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She licked her lips and slowly nodded. “Okay.”
I nodded for her to get in my bed and pulled the blanket back up from where it had been kicked to the floor. I crawled into bed next to her and pulled her into my chest. “I want you here tonight.”
Wrapping her arm over my chest, she curled her leg over mine and let out a happy sigh. “My ex wasn’t a cuddler. This is good.”
I wasn’t usually a cuddler, either. If the other women I slept with tried to leave as fast as Ella had, I would’ve gladly let them go. It was different with Ella, though. I wanted her in my bed. I wanted her again already. The idea of not having seconds or thirds with her wasn’t a pleasant one. “If tonight showed you anything, I hope it’s that you’re way too good for a man with a small dick and selfish desires.”
She tilted her head to look up at me and smiled. “Tonight showed me a lot of things. Like what a real orgasm feels like. And what multiple orgasms feel like. And how good it feels to be held by someone so much bigger than me.”
I tugged her fully on top of my chest and cupped her ass. “I’m happy to continue these valuable lessons.”
She yawned and rested her cheek over my heart. “Maybe after a nap. Orgasming multiple times is tiring. Just a little nap. A kitten nap.”
I felt her body go limp and smiled into her hair. It occurred to me that I was wide awake and holding a knocked out Ella with zero plans of moving an inch. I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the weight of her body on top of mine. Each time thoughts of Vaughn threatened to come up, I shoved them down and focused on Ella.
20
***Ella***
Icould hear someone in the weight room as I hovered just outside of the door. I wanted to take advantage of there being a workout room in the house but I was nervous to face Vaughn, or Fisher, after what I’d done the night before. I’d snuck out that morning while Fisher was still asleep and did everything I could to avoid him during the rest of the day. I didn’t know the normal etiquette around sleeping with your roommate. Vaughn had said Fisher didn’t do seconds and I didn’t want him to think I was being desperate and needy.
A growled curse sifted through the door and I let out a sigh of relief as I placed the voice as Booth’s. I didn’t have a reason to avoid him, thankfully. I pushed into the room and froze in the doorway. Booth was bare-chested on the weight bench, lifting a wild amount of weight. The muscles in his arms and chest stood out and I saw just how built he really was for the first time. It was only the sound of the weights settling back in place that snapped me out of my stupor.
I closed the door behind me and licked my lips. “Hey! Sorry if I interrupted your workout. I just figured I should pretend to take care of myself.”
Booth grunted but didn’t say anything as he moved to another piece of equipment and started doing squats with another crap ton of weight on his shoulders. His thighs strained his gym shorts and I felt sweat pebble along my spine at the sight of his back muscles flexing. I’d known Booth was a mountain with enough strength to take down multiple men his size at the same time but seeing it undressed was another thing.
I reached up to make sure I wasn’t drooling before forcing my eyes away from his body. Unfortunately, the wall in front of him was fully mirrored. I could not only see his body once, I could see it twice. I patted my cheeks at the warmth flooding them and blew out a shaky breath.
“If I walk at a snail’s pace on the treadmill and call that a workout, don’t judge me, okay?” I smiled and shrugged out of my oversized t-shirt as I climbed onto the giant machine. I looked at the dozens of buttons and winced. “It’s been a long time since I spent time in a gym. Do all the machines feel like a sci-fi movie now?”
Booth sighed and dropped his weights before closing the distance between us. He stopped next to the treadmill and I saw that he was glistening with sweat. His scent should’ve been illegal. Or sold as an aphrodisiac. “How fast do you want to go?”
“Fast.” I swallowed and sank my teeth as his muscles came even closer as he reached to hit a button. Then I realized what he’d asked and how I’d answered. “No! Sorry! I want to go slow. Slow. Very slow.”
He lifted his eyes to mine and I saw that they were pinched. With his eyebrows furrowed, he looked grumpier than Vaughn usually did. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “You okay?”
He rolled his lips into his mouth and nodded. “Yep.”
I wanted to say more but he hit another button that started the machine and I discovered fairly quickly that our version of slow wasn’t the same. I nearly stumbled off the machine and only stayed upright because of Booth’s grip on my arm. “Thanks. I think-”
He was already turned away from me and back at his machine, working out those strong thighs. I watched him through the mirror and tried to imagine what had gotten him so cranky. He usually had a smile for me every time I saw him.
I stumbled again and heard Booth growl. “Pay attention to or you’re going to lose some skin to that track, Ella.”
I jerked my eyes back to my reflection in the mirror and told myself the flush was because of the workout. My workout set felt obscenely cheery next to his mood. The hot pink set showed off more skin than I ever would’ve showed out of the house. It hugged my body and left nothing to the imagination. The color made me happy but Booth’s mood was working hard against it.
My eyes naturally found Booth in the mirror again and I watched him drop to the ground to do push-ups. I should’ve felt some shame over gawking at him after sleeping with Fisher but I didn’t feel anything like it. I felt plenty of other things, but not anything remotely resembling guilt.
My feet got tangled and I went down hard. I landed in a heap a few feet in front of Booth. He moved faster than should’ve been possible for a man his size as he hit a button to stop the treadmill and helped me unravel myself. I laid flat on my back and groaned as he checked me for injuries.
“Well, that was embarrassing.” I hated how annoyed Booth looked and just wanted him to smile at me again. “What’s wrong, Booth?”
“I told you to pay attention, Ella. You could’ve hurt yourself. You’re going to have bruises.” He stood up and grabbed a towel to wipe his face. “I’ll just finish my workout later. Be careful in here.”
I struggled to my feet and reached out to grab his arm. “Booth, wait. Did I do something?”
