“Tell me why you worry about your weight,” I demanded, going back to my question, my lips curling into a frown. “You’re fucking gorgeous, and you’d be just as fucking gorgeous no matter what you weighed.”
Marleigh’s cheeks turned pink, but she met my gaze with a sweet smile. “Thank you. But it’s not really about what I weigh. It’s just about being healthy and keeping up my energy. My job has me running around from the moment I arrive to the moment I drag my butt home. I have to keep up, and I’m not going to do that with stimulants or anything else. I love my coffee, but I don’t rely on it to keep me going. So I eat fairly healthy, and when I don’t, I add a little time to my jog.”
Satisfied with her answer, I asked her a few more questions and answered the ones she lobbed at me. Our conversation was easy and relaxed, besides the sexual tension thick enough to cut with a knife.
6
Marleigh
Ihad eaten at least a hundred meals with Wrenley on this couch, but I’d never had a problem swallowing even a single bite of food while sitting next to her on the comfy cushions. But the same couldn’t be said about sharing dinner with Clay. I hadn’t been hungry when he had ordered the food, but that didn’t stop me from shoving bite after bite into my mouth. Eating stopped me from blurting out the inappropriate thoughts that continuously popped into my head. It also kept the low moans trapped in my mouth each time he did something sexy. Which happened a lot.
“No wonder the menu for this place was at the top of the stack.” Clay leaned forward to set an empty container on the coffee table. “That was the best Thai takeout I’ve ever had.”
“Right? Wrenley and I discovered it the same month we moved in, and I think we’ve probably eaten from there every week since then,” I confessed.
“Well, I’m more than happy to keep the tradition. Let’s plan on doing this again next week,” he suggested before taking another bite of his yellow curry.
“Sounds like a plan,” I softly agreed.
Eating wasn’t sexy. Or at least I’d never thought it was until now. I was more turned on than I’d ever been in my life just by sitting next to him while we ate. My breath caught in my throat when Clay’s lips wrapped around his fork. And when his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. Or pretty much just sat there breathing.
I was already a bundle of overheated hormones when my fingers slid against his as we both reached for a piece of tempura fried cheesecake at the same time. Unsure if I should pull my hand back or not, I froze. We were barely touching, but I was hyper-focused on the contact of our fingers and almost let out a mewl of protest when he picked up some of the dessert because I missed our connection.
Clay didn’t leave me longing for his touch for long, though. He lifted the cheesecake close to my lips and murmured, “Would you like the first taste?”
“Mm-hmm,” I hummed before taking a bite. The tempura fried cheesecake was one of my all-time favorite desserts, and it tasted even better with Clay feeding the piece to me. “Delicious.”
His gaze drifted to my lips, his green orbs darkening with desire. Then he lifted the cheesecake to his mouth and took a big bite from the same spot where my lips had just been, and it felt as though my panties were about to spontaneously combust.
Reminding myself that Clay was my best friend’s boyfriend’s best friend—and boy, that was a mouthful to think, let alone say—I quickly demolished the other piece. Then I got up and grabbed the empty containers closest to me. “Thanks for getting dinner.”
“My pleasure.” He uncoiled from the couch and prowled behind me into the kitchen with the rest of the containers.
As I dumped stuff into the trash can, he crowded behind me to do the same. Then I darted around him and rounded the counter and blurted, “I have a busy day tomorrow, so I think it’s past time for me to get ready for bed. Good night.”
His deep sigh followed me out of the room, but I didn’t look back at Clay. I couldn't, not without running the risk of turning around and throwing myself at him. Rushing into my bedroom, I just barely stopped myself from slamming the door shut. Once it was closed behind me, I slumped against the hard surface and pressed my knuckles against my lips as I whispered, “Holy crap.”
My gaze darted toward where I’d left my cell phone on my bedside table, and I thought about calling Wrenley to ask her why she didn’t warn me about how hot Clay was. But I figured that I already knew the answer—she only had eyes for Jordan. She barely noticed other guys existed, let alone how attractive they were.
Once I got my racing heart back under control, I padded over to my closet and yanked open the top drawer of the small dresser I kept in there. As I was pulling out a pair of sleep shorts with a matching tank, it finally hit me…I had to go back out there to get ready for bed.
The outfit wasn’t sexy, not like lingerie, but it didn’t leave a whole lot to the imagination. Changing first was a bad idea, and I probably should have dropped the clothes onto my bed. But I didn’t. Instead, I swapped out my clothes before heading back toward the door and pressing my ear against it. There weren’t any clanging noises coming from the kitchen or footsteps in the hallway. The lack of sound let me know it was safe for me to dart into the bathroom without bumping into Clay.
After flinging my door open again, I raced across the hall and into the safety of the bathroom. Then I made good on my promise to make room for Clay’s stuff by gathering up all of Wrenley’s toiletries and dumping them into a couple of bags I found under the sink. I set them by the door before going through my nighttime routine.
Even though I didn’t expect to see Clay again tonight, I still spent extra time brushing my hair and pulling it into a messy bun at the top of my head. I also took a second swig of my mouthwash, leaving my breath minty fresh. And put on some extra deodorant.
But I made a mistake by not being more cautious once I was done. This time, I didn’t check to see if I could hear any signs that Clay was nearby. When I opened the door, he was coming out of his room, only six feet away from me. The air between us crackled with sexual tension, making me weak in the knees.
Lifting the bags with Wrenley’s toiletries, I pressed them against my chest, using them like a shield as I felt my pebbled nipples pressing against my tank. “I’m done. The bathroom is all yours.”
His lips curved into a sexy grin as his gaze dropped to the bags. “You didn’t have to rush to get that done. I could have used the stuff in my dopp kit, same as I did at the hotel last night.”
“I just wanted to make you feel welcome,” I croaked over the lump in my throat.
His gaze lingered on my lips as he said, “You don’t have to do anything special to make that happen, baby. I have no doubt that this is going to feel like home while I’m here with you.”
Butterflies swirled in my belly at the sincerity in his voice. But with how Clay was connected to Wrenley, perving over him was a bad idea. Especially since we would be living together for the next two weeks. The last thing I needed was to give up my V-card to a professional football player—who could be as much of a player off the field as he was on, for all I knew—and have a potential awkward morning after last for an extra thirteen days.