundings. The Beatrice Hotel isn’t five-star, but it’s quite a few steps up from the Holiday Inn.

“It’s highway robbery what hotels charge for a little nip of vodka.”

It’s true, but I can afford it. I take out the over-priced nip and set it on the table. “Soda or seltzer to mix with it?” I crack open the small sample of vodka so she can’t argue with me to put it back.

---