Page 19 of Make Me Stay

The hot clasp of her body finally registered.

No fucking condom.

I pulled out and came against her belly.“Fuck.” I collapsed against her and gasped against her neck. “Fuck.”

She gripped my back, both of us panting. Then she punched my arm. “Get out of here before he comes back. I can’t believe you did that.”

I wasn’t sure if it was the condom free nut or the fact that I dragged her into the bathroom. I didn’t stick around to find out, grabbing my towel as I slipped out and into my room, thankful that I’d closed my door before I went to take a shower.

She was right.

That was too fucking close.

I sagged against the door and looked at my twisted sheets. Sheets she should have been in, goddammit.

A fist hit my door. “Ten minutes, Kai.”

“Got it,” I called back to Wyatt.

Quickly, I got dressed, spraying on some high-octane SPF against the heat of the day. We’d finished the Burnette house and had done such a good job her neighbor had hired us to redo their patio. Hot, back-breaking work, but it did keep my mind off Lexi for a few hours each day.

I met Wyatt in the driveway, as he was loading his gear into the flatbed. Wyatt’s specialty was outdoor work. He wanted to start his own landscaping company, which was why he was working so much for my brother. He was saving up capital to buy more gear and get a business loan for the rest.

I helped him with the other tools, both of us using bungee cords to make sure everything stayed put.

“Did you finally talk to Nicole?”

Wyatt paused before throwing two large pails into the truck. “No.”

“Is that why you’re being such a bastard?”

Wyatt fisted his hands. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

I held my hands up in surrender. “Fine. Want to get a beer at Gaffney’s tonight?”

He popped his knuckles. “Yeah, maybe.”

“Good.”

The easy short speak we’d had as teens rolled into our work life. Wyatt wasn’t much for conversation, he preferred having music or the game on instead of small talk. Maybe that was why he was worried about Nicole. She wasn’t exactly the quiet and unassuming kind of girl.

After the grueling day under the hot sun, we hit Gaffney’s for a cold brew and a burger.

A message popped up on my phone and I quickly picked it up, reading Lexi’s meeting text.

She put a pin in the map and shared her location.

“Already got a girl on the hook?”

I glanced up. “What?”

He nodded at my phone. “You have that look in your eye. We can get the check and jet.”

“No big deal. I’m not in any hurry.” I flicked the message away and saw the time. I had enough time to get home and shower off the silt and dust from the pavers we’d set that afternoon.

“Sure. Don’t worry about it. Thanks for the beer. The house is too fucking quiet after work.”

I grabbed the check when the waiter dropped it on his way by. “Text, Nicole. You’re acting like a bitch. How long did you talk to her before you traded numbers?”

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