Stir Me (Rouse Me 2)

She shakes her head. "Uh-huh."

"Implying that you're some kind of harlot."

"Some really current slang there."

She looks at me. There's something in her eyes, some kind of delight. Her lips curl into a tiny smile.

"He called you a slut," I say.

"I've been called worse."

"Maybe. But he went on about how you were using me. How you were already bored of me."

"And you believed him?" she asks.

"No, but the thought stung a lot worse than this black eye does."

A smile breaks onto her face. "God, what the hell am I going to do with you? You hit him because he called your girlfriend a slut?"

"I hit him because he deserved it," I say. "And maybe I hate that he ever mattered to you."

She runs her fingers along my neck. "Not like you do."

"But really, he looked awful, right?"

"He looked worse than I'd expect," she says.

"Excuse you?"

She laughs and her eyes find mine. "He's obsessive about going to the gym."

"I go to the gym," I say. "I'm very fit."

"I've experienced your level of fitness firsthand. Your stamina is very impressive. And your cardiovascular conditioning... I have no doubt you could outlast him."

"Continue."

She shakes her head. There's pleasure on her face. She's enjoying this. "In your dreams."

"Maybe I need to take you to the bedroom and remind you."

Her eyes light up. "I remember just fine. But he lifts. You don't."

"I do tabata."

"Of course you do." She laughs. "What the hell is tabata?"

"Tactical bodyweight exercises."

"I'm pretty sure you made that up." She rearranges the bag of blueberries and takes a long look at me. "Whatever you're doing, it's working. Everyone in a ten-mile radius knows how sexy you are. Hell, I can barely look at you shirtless without daydreaming about fucking you. Now sit still."

She takes a wet paper towel and wipes my forehead. Her touch is still soft and gentle. She wants to stay. She's almost mine.

I look into her eyes. "Samantha bought me out of my half of the mortgage today."

"Oh." She bites her lip.

"And after, we had a talk. And I told her that we can't be friends anymore."