Don't Need You - Lilian Monroe Page 0,18

for the sole purpose of bringing men to their knees.

And by men, I mean me. I’d drop to my knees right now, and I’d do it gladly.

As she slouches down and props her feet on the coffee table, I let my eyes wander up her smooth skin. Her boy shorts slide up to the crook of her hip, and my jacket falls open as it rests on her shoulders. I simultaneously wish she were wearing a bra so I wouldn’t see the outline of her hard nipples, and praise everything that’s holy that she isn’t.

You’d think she was advertising kinky lingerie by the way my body’s reacting. Heat burns through my core, squeezing me from the inside as I struggle to breathe. My cock throbs, pulsing between my legs as all the blood in my body rushes exactly where I don’t want it to go.

I inhale. Orange creamsicle. Bet it would taste good on my tongue right about now.

Serena’s dark chocolate eyes find mine. She gives me a shy smile. “Sorry about earlier.”

“No need to be sorry.” My voice is thick as I shake my head. “Robbie told me that was your ex.”

She grunts in response, folding her hands over her stomach. I try not to stare at the outline of her breasts as they poke through the worn fabric of her shirt. Try not to watch how her legs move as she stretches them out. Try not to imagine what it would feel like to trail my tongue across her clavicle. Closing my eyes, I turn my head forward. Heat lashes across my body, sending long whips of fire across my chest and around my abdomen. I shift away from her, crossing my ankle over my knee to conceal my growing erection.

There’s something about this girl I can’t resist. She seems totally relaxed. At ease with herself. From the looks of it, she’s been through hell with her ex-boyfriend, but she sits here as if nothing at all is wrong.

And shit, she looks good when she’s wearing my uniform.

Finally, Serena takes a deep breath. “Angelo and I dated for nearly ten years. He was my first boyfriend. My only boyfriend.” She lets out a dry laugh, shaking her head. “The perfect Italian boy my whole family loves.”

“But you don’t.”

“I did.” She pauses. “I think.” Serena shrugs, looking at me with a grin twitching over her lips. “We all make mistakes.”

I snort, nodding. My mind flicks back to the string of casual relationships I’ve left behind. “Ten years is a long time.”

“We were kids,” she says.

“The longest relationship I’ve ever had was six months.”

Serena’s lips curl up as she arches an eyebrow. “Well, at least you’re being up-front about your red flags. Angelo wasn’t so kind.”

“Red flags?” I fight a smile off my face. My voice rises a bit, and Serena glances toward her brother’s room as she laughs.

“Definitely a red flag. I would think twice about dating a guy who couldn’t hold down a relationship.”

“Yeah? Well, I would think twice about dating a girl who had just gotten out of her only one.”

“I guess it’s a good thing we aren’t trying to date, then.” Her eyes flash. She leans toward me, and her sweet scent floods my nostrils. My mouth waters. I want to eat her. I inhale, fighting the fire burning in my core, and wish it would consume me whole.

“Yeah.” Is that disappointment in my voice?

Serena doesn’t seem to notice. She leans her head back, her wild, curly hair splaying out around her like a halo. Is it wrong to long to run my fingers through it? Twist my fist into it and pull her close to my body?

I’m losing control. My mind is fraying, pulled apart by her presence. The desire she awakens inside me is cruel. It cackles in my brain, calling me a hypocrite as it laughs.

Isn’t this exactly what Finn did to me? Lusted after my little sister? I’m no better than he is.

Serena shifts her weight, angling her head toward me. I stare at her mouth, wanting to run my fingers over it, tracing the curve of her cupid’s bow, and feel the fullness of her lower lip. She lets out a sigh, and my eyes snap up to hers.

“I haven’t told my family about moving to Woodvale,” Serena says quietly, more serious now.

I nod. “I know.”

“You don’t think that’s weird?”

“I don’t not think it’s not weird.”

Serena laughs. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

I grin, shrugging. “We all have our shit.”

“Yeah? What’s yours?