he goes after wake up naked in his bed the next morning.
I don’t want John anywhere near Melody. If I have to watch her stumble out of John’s bedroom tomorrow, I’m pretty sure I’ll have to punch my best friend in the face, which would likely result in being forced to move back in with my parents, aka the ninth circle of hell.
“Sure, that works. What are you thinking?” John asks as we head for the back door. “The Last Chance? Or is that too far to drive?”
“Last Chance works for me,” I say, relief banishing the tension from my jaw.
Melody is safe from John’s lady-magnet powers.
For tonight, at least.
Now if only I could create a force field to protect Melody from all the other Johns of the world. When it comes to the youngest March sister, I refuse to succumb to temptation, but I don’t really want anyone else succumbing either.
Fat chance, buddy. Melody may be infatuated with you now, but a girl like her will be off the market soon enough.
If you don’t want to lose your shot, you’d better act fast.
I ignore the inner voice, but later, after John and I shut down The Last Chance and I’m lying alone in bed, I can’t help but imagine what it would be like to have Melody lying next to me. The way her blond hair would spill across the pillow, how sweet she would look with her lips parted in sleep, and every soft, needy sound she would make as I kiss her awake and make love to her, until we’re both sweaty and sated and lying heavy in each other’s arms.
I drift off to sleep aching for her only to dream of a naked Melody with my phoenix tattooed down the side of her ribs and over one curvy hip. She sits on my bed in a shaft of morning sunlight, looking so perfect I can’t believe I was almost stupid enough to refuse her the ink she wanted.
My tattoo belongs on her beautiful body.
“And you belong with me,” Dream Melody whispers, motioning for me to join her.
My dream self doesn’t even try to resist.
Seconds later, I’m naked, too, pushing her back onto the sun-warmed sheets, claiming her lips, urging her soft thighs apart with my knee while I—
The air horn alarm on my cell blares, wrenching me from sleep.
I slap at the phone until it finally goes silent, then squeeze my eyes shut and let out a groan of need so pitiful it’s almost funny. If I wasn’t hard enough to drive nails, I might be able to muster up a laugh at my own expense.
As things stand however…
I drag my aching, frustrated body out of bed and limp toward the shower, but even after ten minutes under the lukewarm spray and a two-minute blast of cold at the very end, I still can’t completely banish the dream or Melody March from my mind.
This is turning into more than a lust crush. I’m becoming fucking obsessed with this girl.
I haven’t had a crush like this since I was…
Hell, I can’t remember ever having a crush like this. A crush so hard-core I seek out reasons to linger in the kitchen at work to listen to Melody chat with her sisters, so serious I get a weird happy/turned-on feeling every time our eyes meet, so intense I can’t bring myself to fantasize about anyone else when I’m awake and dream only of Melody when I’m asleep.
It makes me wonder…
Maybe this is more than a crush.
Dude, you just escaped a bad situation with a good girl. The last thing you need right now is hearts and flowers and all the rest of that crap. Snap out of it!
The inner voice is right. I’m not looking for anything with feelings, and even if I were, Melody isn’t an option.
I thrust the mushy thoughts from my mind like a live grenade. No more good girls, that’s the rule. But if I want to stay on the No Good Girls Wagon, I need to get Melody out of my head.
Fast.
The second John stumbles out of his room, scratching his now even-mangier beard as he heads for the shower, I pounce.
“Hey, you want to close up early and hit The Horse and Rider tonight?” I ask. “Always more girls there on a Friday.”
John squints at me before nodding once and giving a sleepy thumbs-up.
“Cool.” I grin as I snag another cup of coffee, feeling my energy levels pick up even before my