“No, I can’t even decide my college major, so I’m sure my heart hasn’t been damaged by that jackass too badly.” It did make her sound flighty, but I wondered.
“I?
?m not sure anyone truly knows what they want at twenty. Heck, I joined the army for two years before I figured myself out.” She made a sound that seemed like she agreed and it passed the time as we warmed up. I supposed stranger things could have happened. Chewing my half of the bar, I let her talk it out. I liked her voice, sweet and smooth once she stopped shaking with chills.
“I was just thinking about my aunt and how she lived her life. I’m only twenty years old. I haven’t experienced much in the way of relationships and I really don’t want to die an old maid with twenty felines as my only company.”
“Sounds dire for someone so young and twenty is an awful lot of cats.” She half turned to look at me and the blanket slipped down over her shoulder, exposing the soft swell of her lace covered pale breast.
My mouth ran dry looking over the creamy skin of her shoulder. I bit my lip and tried focusing on imparting wisdom instead of her leaning into my lap and feeling my arousal jammed up against my abdomen between my legs. “How old are you?” The question imparted an annoyed tone.
“I’m twenty-six.” I wondered if she was asking to make sure I wasn’t some old pervert. Six years wasn’t a huge age gap between us, but I’d done my stint in the army and seen a few things of the world.
“And your stance on relationships?”
Feeling oddly put on the spot, my initial response sounded way more defensive than I intend it to be. “I find love a bit overrated.” I wasn’t sure if Lia was querying me to hook up or berate me for being a relatively normal adult single guy.
“Of course you would.” She huffed, almost knocking my nose again with her head and dismissal of me. “Men don’t start looking for love until they’re at least thirty and still not in a committed relationship. You’ve gotta have that one friend who’s getting married to ruin it for the rest of you and even then you don’t call it love.”
“Cynical.” She turned, giving me a dirty look and I wondered how we got here, to this impasse. I pointed at her, letting my finger playfully flick her pert nose. “But not entirely untrue.” I thought about my two friends Hunter and Damien, cousins and different as night and day. They were a perfect yin and yang. Hunter just fessed up to loving his best friend Taylor for years while Damien was still playing the field hard. “I said I found it overrated, not that I didn’t think it was impossible.”
Truthfully, I was somewhere in between. My work schedule made dating difficult at best. I wasn’t currently seeing anyone, but I also wasn’t bar hopping for bratty girls who wanted dollar pitchers of margaritas and fifty cent wings every Friday night. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but what I had also wasn’t working for me either.
Chapter 7
Lia
I thought about what Whit said, love was overrated…or at least what I had thought passed for love. Certainly all the flowery bullshit that never happened made it all so unrealistic. I was no expert and who was I to judge? I tried to hook up with Ryder West and ended up lost in the woods with a real honest to goodness Boy Scout. A Boy Scout who was resting his arms around me while the heat from the fire left me lightheaded and lusting for more than his cargo pocket uniform pants.
Humming, I let my thoughts wander and instead of the football player, I imagined a bare-chested man wearing dark green fighting off bears and mountain lions. Ridiculous really, but a little giggle escaped my mouth and Whit rocked behind me.
“What’s so funny?” I could feel his junk pressed against me as he scooted closer, but not because he was being a pervert. My previous exhaustion dissipated into renewed energy in his presence. It was cold inside the cabin and our options were limited. All things considered, I liked Whit exactly where he was, warming me like a solid piece of granite you’d find in the woods.
Staid.
Perfect.
“Nothing…I just…um…how do you feel about one-night hook-ups?” I winced as I said it. It was a stupid thought once it was out of my mouth. I wasn’t sure where my lady balls dropped from that I actually pulled words from my brain and let them escape out loud.
Whit stayed where he was like he was thinking how to play this out and my nerves sparked into overdrive. “I can’t say I’m opposed under the right conditions.” My brashness was fizzling away until the pads of his fingers slowly traced my shoulder in mesmerizing slow circles dipping down my arm under the blanket.
Trying to get Ryder to notice me was a fail and I realized now how ephemeral my feelings were for him. I would have had better luck with Connor or Mateo, but neither had enough electrical impulses between them to carry on enough intelligent conversations to get me wet. It was a sad state of affairs my mind worked that way. Was I just being desperate with my hurt ego to go for it here, right now with Whit? I might feel that way tomorrow, but right now in the heat of the moment I wanted that one crazy experience I could keep to myself. A little something I could whisper to those damn cats I was destined to own once I resumed my wickedly boring life. Each stroke of his fingertips lulled me closer to those bad decisions I’d regret later but indulge in right now.
“Um…” Focus, Lia, for Christ’s sake, the hottest guy under thirty is paying attention to you! Don’t blow it! “I’ve never really been into them myself, but I’m not exactly warming up here with just the fire going.” Who is this sassy version of myself? Hello, world, Miss Amelia Rae Faust has finally got her groove back! Coyly, I let the musty damp wool slip down in between us and let my back fully lean into hot, velvet soft, hard skin.
“Hmm, you do feel a bit chilled, and it is my duty here to protect and serve.” Whit should have sounded like a cocky bastard or a cheesy bullshitting fool…but he didn’t. His breath heated my neck and he brushed my hair to the side over my shoulder. His hand, large and rough, gathered the braided rope of hair before pulling on it in a controlled manner. One hand was in my hair, and the other snaked around my middle to pull me farther back into his embrace.
I coughed out the last of my uncomfortableness. “Well, you’re doing a good job so far,” I muttered whatever shit popped into my head and let Whit take the lead. I didn’t want to insult him because his touch felt so damn good, like I’d been waiting for him or me or one of us to make a move this entire time. My eyes watched the flames of fire dance red and yellow, my body flushing in tandem, warming with the bloom of more than desire for my savior. I really needed to shut up now.
“I can do better than that, Amelia.” My full name on his lips made me shudder. He was serious and it was unbelievably hot the tone of voice he used. “First, I have some questions.” His teeth nipped at my neck and he tugged my fisted hair to direct my head.
Groaning, I really hoped he wasn’t going to pull any weird sex business. I was all right for some kinky stuff, but I’d just met him and I swear my butt was off limits. I tried wiggling away and he pinched my ass, stilling me with a slight panic.
“Don’t worry, I don’t know you well enough for that kind of kinky shit.” As if he read my mind, he was chuckling and kissing my neck, licking me and palming my breast with just the right amount of roughness to keep it hot.
“Shit, I said that out loud?” Me and my damn mouth.
“You sure did.” Laughing, he pinched my nipple, this time slipping a hand inside my bra to pull it down. “God, I love a handful,” he muttered against me and I pushed back to let him know I’d be okay with more than just touching.