Every Sweet Regret (Orchid Valley 2)

Her hookup is still here.

I move to stand so fast that I hit my head on the pipe. “Fuck!” Too loud. That was too fucking loud, and I just want to get out of here. I’d rather drink paint thinner than listen to some random guy pleasure Stella. Would rather make it a double before meeting the asshole the morning after.

I scramble to get out from under the sink and stand. The room spins a little as I right myself, and I have to brace against the counter. My head pounds.

“Kace?”

I close my eyes at the sound of her voice. Pass the paint thinner.

“Jesus, are you okay?”

The soft fall of her steps grows closer, but I don’t want to lift my head and look at her right now. I don’t have any right to the jealousy she’ll see in my eyes if I do.

So I keep them shut. Even as she steps close and the warmth of her body brushes mine. Even as her fingers skim my cheek and she smooths my hair back to examine my forehead.

“This is gonna be one hell of a goose egg if you don’t get ice on it.” She steps away, and I finally meet her green eyes and scan the freckles in the morning light coming in between the slats of her blinds. I’m weak for this woman. “Be right back, okay?”

Either she and her hookup were fucking half clothed, or she got dressed fast. She’s in a baggy T-shirt that hangs off one shoulder and . . . well, I’m not exactly sure what she has on under that. Probably better not think too much about it.

She walks toward the kitchen, and I don’t look away as her T-shirt shifts and slides against her simple black panties.

I’m really screwed in the head if I’m ogling a woman who was literally in bed with someone else less than a minute ago. I need to get out of here. I’ll come back later after she’s gone. “I can get myself ice at home,” I say, following her down the hall.

She flashes me a confused frown over her shoulder. “That’s dumb, Kace. I have it right here.” She grabs a bag of peas from the freezer then strides back to offer it to me. My fingers brush hers as I take it.

I swallow. “I’ll get out of here. I didn’t realize you were still— I mean, that . . .” I clear my throat. Fucking awkward. “That you had company over.”

Frowning, she guides my hand with the “ice pack” to my forehead. “I don’t have company over.”

I gingerly touch the bag of peas to the bump. God damn, that hurts. “It’s fine, Stella. It’s none of my business. I heard you two . . .” You’re making it worse. Abort. Abort. I step around her, ready to run out the door. “Anyway, I’ll be back later. Let me know when you’re done—I mean, when he’s gone. Or when I can come back.”

She steps into the hall and grabs my wrist to stop me. Her smile is the picture of puzzled curiosity. “There’s no one else here, Kace. What did you—” Her cheeks flame red with the speed of a struck match. “You heard me?” Her eyes dart to her bedroom and then back to my face. “From in there?”

“Yes, but it’s fine, and I . . .” Then her words register. No one else is here. My eyes seem to have a mind of their own as they drop to the hem of her T-shirt again and then shift to the feminine fingers still wrapped around my wrist. She was in the bedroom alone. Oh, fuck me, but the idea of her lying in bed making herself moan like that? My brain might’ve decided against being a creep, but my dick is totally on board. My mind immediately flashes to my fantasy, to the vivid image of her gripping the back of my couch and the sound of her moaning as I— “I should go. You can get back to . . .” Yep. Every time I open my mouth, I make it worse. “I’ll go.”

She sidesteps in front of me. When she crosses her arms over her chest, her shirt creeps up, but I’m not going to look. I don’t need a reminder of her soft thighs. The laundry-faded black of her panties will be forever imprinted on my brain. “Are you going to be all weird about this?”

I jerk my gaze back up from where it drifted to her bare legs. “Weird about what? There’s nothing to be weird about.”

“You look like you just caught me masturbating to My Little Pony or something.”

I nearly choke on my tongue. “My Little Pony?” What the fuck? I shake my head. “You know what, I don’t want to know.”