Page 44 of Tormented Bastard
He shrugged. “It was easier to leave in the morning. Besides, for a guy, the walk of shame in the morning is more like the walk of fame, depending on the girl. And I didn’t like the thought of kicking the girl out in the morning.”
It dawned on me what he was saying. “Then why did…Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh.”
I looked away and cleared my throat. “So, uh. What were the other firsts?”
“Well, let’s see. First in my dorm, first time I’d cooked breakfast for a girl.” He looked back over at me. “First time I’d ever wanted to please the girl more than I wanted to please myself.”
I bit my lip, unsure of what to say. “I didn’t know all that.”
He chuckled. “Well, you weren’t supposed to. We knew each other all of what, a week? We’d had two dates.”
“That wasn’t even a date that night.”
“No, we were studying lit, right?”
“It is why we were watching Shawshank after all.”
“Well, we didn’t watch much, did we? I had to watch the movie again later to know what was going on.”
He paused, his eyes a storm of emotions. Chase didn’t reveal his emotions all that often, so it made me wonder if he knew just how much his eyes gave away. Lifting a hand, he cupped the side of my face, his palm warm against my cheek. I closed my eyes and leaned into it, my own emotions rioting through my body. Desire, hope, regret, and that one feeling I refused to name when it came to a man, but especially this man, no matter how much I really, really wanted it.
My heart said,go for it. My head said,girl, you better run.
I was so confused.
And all the things he said to me didn’t help.
“Eden, I—”
The doorbell rang, and Chase narrowed his eyes. “Who the hell would be out now?”
“Maybe the sheriff? I can’t imagine who else would be out in this.”
Chase stood and went to the front door. Through the back windows, I watched the dissipating storm with a sense of dread. Unable to sit still, I followed the voices to the front door and stopped when I came around the corner. Chance and Aubrey were standing in the foyer, dripping wet. Everyone stopped talking when they saw me.
Aubrey and Chance looked back and forth between me and Chase, who stood at the front door with no shirt and only jeans. Jeans that I just now realized had the top button undone. My mind wandered to places not appropriate with company.
Play nice, hormones. Now is not the time to come rushing in.
Chase’s gaze went from my eyes down my body and back up. Cover up, his eyes implored.
I looked down and realized I was giving the Batemans a show they probably didn’t want. I still had the blanket wrapped around my shoulders, but the thin T-shirt Chase had given me was visible. As were my nipples that decided to make an appearance when Chase touched me. Just my luck they’d decided to stay hard to show the other couple what was inevitable had they not interrupted.
And I wasn’t talking Shawshank. More like a reenactment of our first time watching Shawshank.
Oh, and underneath the T-shirt, I wore nothing but a pair of lacy red boy shorts. Also visible through the white T-shirt even though it stopped just above my knees.
Well, shit.
I tightened the blanket around me to stop giving the neighbors a show.
Wait, were they neighbors? More to the point, what were they doing here?
“Well, come on in,” Chase said, his voice heavy with resignation.
I shook my head slightly and went into hostess mode. It was like second nature to me to take care of people and put them at ease.
