Page 91 of Power Play

“I stop it.”

All four men stared at me while Briggs’s eyebrows climbed.

“You stop?”

“Fuck you.”

“I’m asking respectfully.”

“You’ve never asked anything respectfully.”

Cade looked more interested than amused now. “Why do you stop?”

I rubbed my hand over my jaw. “Because she turns everything into a test.”

That answer quieted them.

“She worries about whether she said the right thing, wore the right thing, ordered the right thing, whether somebody’s pissed, whether she disappointed somebody. If I push this too fast, she’ll turn me into another fucking test she thinks she has to pass.”

Cade nodded slowly. “You think sex would do that.”

“I know it would right now.”

Briggs watched me. “How?”

“The first time we almost crossed that line, I stopped, and she apologized.”

“For what?”

“For me stopping.”

Rider frowned. “Why would she apologize for that?”

“Because she immediately decided something about her made me change my mind.”

Easton’s jaw tightened. “That’s rough.”

“Yeah.” I looked down at Charm’s name again. “I’m attracted to her enough that stopping is fucking miserable. I’m not doing it because I’m confused about what I want.”

Briggs grinned faintly. “Thank you for confirming.”

“Eat shit.”

“I’m listening.”

“I’m doing it because I want her to know she can choose this without figuring out whether she’s doing it right for me.”

Cade sat back. “That’s good.”

“I don’t know if it is.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because I might be making it worse.”

Briggs pointed the fry toward me. “How?”

“I keep telling myself I’m giving her room, but what if all I’m really doing is leaving her guessing?”