all of my bad choices and you've never judged me." I paused. "But I may still tease you about it."
Cam's eyes opened long enough for me to see her roll them. "Of course you will. You wouldn't be Sierra Watkins if you didn't."
I laughed. "Well, since you're full from sushi, I'll put the leftovers up. We can have them for lunch tomorrow."
Cam sighed. "I need to take a shower, but my legs hurt."
"Want me to give you a boost?"
"Nah, I'll get there eventually."
When I returned to the living room, Cam shoved herself to her feet. "I'm gonna take a shower and go to bed. See you in the morning."
"Night, Cam."
I watched her disappear down the hall and wondered if my friend realized that she was still half in love with her nemesis from her teen years.
9
I collapsed on the mattress next to Ben, my body still shuddering from the vestiges of climax. We were both breathing hard and covered in sweat.
"Wow," I mumbled, my eyes closed. "I don't think I've worked out this hard in a long time."
Ben's laugh was breathless. "You call this a workout?"
I opened one eye and stared at him. "We're both panting and sweaty. Pretty sure that's something that happens when you exercise."
"Get up with me in the morning and I'll show you what a real work out feels like."
It was my turn to laugh. "Oh, you're an adorable, funny man," I said, patting his bicep with my hand.
Wait a minute, he wanted me to stay the night? This was heading into dangerous territory too quickly.
I opened my mouth to say no, but closed it when he turned over, propping his head up on his hand. Whoa, so pretty.
"C'mon, it'll be fun," he said, distracting me from ogling his muscles.
"Okay, now I'm pretty sure you're just insane. How could you call torturing yourself fun?" I felt myself weakening. His body was so warm and hard, and he was touching me. My limbs weighed too much for me to lift them. And this bed was so comfy.
"You won't know until you try it," he said, stroking a hand over my hip. His fingers trailed over my inner thigh. "I can provide incentive."
Okay, that got my attention. But there was one tiny problem.
"You've convinced me but I can't."
"Why?"
"I have to go home tonight. Cam's out with Brody right now, but she'll be home later and she'll expect me to be there."
Ben's hand stopped moving on my thigh. "What?"
"I know, I know. It's ridiculous, right? I mean, I'm a grown woman. I shouldn't have to worry about what Cam thinks if I want to...to...spend time with you. But it would just complicate things."
"Why would it complicate things? Cam would understand." Ben said.
"Maybe but if Colette finds out, she won't. It'll be daydreams of marriage and babies, it won't matter that we've only known each other about a week."
"That does sound complicated," Ben murmured.
"I just don't want this to be weird when it's over. For anyone."
Ben was silent for a moment, then his hand continued to trail along my thigh. "It won't be."
I smiled at him. "Good."
"But did you say Cam was out with Brody?" he asked.
I nodded. "Yeah. They went to the movies. She said it's a friends thing, but I'm pretty sure she's lying to herself."
Ben chuckled. "Did she tell Brody it was just a friends-only movie? Because my brother has always had a thing for her."
I grinned at him and smacked his shoulder. "So I was right! Brody does like her."
"He always has but she was too young in high school and then Monica got pregnant, so it was too late as far as he was concerned. I'm glad he's not wasting his second chance."
My heart melted, just a tiny bit, for Brody. I'd only heard Cam's side of the story from their younger years, but it sounded like he'd been between a rock and a hard place and had handled it the best way a teenage boy could, which probably wasn't the best way at all.
Ben's voice interrupted my thoughts. "I don't know about you, but I need some time to recover. Want to watch a movie?"
I glanced over my shoulder at the digital clock on the nightstand. Almost nine-thirty. "I don't know. If I come in at four a.m. again, Cam's going to get suspicious. And I'm supposed to go to her parents' for lunch tomorrow."