Page 5 of His Promise

Once I’m clean and in my pajamas, I curl up in a ball on the couch with a blanket I snagged from Gage’s bed. Remembering I have to update Wren, I grab my phone and consider what to write. Nothing’s gone to plan today—I didn’t bother trying to study after the shelf incident—but I don’t want to worry her or seem like a downer, so I tell her everything’s great.

The door starts to creak open, and I stuff my phone into the couch cushions, pretending to be fast asleep. I wish I was turned away from the door so I can hide my face, but there’s no rolling over now that he’s inside. I keep my eyes shut and my breathing slow and even. He leaves the lights off, a small bit of consideration for me, so I feel safe in checking him out through my lashes.

However, it gets very difficult to keep my breathing under control when he suddenly removes his shirt. Even in the dim light coming through the window, I can see how shredded he is. So, he not only cares about his grades and has an amazing internship, one that may lead to having a job lined up before he’s even graduated, but he also finds the time to work out. He’s what any other girl my age would call boyfriend material.

But I’m not looking for a boyfriend right now. I just needed a place to sleep for the next few days.

He starts to unbutton his jeans, and I know I can’t see what’s under them without giving myself away, so screwing my eyes tightly shut, I roll over, burrowing into the cushions. My blanket slides off, and I almost groan. I certainly can’t reach for it, but I feel miserably exposed. There’s no possible way I’ll fall asleep like this, with the hottest guy I’ve ever seen stripping just feet away from me. Why does he have to be so darn unpleasant? I can’t ever give him the satisfaction of knowing I find him attractive, so I force it out of my mind. It’s going to be a very long night.

Chapter 4

Gage

Even in the dark, I’m way too aware of Maci’s curves under the blanket. It’s not that late, but since she’s already asleep, I don’t want to turn on the light and disturb her, so studying is out. I yank off my clothes, knowing I’m too worked up to sleep, but not wanting to be driven out of my own apartment again.

She suddenly rolls over, and her blanket slips to the floor. It would have to be pitch black for me not to notice how the shorts she’s wearing ride up as she nestles into the cushions. Now I’m faced with a full view of her lush backside and long legs, smooth and bare in the spotlight of the streetlamps through the window. My cock rises at the sight of her, and only my annoyance gets it under control. I don’t need this. But I can’t let her get cold, either. Her pajamas are way too skimpy for this drafty room. Way too skimpy for my sanity, too.

I grab the blanket and toss it over her, seeing her shoulders tense and her eyelids flutter. Leaning over, I can see she’s not asleep at all. Well, good.

I snap on the light, both relieved and sorry when she jerks the blanket over her miles of silky skin.

“Since you’re awake, I’ll just get some work done. Finally.”

I yank a t-shirt on and give her an angry look that should have her curling back into a ball, but she only stares right back at me.

“By all means, don’t let me bother you,” she says.

One of her top’s straps slides down her shoulder, revealing a soft mound of flesh my eyes hone in on. My fingers curl, aching to pull the strap further down.

Her cheeks heat up as I stare her straight in the eye. “Youdobother me, Maci. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll get back under your blanket and be quiet.”

Apparently, she doesn’t know what’s good for either of us, because she says, “I’ll just study, too.” She pops up, everything jiggling under her ridiculously tiny top. Is she actually trying to kill me?

I watch her pull a book out of her duffle bag and settle back onto the couch, pulling the blanket around her and disrupting my view. Looks like she never went back to whichever book she borrowed before the shelf fell. That should fill me with relief. It doesn’t.

“How are you going to study when your classes haven’t started yet?” I ask, even though I should ignore her.

“I already have most of my books,” she says, nodding toward the bag.

It does have several textbooks mixed with her clothes, and I’m impressed. I remember getting all my books ahead of time when I first started here, too.

“You’re a business major?” I ask, recalling what she’d said earlier.

She looks up and nods, a smile lighting up her face. “You too?”

“Working towards a master’s in Finance,” I tell her, sitting on my bed and opening my own book. “But I took a lot of those classes in undergrad.”

She lights up even more, plying me with questions about the professors. I can’t help but get drawn into her exuberance. It’s not often I meet someone who’s so passionate about something most people consider mundane. She keeps reading out passages and eventually hops up and plops herself onto the bed next to me to see what I should be studying. Her bare legs rub up against mine, since I stayed in just my boxers out of stubbornness. It’s my apartment after all, I should be able to be comfortable. I’m anything but comfortable now though, with her scent so close to me, her body heat melting into mine.

“I’ll never be able to understand this,” she says, looking up at me and biting her lip anxiously.

“Even if you take this class, it won’t be for a few years,” I say. “You seem pretty smart, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“Thanks, that’s actually nice of you to say.”

I’m no longer able to concentrate on anything but her eyes, her lips, and the way her breath seems to be getting more ragged. Her hand slides from the spot she’s pointing at in the book and down my thigh, blazing a heated trail until she rests it in her lap. Thankfully, the big book is in mine, or she’d see my iron cock bursting to get out of my boxers. Maybe sheshouldsee it, then she’d get back on the couch. Or maybe I should take that soft hand and guide it to …

She tilts her chin up to me with a hint of a smile that chases away every last ounce of my resolve. I lean down, and our lips touch, soft and sweet, but igniting a fire in me I’ve never felt before. My fingers tangle in her hair, tugging her head back so I can enter her mouth with my tongue and discover what she tastes like. With a sigh, her hands move to my stomach, tentatively rising to my chest.

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