Pretend You're Mine (Inked Hearts 3)

His smile spreads over his face.

My cheeks flush. This is weird. Amazing, but weird. I’m a giggly schoolgirl again. I’m on a fucking cloud. I’m floating.

My hand finds his hip. God, will I ever get tired of touching him? Soft skin. Hard muscles. All those lines of ink.

And it’s Ryan.

My best friend.

My favorite person in the entire world.

The guy I’ve been lusting after for two years is still naked in my apartment.

I’ve died and gone to heaven. Really, I have.

“This is surreal,” I whisper.

“Good surreal.” His lips skim my neck. “We’re due at work in two hours.”

“Can we ditch? Stay in bed all day?”

“You can, yeah. I have appointments.”

“Have Dean do them.”

He shakes his head in horror.

“Kidding.”

“I know.” He releases me as he takes a step backward. “Let’s go out. I’ll buy you breakfast.”

“What about your car?”

“Dean moved it into our parents’ driveway. I’ll get it tonight.”

“He has your keys?”

“Parents have a spare.”

“What do they think of Penny?”

“They don’t know why it ended. Think I was an idiot to leave her.” He shrugs. “They’ll get over it.”

Have you? Are you all the way there yet? I bite my lip. I can’t bring myself to ask. I don’t want to hear the answer. I don’t want to think about her.

Right now, everything is perfect.

I want to float on that for a while. “Dean’s been trying to help me. I think.”

“Help you do what?”

“Get in your pants.”

“Dean helping someone get laid isn’t weird.”

“But it’s more—”

“I know.”