Hooking - Kristine Allen Page 0,36

and conditioned her hair. “Your hair is absolutely beautiful,” I murmured as I rinsed the conditioner out of it.

She turned in my arms, slipping hers over my shoulders. As her fingers teased the ends of my hair, she pressed a kiss to the base of my throat. “So is yours,” she said against my skin before resting her cheek against my beating heart.

For a few minutes, we stood in each other’s arms and let the water wash over us. Finally, she looked up at me with worry in her eyes.

“What are we doing?” she asked, and I knew she wasn’t talking about us being in the shower. Gathering her hair, I smoothed it into a thick wet rope to buy myself time. Because honestly, I didn’t have a good answer for her.

“We’re having some amazing sex,” I said with a sigh, even though I knew deep in my guts it was more than that. Keeping my gaze averted, I tried not to let her see the truth.

“That’s it? Great sex? Because regardless of what we said, this seems like it’s different. Is it just me? Am I reading too much into this?” Confusion heavy in her voice, she pushed back out of my arms. Before she could step out of the shower, I grabbed her arm. The thought of her walking away from me sent panic clawing up my throat.

“Syd, wait. Can we talk?” My free hand pushed my wet hair back. “I’ve never been in a situation like this before. I really like you, but I’ve never done long-term. So can we play it by ear and see what happens?”

That took a lot out of me to admit. My faith in relationships was pretty much shit, but it didn’t mean a small part of me didn’t long for it. The problem was, I didn’t really know how to begin having one.

She appeared to waver as she chewed on her lip and studied me.

“Okay, but only because I’m not sure what I was thinking by telling myself I was okay with hooking up. I probably shouldn’t have come over last night, but there’s something about you that I can’t stay away from. You’re like a drug I can’t resist,” she said as she stared into my eyes.

“Well, as long as we fly under the radar, no one needs to know. That way if things don’t work out, no one’s the wiser. We’ll play it by ear.” It blew my mind that I was even considering exclusivity. “Will you come to the games? I want to be able to look up and see you there.”

“I can’t afford to upgrade both nights.” She grimaced apologetically.

“What if I got you tickets? You could bring your friend from the bar,” I offered.

Biting her lip indecisively, she at least hadn’t said no right away. “My family is going to wonder how I suddenly became this big hockey fan when I never was before.”

“Tell them your friend wanted you to go with her,” I countered.

“Natalie? The only sport she ever liked was baseball when my brother was playing,” she wryly replied. My brain was stopped on the word brother. It made me realize I knew nothing about her except for where she worked.

“You have a brother?” I asked as I followed the water rivulets that cascaded over her shoulder and dripped off her nipple.

“Four.”

“You have four brothers?” I asked, giving her a dumbfounded look.

“Yes?” She wrinkled her nose and waited for my response.

“And will said brothers want to beat my ass?” I trailed my finger along her bottom lip.

She chuckled adorably. “Maybe?”

“You think I could take them?” I asked with a cocky grin. Playfully, I flexed my arms. It pulled laughter from her, and the sound of it did crazy things to me. Made me want different things out of life.

“Probably not all at once. They’re pretty badass,” she said with a poorly suppressed grin. My hand slammed over my heart.

“Ugh! You wound me. No faith in my ass-kicking ability. Ouch.”

She scoffed playfully. “Whatever. Anyway, let me see what I can do. I’ll talk to Natalie, but I don’t want you thinking I want shit from you. I’m okay with sitting in the seats I’m able to get.”

Starting at her hairline and running my fingers along her wet, dark locks, I stopped at the ends and curled it around my fingers. Then I held her gaze. “I know, but I want to be able to see you. Be my good luck charm,” I urged her.

Her expression