Page 49 of Love, Just In

‘Oh, come on, what are you—seven?’ I smirk and make a lunge for the remote, but he swaps hands and holds it high above his head. Trouble jumps up and scampers off to her bed.

‘I bet you were cute when you were seven,’ Zac says, his eyes dancing.

‘That’s kind of a creepy comment.’

I pause before lurching for the remote again, but he quickly shoves it down the front of his shorts, his cute Zac-laugh in full force.

‘Are you kidding me?’

‘What?’ he says innocently. ‘You want the remote; come and get it.’ He folds his arms behind his head.

I attempt to pantomime shock and fury, but my smile won’t fade. ‘You realise this definitely counts as housemate sexual harassment. You’re no better than Davide.’

Zac clutches his heart like that comment hurt, and in a flash of movement, I whip forward and push my hand inside his shorts.

He gasps as my fingers brush the cotton waistband of his boxer briefs before hitting something that I hope to god is the remote. I pull it out and give it a little victory wave over my head.

Zac scrapes a hand over his jaw. ‘I can’t believe you just felt me up. You thinkI’mas bad as Davide?’

‘You loved it,’ I toss back without looking at him. My cheeks flash hot as I flick the TV to Netflix, feeling Zac’s gaze linger on me before he gets up.

‘Want something to drink?’ he asks from the fridge. ‘I’ve got some sav blanc, a pinot grigio or beer. Oh, and shiraz, but shiraz makes you want to play extraordinarily childish games, so I think we should steer clear of that.’

‘Childish games like hiding the TV remote down your pants?’ I rib, clicking on a show about Thai street food. ‘Actually, I wouldn’t mind trying out some of your whisky collection.’ I spotted his line-up of fancy whiskys during one of my snooping sessions.

‘You like it hard, hey?’ A cupboard opens, and glasses tinker behind me.

I curl my legs up, squeezing away my body’s inappropriate response to those words.

You like it hard.

What the actual hell is wrong with me? Am I a pervert now?

Also, this isZac.I should not be thinking about Zac giving it to me hard—or at all. I gulp, questioning whether he’s switched on the heating without telling me.

He drops beside me and hands me a tumbler housing a few centimetres of bronze liquid.

We watch the presenter haggle for ingredients in a Bangkok market for a while, before Zac’s gaze drifts to the side of my face. ‘So, you turned down Lindsay today, I couldn’t help but notice.’

A delicious whisky-burn coats my throat as I swallow. ‘I have to work tomorrow.’

He nods back at the TV. ‘Well, if I really liked someone, I wouldn’t give a shit if I had to work tomorrow. I’m going home with them. Just sayin’.’

‘It sounds like what you’resayin’is that you’re kind of happy I didn’t go home with Lindsay,’ I retort bravely.

His throat bobs as his eyes stay glued to the screen. ‘You’re just catching on now that I don’t have much time for that asshat, are you?’

A breath of laughter escapes me. ‘He’s not that bad.’

Zac grimaces. ‘Not that bad?Sounds like you can’t wait to rip his clothes off with your teeth.’

‘Shhhh,’ I reply, watching him brush his full lips against the rim of his glass like he’s in some pornographic ad for whisky. He finally takes a sip, and my mind drifts back to something Lindsay mentioned today.

‘Can I ask you a favour?’ I say, a combination of morbid curiosity and evil whisky spurring me on. I suck in a deep breath. ‘Would you look at my boobs for me?’

Zac spurts whisky everywhere.

‘Are you OK there?’ I say with a laugh as Zac tugs up his T-shirt to dab his face, exposing a glimpse of the abs I gawked at earlier.

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