Page 32 of Forever and Ever

I should have known she wouldn’t let the conversation go from earlier. But instead of seeming irritated about it, there’s something else in her narrowed gaze.

A challenge maybe?

“Jealous?” I take a step in because damn this woman is a magnet, and I couldn’t stop if I wanted to.

“It’s your life,” she says, her eyes dipping down and tracing over my bare chest. “And your body. You’re free to do what you want with it.”

I don’t like that answer one bit.

“You know what I’d rather do with it,” I say, getting really close to that line she likes to keep me on the other side of.

“Noah—”

“Why them and not me?” I know I shouldn’t. Maybe it’s the conversation with Rome at the club, or Merry being half-dressed in my kitchen at three in the morning, but I’m tired of dancing around the same shit we’ve spent months circling. “And don’t give me the ‘I work for the band’ bullshit, because I know you’re more than capable of detaching when it comes to sex.”

“You’re right, I am,” she says with a cold expression.

She’s close, so close.

Is it her who stepped in or me? Because I feel her body heat in the inches of space between us and she’s looking up at me.

“I’m perfectly capable of treating sex just like it is—physical,” she says. “But you’re not.”

She looks like she’s trying to catch her breath, or maybe I am.

“I do it all the time,” I remind her, not missing the flash of pain that crosses her face at my statement. She tries to look away, but I step closer and force her chin up with my hand, holding it between my thumb and finger. “Not that I want to.”

This close, her chest brushes mine, and I can feel her breath on my mouth.

“With groupies, sure.” Merry lets out a sigh. “But you can’t with me. And what youneedfrom me, Noah, what youwant, I can’t give you.”

“Who says I need more than sex?”

I don’t even believe those words myself, but I don’t take them back because damn it, I wish they were true. Maybe if I say them enough times, they will be.

“Just because you say that doesn’t mean it’s how youfeel,” Merry calls me out. “You want this? Only this?”

She tips her chin up further and faces off with me.

“Then fine, you can have it. I’m not going to lie and say that it wouldn’t feel good to let you fuck me. But it would just be sex. Can you honestly look me in the eyes and tell me you can handle that?”

Our lips are an inch apart, and her breath is as frantic as mine. I should be shouting'yes'and dragging her onto this couch to fuck some sense into her right now. I should be ripping her clothes from her beautiful body and burying my face between her tattooed thighs. I should be the rock star the world thinks I am and fuck her without looking back.

But I’m frozen.

My grip on her chin loosens.

“That’s what I thought,” Merry says, backing up. “Goodnight, Noah.”

And I can’t say a damn thing to stop her as she walks away. Because anything she wants to hear right now would be a lie.

10

Merry

Noahhasalreadyleftfor his meeting with the band when I wake up, and it’s probably for the best. I’m not sure why I tested him the way I did last night. The fresh Denver air must be getting to my head.

I told him he could fuck me, no strings attached if he wanted. And even if I knew he wouldn’t do it, what was I thinking? Because once the gauntlet was thrown, the stable ground I’m used to standing on shook, and I still can’t find my footing.

---