Upside Down (Breaking the Rules #3) - A.M. Madden Page 0,58

you even touched me. Did that freak me out, especially when no woman ever had that power over me? Yeah, it did. But instead of pushing you away, it made me want to pull you closer.”

“Maybe that’s why I ran again,” he admitted. “Maybe I know pulling you closer won’t bode well for me?”

“Because I denied being gay? I think we’ve already established that was bullshit, Ricky. How long are you going to use that excuse?”

“Until I’m convinced you’ve accepted your sexuality. You like women, and that’s still a concern for me. But forget that for now. What about the small little detail that you live in Jersey and I live here? Why would I willingly start something with a man who is experimenting, for all intents and purposes, and who has an end date?”

That wasn’t what I’d expected him to say. He was already discounting anything that could happen between us because of geography?

I could’ve easily listed all the reasons as to why his concern was bullshit—his recent semiretirement and his ability to have a long-distance relationship without worrying about financial hardship were just a few. None of which meant a damn thing if something developed between us. Yes, that was the hopeless romantic in me speaking, but now that I was committed to figuring out this electric connection we seemed to have, I’d be damned if I let his excuses stop things before we even got started.

So instead of voicing what I had a feeling he would scoff at, I went with a stating-the-obvious tactic.

“No… because if you walk away, it’ll be a matter of time before your heads…” Skimming my leer down his body and back up, I continued with, “Both of them… will drive you insane. You know it, and I know it. We want each other, consequences be fucking damned.”

That seemed to light a fire under his ass, because he closed the distance with one large step. “A bit of information about me,” he said, getting right in my face. “When I start seeing someone, I go in hard in every way.” And again, my dick twitched. “Dates in public and not in private locations like my apartment.” He waited for an objection, which he didn’t receive, and went on. “I’ve been in the closet, and I have no desire to go back in. That means no hiding.” He paused but slid his hungry gaze down to my mouth. “And no inhibitions when becoming intimate… none.”

That time, my dick not only twitched; it grew harder. What the fuck was it with this guy? It never failed for him to get a rise out of me, without so much as a touch.

Bringing his lips a breath away from mine, he asked, “We clear?”

“Are those supposed to be threats?”

“No… they’re realities.” He stared long and hard again, waiting for me to crack.

“Well…” I ran my tongue across my bottom lip, enjoying the way his eyes tracked the motion before admitting, “I can handle your realities.”

Chapter Twenty

Ricky

He wanted honesty—well, he got it.

“Okay then,” I said with a nod, not having a fucking clue what to do now. Well, that was a lie. I wanted nothing more than to show him how real things could be between us. Despite his calm, there was no way he’d be ready for that. Not to mention the fact that once again he never flinched—not a blink, not a swallow, nothing to indicate that what I said had freaked him out.

If he had, I could go into this with my guard up, knowing he wasn’t ready. By Cooper showing the contrary, I would have to protect myself all the more.

“I have one question,” Cooper said while folding his arms defensively.

“What?”

“Do you trust me?”

If I were to be honest with myself, it was his confidence I didn’t trust yet. I knew him well enough that following through with something was ingrained in his personality. That was what all this could be, a way to put closure to what I had accused him of. And my libido argued that if that were the case, well, too bad on him. He was a grown-ass man. He wanted us together, then he’d have it.

It was my self-preservation that wavered, because truth was he had gotten to me… not just sexually but also emotionally. Somehow Cooper Stanton had wormed his way into my emotions, making this an entirely new game for me.

I did tend to fall hard and quick. Since Corey, I’d had four other long-term relationships… at