I chuckled as I looked down at my plaid boxers. I still had an erection, one she didn’t seem to care about.
“Rita, look at me. Do I look tough to you?”
The smile on her face brightened my dark world. “I see your point. You look irresistible to me. I’m pretending you’re in a pair of swim trunks.” She blushed after glancing down at my crotch.
“Don’t look at it, baby. It already feels rejected and dismissed.”
“I’m not rejecting anything. I’m just asking for a little time to know if I want to give you the goods.”
“The goods?”
“My body and heart.”
“Fuck, Rita. You’re asking too much of me. I need you, girl. Desperately.”
“Seven days. That’s what I need. Tomorrow we’ll go to the clinic together to get tested. When the results come back, if we’re both clean and we still like each other, we’ll have sex.”
“Jesus, you don’t ask for much, do you?” I wrapped my arms around her and tugged her closer.
“You should know, I can sometimes be demanding.”
“I’m learning that as we speak.”
“Does it scare you?”
“No.”
“Do you have any demands?”
Did I ever. “Your lips on mine, but first, one question.”
“Okay.”
“Why do you need to be tested? How many men have you slept with?” My voice came out harsher than I intended. But the thought of another man putting his hands onmyRita set something off inside me.
“You sound jealous.”
“I feel murderous.” I flexed my jaw, biting down on my back molars. It was no exaggeration. I could squeeze the air out of any man who put his hands on my woman.
“I want you to have assurances that I’m clean too. It isn’t about the number of men I’ve been with—”
“Which is how many?”
“Four. Two in high school and two since.”
Christ, that was four too many.
“What about you?”
“Huh?”
“How many women have you been with?”
“Too many.”
“Oh.” Her gaze dropped to my chest, and her body tensed in my arms. I had disappointed her again.
With my thumb, I lifted her chin so our eyes connected. “Nobody before you has mattered to me. Just you, Rita. Only you.” And it would always be her, I felt it deep in my heart, but it was too soon to admit such insanity.