Page 33 of Here's to Now

“I think webondenough when we sleep together.”

I glance over at her. “That sounds like we’re screwing.”

I swear, hand to God, she mumbles, “I wish we were screwing.” I want so badly to call her out on it, but I don’t. I let it slide, because if she was to suggest something like friends with benefits, I wouldn’t turn her down.

Instead I ask her, “How’s the food?”

“Really good.”

Then we’re quiet…too quiet. So quiet that the usual mushy, wet noise pasta makes is squigging me out. But, I let it continue, pushing my food around my plate as we both continue to eat in silence.

After five torturous minutes—yes, I keep track—she throws down her fork and sighs. I twist in her direction, her mossy eyes pulling me in instantly. “Let’s pretend you didn’t hear that, okay?”

“Deal,” I say too quickly.

She squints, eying me closely. I don’t break her stare. “This isn’t about sex, Gaige.”

“I never said it was, Haley.”

“Stop thinking about it.”

“I’m not.”

“You’re not?”

“No. Are you?”

“Nope,” she says, turning back to her food, picking her fork up and shoveling in more pasta.

I don’t turn back to my own plate. Instead, I watch her, because I’m now most definitely thinking about sex. I think about sex as her lips close around another forkful of food, as they slowly drag across the utensil, licking it clean. I think about how her lips would feel on me. I think about sex as she reaches for a breadstick and slowly lets it fill her mouth, how good that’d feel if wasmybreadstick in her mouth, my hands wrapped in her hair, holding her to me as she takes me deep.

She dips her bread into the white sauce on her plate then takes another bite of her food. Her tongue darts out, licking away the small amount of sauce she missed. I know I’m breathing heavily right now. I know she can hear it. But fuck me if my dick doesn’t jump when she swallows. I can’t help but imagine how it’d be to see her swallow me.

I want to…

“You’re totally thinking about sex right now.”

Her sultry voice pulls me from my daze and I drag my eyes away from her lips.

“Huh?” I ask, dazed.

“I said you’re thinking about sex right now. I told you I’m irresistible.” Her grin is cocky and sexy.

The blood that’s rushed to my now hard dick finally enters back into my system and I start to function again, realizing I was just watching her eat, comparing all her movements to her sucking my cock.

Shit.

I’m a fucking pig. A gross, disgusting pig. I’ve never—and I meannever—dared to daydream about a woman like that. I don’t do that. It’s not me. I’m not a sex-focused guy.

That’s not to say I don’t like sex. I do. Of course I do. It’s simply not a main focus of mine like the majority of other single guys my age. I’m not out looking for my next hookup or fling. I’m busy taking care of my family and righting my many, many wrongs. If sex happens, it happens, but I don’t go looking for it, or fantasizing about it.

This though? Fuck. I let my mind go places it’s never gone before. And I liked it. A lot.

Shaking my head, I slip on an easy grin, turning the tables on the vixen sitting next to me. “Only because you mentioned it first. That must meanyou’rethe one really thinking about sex. Is that the case, Haley? You’re the one who keeps emphasizing that we’re not sleeping together. Think about that a moment.”

She grimaces, her shoulders sinking in defeat. “Fine. You win, Gaige. You win.”

For some reason, one I’ll never figure out, I lean in close, my lips just inches from her ear. My voice drops lower than normal as I say, “I always win.”

She shivers, and I know I’m fucked.

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