Page 80 of Game Changer

“I am pretty great at it.”

The laughter that bubbles up feels good.

He continues the tour, and I take one more look at all the gold before following.

“And this…” He hits the light switch at the end of the hall. “Is me.”

The main bedroom is huge. An expanse of cream carpet, matching walls, a seating area at one end, plus a king bed that seems to go on forever.

It hits me.

Is this why he invited me over?

Probably.

I’ve fantasized about having sex with him more times than I care to count, but I didn’t imagine it happening like this.

Although now that I’m looking up at him, his eyes darkening by the second, I know we could make it work.

My fingers reach for the buttons on my top, and he frowns.

Clay takes my hand, stopping me.

“Oh. I thought you wanted to…” I trail off.

Clearly, I misread this. I've managed to humiliate myself twice today.

“I really fucking want to, Nova. But not tonight. Not when you’re beating yourself up over something you didn’t do.”

Up close, I can count the flecks of gold in his dark eyes. It feels like he’s willing me to understand.

I do, and I’m grateful.

I sigh out a little breath of relief as he tugs me back toward the living room.

He sinks into the huge L-shaped couch, and I follow his lead. He removes the ice pack from his knee and sets it on the coffee table. Then, to my surprise, he draws me between his legs and pulls my back to his front.

“So, tell me what happened at this party.” Clay’s voice vibrates along my skin.

I fill him in, one sordid detail at a time while trying to ignore the fact that I’m nestled against his hard, warm body. It’s easier that I don’t have to look at his expression.

Except by the end, his chest is rocking with laughter.

I spin to face him.

“It’s not funny!” I protest, hitting him in the stomach. My hand bounces easily off his ridged abs.

“It’s kind of funny. Got any more of those cupcakes?”

I roll my eyes, but my lips twitch.

“Mari probably had them burned. Even though I double-checked, triple-checked… something went wrong, and I screwed up, and Chloe saved the day. Mari’s always been the perfect one, the responsible one, the one with everything together.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“It’s true.”

Clay listens, his eyes dark and intent as I tell him about us growing up together.

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