Page 60 of Plays Well With Others

Oh god. My libido is an idiot. What if that happens to us? What if I’m Izzy-i-fied?

“Trouper or not, let me help,” he says, sweeping in to grab the tray and carry it to the coffee table.

This is surreal. He’s still shirtless and I seriously appreciate his low-clothes commitment, even though I’m freaking out now about what’s next with us. Can you freak out and also admire a man’s back? Yes, yes you can. I mean, those muscles. That strength. What does his back look like when he’s fucking me? Or his ass? Can we have sex in front of a mirror sometime?

I really should stop perving on him. I should start adulting.

Now.I will do it right now.

I settle in on the couch and gesture to the cookies and the milk. “I have three different types of milk. Almond milk, oat milk, and two percent. We can see which one tastes better with cookies. It’s a milk and cookie taste test,” I say, and I’m reverting to my pre-sex plan.

I’d arranged my escape hatch so well I bought three types of milk, and planned this whole elaborate cookie taste test, so I wouldn’t have to face uncomfortable moments.

Only, I didn’t anticipate this one—thewhat happens nextone. But here it is, awkward as hell, and I hope milk and cookies make everything easier.

With a wolfish grin, Carter grabs a cookie, then takes a bite. He moans as he chews. Then he sets the half-eaten cookie down on the plate a little defiantly. “Delicious.”

I blink at him, shocked. “You took it dry.”

“I’m that studly, Rachel.”

“You didn’t have any milk,” I add.

His grin widens. “I don’t like milk with cookies.”

I gasp, over the top. “You savage. How did I not know this about you?”

“Guess I’m packing a few surprises,” he says.

My gaze strays to his pelvis. “Packing for sure. Like your secret dick.”

A laugh bursts from him. “Secret dick, Rach? Does that mean the fact that I had a dick was secret? Because you say that like it’s a secret birthmark, a secret extra toe, a secret second dick.”

“I guess if you have two dicks, it probably is a good idea to ease a girl into that. So secret dick works if you have another one.”

“Do you think I’m hiding another dick from you?”

I shudder. “I hope not. I don’t think I could handle your two dicks. The single super-size one is enough for me. Thesecretsuper-size dick,” I say, and I’m smiling too, and then something dawns on me.

This is not uncomfortable at all. Not one bit. We’re Racheling and Cartering once again. He’s eating a cookie shirtless, and I’m taking one and dipping it in milk, and we’re joking about his dick.

This feels normalish.

When he finishes, he leans back against the couch cushions, stretching his arms over them, so at home here. “So, was this milk and cookie tasting part of your whole cover-up?”

Shoot. He does know me too well. Earlier, I wasn’t sure how to talk to him, so I protected myself by rambling. I’m still unsure, but this is also a new chance. I took a chance at sex. I should take a chance at communication. I need to know the score, and I’d rather learn it directly than dance around it.

I set down the cookie and face him. “I baked because I didn’t know what was going to happen tonight—if I was going to find the guts to tell you I’d been thinking about you like this, or if it was going to scare you off, so I wanted a parachute. I thought if we had a normal thing to do, then it’d be fine if you didn’t want…the same thing. The sex thing.”

“You saw me jerk off to you and you thought I didn’t wantthe sex thing?”

I shrug, a little helpless. “Carter, I don’t really trust a lot of my instincts with men.”

He’s quiet for a beat, his expression turning thoughtful. “But you trust me?”

“Of course,” I say instantly. “You know that, right?”

“I do,” he says. “Always have. I just want you to be upfront with me.”

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