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‘Knock, knock,’ I say, simultaneously knocking on the bathroom door.
He opens the door a crack, extending only his hand. I hear him laugh after he closes himself back in to change.
‘Woman, you’re testing me,’ he thunders with humor. Then suddenly, the door swings open as he flips the light off and walks into the hallway.
‘I’m warning you right now, I’ve got no shame on a good day; tonight, it’s completely left the building. I’d do a spin to model, but the room is already doing that for me, so if you need a good look, you’ll have to circle me like the sun, girlfriend.’
‘Girlfriend?’ I repeat, attempting to keep my eyes on his, but he’s literally standing in front of me in only the boxer briefs I just handed him and he is more beautiful than a girl could hope for. ‘I didn’t realize we’d gone full on “that’s mah crew” with our friendship,’ I say somewhat mindlessly, my eyes wandering his body.
‘After this?’ He motions to the bathroom, then to his nearly naked self. ‘You just rifled through my underwear drawer. You’re starting to know me better than I know myself.’
River is tall and thin but not ‘skinny’, with actual abs and solid shoulders. Muscly shoulders. Yum. What girl doesn’t love that? All the better to protect you with. My gaze lowers. Wow-sa. This is my second time witnessing model-quality abs up close – the first earlier tonight when I excused him using his t-shirt as a sweat rag as I was distracted by these same abs. I want to touch them. Hell, I want to lick them. But I won’t.
Jade! Stop. Staring. I shouldn’t be ogling another guy. I know this, yet I can’t look away. I don’t want to.
A tattoo peeks out from under his left arm, and I want to know what it is, but I can’t spend any more time admiring him like this. When my gaze hits his belly button, it’s all over. I’m certain his underwear is sitting low on his hips, revealing that hip V that’s hot as hell, on purpose. The purpose – seeing if I’ll notice. Mission accomplished.
Do not follow that barely there trail of blond trail hair to where it disappears beneath the waistband of those ridiculous boxers, Jade. Ignore where that V is pointing. You are engaged; you’ll look like a hussy.
As he clears his throat, I realize I’ve been caught.
‘I can tell you’re impressed,’ he says, half an adorable smile on his face. His cheeks are flushed, and his hair is swept to one side. Suddenly, I see him like I never have before. ‘Are you proud of yourself? Now you’ve seen me at my absolute worst and in my underwear. The only fair thing to do now is show me yours.’
An unexpected giggle that usually only surfaces after a few drinks leaves my lips. ‘I’m never showing you my underwear,’ I say, tossing the navy sweats his way. They hit him in the chest, dropping into his hands as he’s not quite fast enough to catch them mid-flight in his current room-spinning state.
‘Honestly, I didn’t expect you to come out in them. I didn’t even have to dare you. Now that I see them on, I chose well. They’re very nice. As is the man in them. All the best, er, wrong places are perfectly emphasized.’ I motion a hand over his ‘wrong/best place’ and then cover my eyes.
‘Are you blushing right now?’ he asks, balancing one hand against the wall as he carefully and slowly pulls on his sweats.
‘No,’ I say, peeking through my fingers and lying through my teeth. Yes, I’m probably blushing for good reason. This man is beautiful.
‘Conner doesn’t look this good in his tighty-whities, does he?’
How could he guess he wears those? In Conner’s defense, they aren’t white. They’re black, but still, they are that style, which is not exactly sexy. Not like what I’m pretending I’m not still admiring now.
‘I can’t answer that,’ I say. ‘But you should probably wear a T-shirt to save me from further embarrassment. Tell me where your shirts live, and I’ll get you one.’
A smirk crosses his face. ‘Not until you admit you’re enjoying this. Anti-dating me is everything you expected and then some, right?’
I laugh. ‘It’s definitely been an adventure that I don’t hate.’
‘Come on, calamity Jade. You saw what I went through earlier; humor me, woman. Tell me you’re not headed for the hills once you leave my apartment because truthfully, even with you fully clothed, I think you’re starting to enjoy being stuck with me while Dr McDorky ignores you.’
‘I will admit, I’m quite enjoying being “stuck” with you.’
He grins. ‘You staring through your fingers is the best part of this. I get it. I’m sure Conrad hasn’t quite hit puberty, considering he can’t even make a phone call to break up with the woman he’s leading on, so there’s no way he’s got the sparkle I do.’
With this, I frown. ‘He did call.’
River was headed to the couch but stops in his tracks. ‘When?’ he asks without turning to face me.
‘A few days ago.’
I swear he groans under his breath like this disappoints him. ‘On that note, take a good long look while I head to the couch, where I will probably die later. Then you can dream of me after you’ve married mister wrong.’
He’s pretty sure Conner is unsuitable for me like he’s never questioned it. Why isn’t it as easy for me to see it?
He moves through his apartment as though he’s walking through a funhouse, dropping onto his couch face down like he’s passed out mid-step. One arm and leg hang off the edge limply until he grabs the remote Laney left on the table and flips the channel. ‘You don’t have to stay,’ he says, his mood suddenly low.
