gut, and I took a step closer to her. I bet she’d met fucking Lyle’s mother. The thought pissed me off so much I wanted to punch something. “You’ve met my mom. She even went to your eighteenth birthday party.”
Her smirk disappeared, and I saw something that looked like hurt flicker across her face before she quickly hid it. “Yes, but you have never introduced us. I don’t share my bed with anyone who doesn’t think I’m good enough to meet his mother.”
“How many guys have shared your bed, Arella?” I gritted out. I needed to know how many, and their names, so I could fucking kill every last one of them. I would start with Lyle and work my way down the list.
Her eyes flashed fire at me. “How many girls have shared yours?” she countered.
Fuck, of course, she would turn it around on me. “Ever, or this year?”
“It’s only February, but I’m sure the number is still a high one for the year alone,” she sassed, but I saw the jealousy she wanted to hide before she lowered her lashes.
“Zero,” I informed her, and her eyes narrowed on me. “My number for the year is zero.” It was zero for the previous year as well, but she didn’t look as if she believed me for the current year, so I didn’t mention it.
“Huh,” she muttered skeptically. “Well then, there you go. You have my tally for the current year as well.”
“I want to know your total,” I bit out. I needed to know how many motherfuckers had touched what was mine, but at the same time, I wasn’t sure if I could handle knowing.
“You first,” she countered, quirking a brow as if she were amused. She could read my jealousy because I sure as hell wasn’t trying to hide it. “You tell me yours, and I’ll tell you mine.”
A throat clearing brought me back to the here and now, reminding me that we weren’t alone. Cathryn’s gaze was still on her phone, but she was obviously listening in. “Just an FYI. Kirtner texted me to say he’s about five minutes away.” She finally lifted her gaze from the screen. “I’m just going to step out and wait on him. Give you two a moment to sort out your…sleeping arrangements.”
I waited until the door clicked closed behind her before speaking again. “When we’re done here, we can stop by my place so I can grab some clothes.”
She huffed in annoyance. “I told you I don’t sleep with guys who haven’t introduced me to their mother. It’s my number one rule for sharing my bed with anyone.”
“Then we’ll stop by your place and grab you some things. We can sleep in my bed. Problem solved. No rules broken.” Those pretty eyes narrowed on me yet again, but before she could blast me with her verbal abuse, I touched my thumb to her lips. They were so soft and full, and I couldn’t help fantasizing about them wrapped around my cock. “Why is it so important that I introduce you to my mother when you have already met her? It makes no sense to me.”
“You’re right,” she surprised me by saying, but just as I began to relax, she detonated her bomb. “It is a stupid rule to have. How dare I have standards and believe if I’m not important enough to a guy to be introduced to his mom, I shouldn’t let him touch the sacred temple that is my body?”
When put in that perspective, I got exactly where she was coming from. But why the hell did she need me to introduce her to my mother when they already knew each other? Fuck, her parents and mine had been friends for years. Maybe they were not exactly the closest, not like her parents were with the Armstrongs, but my parents still respected Lana and Drake and always attended any gathering they were invited to by the Stevensons.
I’d never personally introduced a girl to either of my parents before. Not even Mia. Her mom and mine were good friends. Growing up, they would always make plans to have lunch or go shopping together, while leaving Mia and me home with one of our dads.
But then, I saw the hurt Arella couldn’t completely hide, and I knew this was something important to her. Even though I didn’t fully understand her need for me to introduce her to Mom, I wasn’t going to fuck up with Arella any more than I already