Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men 9)

“God, you never give up, do you?” A reluctant grin broke across my face, glad he was flirting with me despite my awful jealous outburst. But a second later, my smile fell and I looked deep into his brown eyes. “Be honest, though. You never fucked her?”

He choked on the question, sputtering out a surprised laugh. “What? No! Hell no.”

“But you want to?” I pressed, knowing my worry was showing in my eyes.

Gaze sparking with challenge, he tapped his chin thoughtfully before answering, “You know, now that you mention it, I guess I was debating whether to bend her over this bench here and take her from behind or back her into that tree and shag her rotten against the bark. Jesus, Juli. Get your head out of the gutter. We share a couple classes together. That’s all.”

“Whatever,” I muttered, scowling. “I know how the male mind works.”

His eyebrows rose, and I could tell I’d offended him. But a second later, he let go of me and took a step back.

“This may sound hard to believe, but I don’t fuck every woman I talk to. I mean, what exactly do you think happens? I get within five feet of a chick, smell pussy, and my cock just takes over my brain until I’m forced to chase her down the sidewalk, tackle her into the grass and mount her right there, pounding into her until the testosterone settles down and I can think like a rational human being again?” He winced before adding, “Yeah… I have a tad bit more self-control than that.”

I folded my arms before glancing away. “Well, some guys don’t.”

His mouth fell open before realization sparked his gaze. “Ah hell, baby doll,” he said softly, pressing his nose against my temple. “I’m not your ex-husband.”

My stomach pitched sickeningly, and I shifted my attention away.

He shook his head and pulled me closer so that he was hugging me and kissing my brow. “It’s crazy to know some dumb bastard actually cheated on you. I mean, what the hell kind of idiot would cheat on you? You have a fucking golden pussy. I swear to God, you’re the best I’ve ever had.”

When I sent him a stern glance for being crude, his shoulders sagged and he must’ve realized he hadn’t cheered me up with that line.

With a sigh, he grasped my elbow and gently tugged me toward the bench. “Come here. Apparently we need to have that talk.”

My brain seized as I glanced up at his face. “What talk?” Oh God, my jealousy had pissed him off and he was going to end this, wasn’t he? Shit. I wasn’t ready to end it.

A big ball of dread lodged itself in my throat as he encouraged me to sit and then he sat next to me, his knees angled toward mine until our legs brushed against each other.

“I thought this understanding between us was implied, but I’m thinking we need to state the should-be-obvious ground rules aloud so we’re both on the same page.”

Oh God, he didn’t want to be exclusive, did he? And oh hell, had he already been non-exclusive with some other girl since we’d started sleeping together? How many had there been? Did I need to get myself tested?

Taking my hands, Colton looked me in the eyes and dropped the bomb. “I don’t care if it’s casual or serious, when I’m ...involved with someone, that’s it. There’s no one else.”

My lips parted, and I had to blink before crinkling my eyebrows and croaking, “What?”

He grinned. “I just said I only sleep with one woman at a time. Why are you staring at me like I’ve grown a second head?”

“I...I...I don’t know.” I shook my head, still stunned. “I just...you...we never discussed it, so I thought—”

“That I fuck every woman who crosses my path?” he guessed. “Yeah, sorry, I don’t work that way. I just don’t see the point. To me, it’s more fun to focus all my attention on one at a time, instead of trying to juggle and keep track of who likes what and where and how hard, and—”

I cut him off by leaping at him and kissing him hard.

He laughed against my lips before kissing me back. Our mouths opened and tongues touched. In that moment, I wanted to kiss him for the rest of my life. “I guess this means you’re cool with being exclusive,” he muffled against my lips.

“Yes. Hell yes.”

He pulled back and declared, “You know, we should end all our discussions this way.”

With a nod, I agreed. “I could handle that.”

One second, he was grinning at me in the middle of the university’s courtyard. The next, his eyes flared as he glanced over my shoulder, and he was hissing, “Shit,” as he jerked to his feet away from me.

“Wha…” I started, standing as well so I could whirl around and face what he’d just seen, only to gasp when I realized Brandt was right there. Like right there.

He hadn’t seen us yet; he was too busy reading something on his phone as he approached. There was no hiding, though. As soon as he looked up he’d see us because he was seriously right freaking there.