Page 55 of Play Maker

“Take me.”

My eyes shot to his face, expecting him to be grinning or laughing at his joke, but he was serious. “I thought you didn’t want to get involved in another friends with benefits situation.”

Now he did laugh. “Sunshine, we’re spending all our free time naked in bed together. We’ve already covered the friends and the benefits.”

“Yes, I noticed,” I responded dryly. “But a lot of people end up naked in bed together without expecting anything beyond sex.”

“Let me be absolutely clear here. This isn’t just sex for me. For one, I’m worth more than that. For two, we were friends before Big Mac got involved.”

I snickered at the nickname, but he only sent me a warning glance and kept going.

“For three, friends with benefits is literally sex with no expectations. The only difference between FWB and hooking up is you know the person you’re fucking.” He weighed the air in each hand, lifting one then the other. “Might get brunch together later, might spend an hour in bed. That kind of thing.”

His explanation made a disturbing kind of sense, but I found myself caught on his first point. “This isn’t just sex for you?”

He huffed and fell back onto the bed, tucking his hands behind his head. “No. I haven’t been interested in just sex for a while.”

“But you’re always flirting.”

“Only with you, Blue.”

I threw my hands up. “I thought you were like that with everyone.”

His face closed down a little. “No.”

The quiet word stuck in my chest. I’d spent the better part of the summer with him, and not once had I seen him hit on another girl. Only me. He hadn’t even gone out as much as usual because I was a homebody at heart. When I stayed in, so did he. In hindsight, the truth was obvious.

I knelt on the bed, and he rolled his head to stare up at me. “I’m sorry, Adam. It’s not just sex for me either.”

He unclenched his hands and reached for me, twining our fingers together on his chest. “I know. I’m trying not to push, but it’s hard. The last time I felt like this…” Adam shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t think there was a last time. I wouldn’t risk my friendship with you if I didn’t see the chance for a future with something better.”

I’d never really considered my future beyond graduating and starting the yoga studio with Mom. But she’d started early and left me behind. A blessing in disguise, apparently, because I wouldn’t have ended up here with Adam.

“The chance for something better sounds good, but you’re not risking our friendship.” I gave him a sly smile. “We’re besties, right? Whether or not Big Mac is involved.”

He kissed my fingers. “Even if I hadn’t spent the night beating my personal record for orgasms given, I’d still want to go with you to your mom’s lunch. I’ll gladly be your arm candy, schmooze the rich guests, and stand between you and Shad. I’ll even throw in a foot massage when we get home because whoever invented high heels clearly hated women, and I do not.”

Warmth spread from my chest, rising up my cheeks and stinging my eyes. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, Sunshine.”

20

The next day, with my underlayers freshly dyed and Adam gone with the football crew for their rescheduled film time, I felt confident enough to tackle the one thing still bothering me.

Telling Eva.

I wasn’t a good liar on the best of days, and I hated the idea of keeping important things from someone I cared about. Adam was going to pick me up before my class at the ABC, but I had plenty of time to find a way to explain I was sleeping with my best friend’s ex.

Not just sleeping, either. I was all twisted up with emotions. Eva could probably untwist me, but asking her to help sort out my relationship with a guy who’d been hers not too long ago seemed unfair. Granted, Eva had ended things, but even I could see fleeing across the state wasn’t the reaction of someone who didn’t care.

Human relationships were hard.

After spending the morning procrastinating by cleaning every surface in the common areas of the apartment, I ducked into my room to grab a shower and a fresh change of clothes. My shirt was halfway over my head when I spotted a small, rainbow-covered box sitting in the middle of my neatly made bed.

I let the shirt fall back down and approached the box like it might bite me. My mom loved giving presents, but she always wanted to be around to see my face when I opened them. Secret gift-giving wasn’t her style.

I picked it up, surprised by the light weight, and checked for a tag. Nothing had been added other than the big silver bow taking up the entire top of the box. I lifted the lid, then stared down at the contents.

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