Page 31 of Unrequited (Woodlands 4)

We both looked down at the obscene outline of my erection. I gave her a wry smile and a shrug. "I think so, but hold my hand in comfort."

She laughed and rose to her knees and hugged me, which did nothing to kill my arousal.

"I'm taking care of you when we get to your house," she said.

I felt my cock jerk at her words. "That's not helping."

She reached down and squeezed me. "It wasn't supposed to."

My eyebrows flew up at her naughty response. She colored but didn't back away. Dirty and sweet all in one small package. I had to kiss her again, but I multitasked by picking her up and opening the front door at the same time. Depositing her in the passenger side, I handed over her jeans and hurried, as best I could, to the driver's side.

She didn't put on her jeans. Instead, she folded them and placed them on the floor and curled her golden legs up underneath her. Her head was turned with her cheek resting against the upright portion of the passenger seat. I couldn't see her dark eyes, but I felt them roving over me. Made me harder, if that was even possible. "Want me to put your seat back?" I choked out. "Because if you don't stop looking at me, I'm going to embarrass myself."

"Learn some control because I'm going to stare at you the whole time," she teased.

I sighed and started the truck. "If we get pulled over because I'm driving erratically, I'm blaming you."

"Where are you taking me?" She yawned and tucked her hands between her legs.

"Home."

"And that is?"

I chewed on the thought for a minute. With four roommates, two girlfriends and assorted others, there was never any privacy at the house. Winter and I needed alone time. "Actually how about the farm?"

"Sure. I haven't been there in forever." Her voice was drowsy but happy. I reached across the console and rubbed a hand over her bare knee. It was a compulsion, this need to constantly be connected to her. She covered my hand with her small one. "You surprise me, you know."

"Because of the singing?"

"No. It's more than that. I never spent time with you when you were with your friends." She carefully left out mention of Ivy, which was difficult since our shared past was wrapped up in her sister. "It's a different side of you. And you're so openly affectionate. That seems weird to me in a really cool way though."

I thought back to high school and the thoughtless, immature kid I used to be. I hoped I was different—better. "Maybe you just know the wrong guys."

She absently tapped a finger against the top of my hand. "I dated this guy a couple of years ago, and I guess I was ready for something more serious—an actual boyfriend. I didn't have one in high school. I hung out with a lot of people but never had a boyfriend. I wanted one though. But…it never worked out. After high school, I got this job as a runner for a marketing firm downtown."

"That was your first mistake," I interrupted. "Those white collar types are total duds in the sack."

"Shush it," she tsked.

"I already know where this is going, and it will end up with me having to make up for my gender. Good thing I'm up for it." I lifted the arm that wasn't being held and kissed my biceps.

"Oh my God, Finn." She laughed. "Do you want me to tell this story or not?"

"Tell me."

In a way, I didn't want to hear about her past loves or her past boyfriends, but I wanted to know her and that included all the uncomfortable bits of her past. Besides, I was the one with the uncomfortable past. And I was the one driving her around wearing panties and a shirt. I could handle a few stories about her exes, emphasis on the ex part.

She squeezed my arm and then continued. "This one guy started flirting with me, and I was so into it. More the feeling than the person, you know?"

I nodded. I did know. It's how I’d ended up drifting into and then out of the relationships I'd had. It was easy and convenient. And I could have been with anyone and felt the same way, which was why they inevitably ended.

"I realized that at the end, but in the beginning I thought it was all Hugh."

"Hugh?" I coughed. A douchenozzle name if I ever heard one. "His name was Hugh?"

"I know." She laughed. "He was a new marketing hire and had just graduated from Central. He was very proper. Never used contractions and talked about existentialism for hours. 'I thought about life, and therefore I am existing,'" she intoned, mimicking a male's voice. "He didn't really want a girlfriend, but he thought of himself as a good guy so he couldn't admit all he was really after was a regular hookup. I was…overwhelming for him. He wouldn't acknowledge me at work because I was clerical staff, and he'd tell me not to text him so often or that we should only see each other on Saturday nights."

"Did he cheat on you?" I wondered if Hugh needed a visit.

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