“She probably needs to go out.”
“I’ll take her,” he said. Then he went to get her leash.
“I can do it,” I called back.
“I got it. She can stand me that long.” He walked back in and clipped her leash to her collar. Channing gave him a stare that would have felled a lesser man. He made a clicking sound with his tongu
e and she trotted behind him to the door. “Hey,” he said, turning back at the last moment. “Do you want to put on something more comfortable and watch a movie with me?” He stared at me, a slight smile playing across his handsome face.
My heart tripped a beat. “I’d love to.”
He grinned. “Good. Be right back.” Then he went to walk the dog, the door closing behind him.
I dashed to my room and took my hair down, letting it fall around my shoulders.
My phone pinged and I looked down, surprised to find that it was Aubrey, giving me instructions to call her. I dialed immediately.
“Is everything okay?” I rushed to ask.
“What?” she asked. Then she blew out a breath. “Everything is fine. I was just checking on you.”
“Why?” For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out the purpose of her checking on me.
“Well, it’s something friends do when another friend goes on a date. They check in. That way, if it’s going poorly, the other friend can come up with a reason to get you out of it.”
“Why would I want to get out of it?” I was still confused.
She laughed. “So it’s going well?”
“We just got home from paintball.” I sank down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. The fan went around and around, and I couldn’t think of adequate words to describe our date.
“Was it fun?”
“It was the best day ever,” I said, being completely honest.
She laughed. “And the panties?”
I looked down. “Still on.” I waited a beat. “But I wouldn’t mind taking them off.”
She hummed a little in her throat. “Okay, well, if you’re all right—”
I suddenly blurted out the question. “Should I take them off?”
“Well, that depends.”
“On what?”
“Do you like him? Do you trust him? Do you want to fuck him? Do you want a relationship?”
“I like him and I trust him. I desperately want to fuck him. And I have no idea if I want a relationship.”
“Well, there’s no reason not to do it, if you feel like it’s what you want to do. Or you can wait and see how it goes. There are no hard and fast rules, Shelly.”
“What would you do if you were me?” I asked, biting my cheek as I waited.
“I’d do what felt right.”
I snorted. “We all know I have a problem deciding what’s right and what’s wrong.”