don’t know, this feels—”
“Don’t say wrong.” He steps closer. “Because we both know that nothing has ever felt more right.”
“Your roommates will know.”
“And I think Kaipo has proven they’re on our side. Ro and Emery won’t say anything, and the only other person is my brother Levi, who’s hardly ever there. And if he says anything I’ll break both his legs.”
“Wow. All that just to get laid,” I joke, hoping it’ll soften some of the lines in his face.
“I don’t need to have sex with you, Bex. I just want to be near you. This distance is killing me.” He sifts his fingers through my hair to hold the back of my head and bring our foreheads together. “I really fucking like you. A lot. Not being able to show it is torture.”
I swallow hard, close my eyes and brace for his response to what needs to be said. “Are you sure, I mean, do you think it’s possible you only want me with this kind of urgency because you can’t have me?”
He pulls back and looks down at me as if I just told him I eat puppies on Sundays. “Is that what you think?”
I shrug and shrink a little. “It’s crossed my mind.”
“Okay.” He steps back from me and I miss him immediately. It’s on the tip of my tongue to beg him to come back, to tell him I didn’t mean it just to get his hands on me again. “I promised I’d give you until tonight, but as of eight o’clock, I’m done. As of eight o’clock tonight I’m coming after you and I don’t give a fuck who knows. No more depriving us of what we both want.”
“But Riley—”
“She already senses it coming. I could tell by the way she looked at me last night, she knows I’m not into her. She might be surprised when she sees me all over her cousin, but she’ll get over it.”
“She’ll talk shit and spread rumors—”
“Don’t care.”
“She’ll make my life hell—”
“If she does, I’ll have a nice long talk with her about the pros and cons of pissing off the entire BSU football team.”
I open my mouth, close it, open it again, and then close it.
He smiles cockily. “Finally ran out of excuses, huh.”
“Okay.”
His cocky smile turns elated. “Okay? You’re in.”
“I’m in.”
He lunges, wraps his arms around me and lifts me off the ground. “Fuck yes, baby. Thank you.”
He’s thanking me? I hug him back, smiling into his neck. “You’re welcome?”
His chuckle vibrates against me. “We should probably get these boards loaded up.”
I slide down his body to my feet, and even with the concrete beneath me, I still feel like I’m floating.
Loren hooked us up with all the cleanest boards, some of them having never been used before. Even though they weigh very little, he refused to let me help him load them into the back of the truck.
“Do you surf?”
He settles a board on top of another. “I can. Let’s just say I’m better on the field than the water.”
“What position do you play?”
He carries another board past me to the truck, a sexy smirk aimed my way. “Tight end.”
I lift a brow and openly ogle his ass. “I should’ve known.”
This time when he passes, he kisses me.
The back door of the surf shop opens up and out walks the beautiful woman I saw working with him the first time I came in. She’s wearing a loose halter that is nothing more than a triangle of fabric with two strings, one around her back and the other her neck. Her hair is loosely curled in waves and I have a pair of underwear that covers more skin than her shorts do. I hate the way her beauty makes me self-conscious.
“Did the Billabong delivery come in?” Her eyes never leave Loren even though I’m standing less than two feet from him.
“Yeah, I unloaded it this morning, it just needs to be tagged and put out.” He smiles at me, then turns back to her. “I’ll be in in a minute.”
She still doesn’t acknowledge me, and Loren must sense it, because he grabs my hand and pulls me from my spot leaning against the wall to his side. “Brit, this is my girl, Bex.”
Finally she looks at me. “Hey.” I don’t read any hostility or jealousy in her expression.
“If she ever calls or comes by, interrupt whatever I’m doing to get me, cool?” He presses a kiss to the top of my head.
“Sure thing. Cool to meet you,