Page 43 of I Love You, So What?

“No. I played softball in high school. So, in theory, I could have. But the girls were all catty. It felt more like I was babysitting to keep them focused instead of forming a bond.” She seems sad about the missed opportunity.

I’m not sure what pulls me to ask, but I do. “Do you want a family? Kids, I mean?”

She draws out herUmmmlike she’s using it to stall. “I don’t know. No? I don’t think. I don’t know the first thing about being a mom. I wouldn’t want to screw up a human.”

“I think you turned out pretty great for being 'screwed up.’”

“Thanks,” she whispers. “What about you?”

“For a while, I thought the same. But things are different now, especially since Mike and Melissa took me in.”

“Yeah. Okay, tell me something else.” I sense she needs a lighter subject when she shifts gears. “Tell me about your first kiss.”

An amused chuckle escapes me. “Cooper’s cousin. She came to stay with us one summer and told me I needed to know how to kiss before I got to high school.”

“I bet you were a pro by the time school started, huh?” I can feel her smile against me.

“It didn’t really matter. I’m not big on kissing.” I pause. “Well, I wasn’t,” I amend.

She lifts her head just enough to catch my gaze as I look down at her. “You kiss me all the time,” she states, resting her head back in its place on my chest.

My conversation with Lauren about the matter flashes through my mind. “You’re different.” I kiss the top of her head and feel her smile against my skin again.

“What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?” She shoots another question at me.

I immediately know my answer. “Easy. The first week I moved here I signed up for online dating to try and meet some people and find good places to go around here. I was on like… my fourth date of the week. She took me to a sex club.”

Lexy sits, turning toward me in shock. “On a first date? She did not!”

“She sure did. I talked myself into giving it a try–I’m down to tryalmostanything once. When we got there, they gave us this thirty minute orientation. At the end, we had to choose colored wristbands to wear based on what body parts were acceptable to have foreign objects in.” Lexy is so amused she’s now folded over my chest choking on her laughter.

“Please tell me you stayed,” she barely gets out.

Her giggling makes me smile despite the memory being so cringy. “I was going to, but the second wristband they asked about was for if we were okay having additional people join our party. The girl I was with reached for the band likeSign me the fuck up, and I saidGet me the fuck out of here.”

Lexy composed herself enough to reposition, facing me with her knees bent under her, leaned against my hip. Her finger softly traces my abs. “Not down for the threesome thing?”

“I don’t share.” I run my hand up her thigh, my thumb smoothing over the lace at her hip. “What about you?”

She rolls her eyes, and I’m not sure if it’s at my question or her answer. “Almost. At one of the rich people parties where I did some girl’s makeup. I was packing up all my things, and the girl who hired me came into the room. She started kissing me in the same moment her boyfriend entered the room and tried to join. It took me a few seconds to realize what was happening, but then I left. That was actually the last time I ever did makeup. The next morning, on my 18th birthday, I went to the Pub and got hired on the spot.”

“Not a fan of sharing, either?” I ask.

“If you asked me then, I’d say that wasn’t the problem. Sex has always been unemotional for me, so jealousy wouldn’t have been a factor.”

“And if I asked you now?”

She runs her hand across my stomach, gripping my hip and digging her fingers into my skin. “I’d say, ‘Not a chance in hell.’”

“Oh yeah?” I say with a laugh, sitting in the process and flipping her on her back.

Her smile transforms into seduction as she says, “Yeah,” and I don’t use my mouth for talking after that.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

TROY

Lexy:This motherfucker.

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