But he was too close, and when she squeezed his cock in the aftershock of her orgasm, he knew the battle was lost. He thrust into her slick warmth, once, twice, three times, burying himself as deep as he could go before coming, his jaw clenched tight to muffle the sound.
Watching her in the mirror as he came back down from that high, the unspoken hint of possibility hanging in the air, he took in all of her—the rosy pink of her nipples, the tangle of her long brown hair, the full, round curve of her hips—and wondered if maybe he’d been missing what was right in front of him all along.
He opened his mouth to say something—anything—but that’s when he glanced over at the mirror and saw her staring right at him. There was no missing the regret in her big brown eyes. It sliced through him, sharp as a serrated knife, shredding whatever he thought could have been.
Silent as he’d been since he unzipped her dress, he stepped back, breaking their connection, and moved over so she had a clear path to the door. “Just give me a second to clean up.”
“Yeah, of course.” She scooped up her clothes, not looking at him, and walked out. “Take your time. I’m all done in here.”
Yeah. He just bet she was.
He shut the bathroom door behind her, turned on the shower, and got in before it even had a chance to warm up. Right now, he needed the frigid water to beat against him so he’d stop feeling her soft skin. Then he’d be able to block out the memory of how she trembled right before she came, her fingers gripping the sink like it was a lifeline. He’d be able to see the reality of the situation. Life was transactional. His grandmother. Mia. Hadley. None of it meant anything to them; it was just a means to an end.
Closing his eyes, he stepped fully underneath the icy downpour and didn’t even flinch. Fuck. He was so damn tired of it all.
…
There was only one bed in the guest room at PawPaw’s because of course there was. Thighs jellified, she put her underwear back on and threw on the T-shirt she’d been wearing earlier. For half a second, she worried about the fact that she wasn’t wearing pajama bottoms, but after what had just happened in the bathroom, the time for that was well past.
What in the hell had she been thinking? She hadn’t, and that was exactly why when she looked at Will in the mirror and realized that this was what there could have been between them, she’d never regretted anything more in her life. Instead of the sniping and the snarking, they could have…well, they could have at least been friends instead of nearly instant enemies. That thought, though, was immediately shown for the absolute bullshittery it was by Will’s reaction. It was like a switch had been flipped and he’d gone back to being Sir Supreme Dick.
And you thought you could at least be friends with him?
She was totally blaming the post-coital happy hormone rush for that bit of ridiculousness.
So yeah, not having PJ bottoms was pretty far down on the list of shitty things right about now, because she’d just fucked a guy who hated her guts. And she couldn’t stand him, either. He was the worst—unless she took into consideration what he could do when naked. Of course, that was best forgotten.
Pulling back the covers to the guest bed, Hadley made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t be fooled by a fabulous orgasm and abs she had serious regret about not having licked. Will was still the evil twin. He just happened to be one with a fabulous dick.
She closed her eyes and evened out her breathing so when Will walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later, he didn’t even attempt to talk to her before getting into bed. And the fact that he left a solid foot of open space between them? That was perfect. Abso-fucking-lutely perfect. Touching him again was the last thing she wanted. Once was definitely enough.
Chapter Eleven
Going by her horny subconscious, once was definitely not enough for Hadley. In her dreams last night, it had them doing it everywhere but on horseback while galloping off into the sunset. But when she cracked open her eyes the next morning, she was alone in bed—not that she cared.
Now, the fact that the corner of her pillow was damp