Page 108 of Seven Year Itch
Calder
“Great speech, baby,” I say when I finally have Dakota alone in my truck. She was swarmed by people after the presentation was complete, including my family and her friends, and I’ve been itching to tell her how much her words moved me.
“Thanks.” She offers me a wobbly smile that has me frowning back at her.
“I mean it. That speech... it was so inspiring. Did you just come up with that on the spot?”
She nods, not giving me much to work with.
“Well, it was fucking good and funny. Just the perfect mix of heartfelt and so very you. You should feel so proud.”
“Yeah, I am.” She licks her lips and wrings her hands on her lap, looking out the window and avoiding my eyes.
“And you looked so fucking beautiful up there.”
“Did I?” Her head snaps around, and she hits me with a curious look.
“Yes, I told you multiple times. Did you not hear me?”
I laugh, and she tilts her head, eyeing me with a look of contempt. “Oh, I heard you. Just still a little confused on why you didn’t take me up on my offer.”
My hands tighten around the steering wheel as I release a groan of frustration. “I knew you were in your head about that.”
“I’m not in my head,” she snaps, her shoulders rising with tension. “I’m just saying for a guy who loves sex so much, why would you pass up something like that?”
“I told you it was because I wanted the night to be about you.”
“Yeah, thanks for that.” She folds her arms over her chest. “You know what? If you just want to drop me at my house and go home, I’m good with that. It’s been a long night, and we could both use some sleep before we go to the sex club tomorrow.”
“You want me to drop you off?”
She nods, her eyes facing straight ahead. “Yeah, we can just forget about that last checklist item. I can still revise the PowerPoint any time I like, right?” She reaches into her clutch and pulls out her phone like she’s actually going to edit the file right now.
My jaw clenches at the flippant tone in her voice. Neither of us have brought up the PowerPoint in days. Last week we made a loose plan for the sex club on Saturday night, but I guess I thought maybe things were changing. She still wants to go? Dammit, this woman always keeps me on my toes.
And she’s not dumb. She knows what she’s doing. She’s backing me into a corner. Forcing me to call this what it is: more than sex.
But a pressure builds in my chest every time I think of that. Flashbacks hammer into me of Robyn and her spiderweb of lies and deceit and how she fucked with me and my brothers. I don’t want to go through that pain again. It’s not worth it. I’m not worth it either. I’ll break Dakota’s heart and be just as bad as her shitty ex, and Dakota will break mine and be just as bad as my shitty ex. Who needs that fucking trauma in their life?
For what? For some good sex? Why bother? I know what’s out there. I could reactivate my fucked-up dating apps and find a million other girls that are ten times easier than the grumpy blonde sitting next to me. We could end this right here, right now, and I could have someone else in my bed by tomorrow night.
A knot forms in my throat over that thought. I’ve gotten too used to Dakota’s wants, Dakota’s needs, her noises, her curves. Her softness. Her scent on my sheets. I know exactly where to touch her to get her revved up, and I like that I know that about her. And she has absolutely learned what sets me off. Who would havethought I’d enjoy being flogged? I’d have never let a hookup try that on me. But her? Why the fuck not?
This connection we have? It feels like a secret between the two of us that no one else in this world knows. I could find someone else, possibly, but if it’s not Dakota, I know without a shadow of a doubt I would be bored out of my fucking mind.
Dakota Schaefer and her stubborn, nagging, moody ass has ruined me for other women.
“Fuck this shit,” I growl and yank the wheel to pull my pickup over on the side of the road, checking the curb with my tires as I do.
“What are you doing?” she exclaims, grabbing onto the handle above the door.
I throw the truck in Park and thrust a finger into her face. “You are such a pain in my ass sometimes.”
“The feeling is mutual!” she snaps back.
I unbuckle my seat belt and lean across the console of my car to grab her face with one hand.
“Let me go, Calder.”
