Juicy Rebound (IceCats 1)

But then two glasses come shattering down around our feet.

She pulls away as I mutter a curse. “I’m so sorry,” I say roughly, but I don’t let her go.

She looks around us and then back to me. “It’s okay. No worries.”

“I got a little carried away there.”

“I don’t mind,” she says breathlessly, her hands sliding up and down my biceps. “Can you grab a dustpan? I don’t have shoes on, and—” Before she can finish the sentence, I lift her up into my arms, and she lets out a cry. “Holy crap.”

I chuckle softly as I slide the door open. “Didn’t expect that, did you?”

She gazes over at me, her fingers laced behind my neck. “I didn’t expect you at all.”

I can’t help but grin because we’re just getting started.

Chapter Twelve

Amelia

I don’t know if I’m just being silly or what, but I swear I still feel Chandler’s lips on mine. I wondered if he kissed like he did in college, but the moment his mouth dropped to mine, I knew he didn’t. Before, he was so nervous, so unsure of himself. I mean, I took all the control then, and he just held me. But last night, not only did he hold me, he took charge. It was…it was amazing.

“You’re two seconds from picking one of those daisies off the table and pulling off the petals to see if he loves you or loves you not, huh?”

I roll my eyes, not looking over at Shelli as she moves around in the kitchen. “Shut it.”

“What? It’s cute. I know you like him.”

“I do.” No point in lying, I do. It just seems so unattainable. No one can go through what I went through and then find someone who wants all of me, the good and the bad. It’s unrealistic. I thought I had it all; I thought I had found my soul mate—only to realize I’d found no such thing. I found someone who ruined me. But I don’t want to think of that. Him. I want to think of Chandler.

I hang my head off the side of the couch, my hair falling, touching the floor. The tingling feeling in my body hasn’t stopped since he kissed me. I never expected him to kiss me, much less in a way that would stun me dumb. I honestly didn’t know what to think or how to act. I just wanted to feel, and boy did I. Everything was trembling, my stomach flip-flopped, and my pussy clenched in a way it hasn’t in years. Shelli is onto something when she says I need to get laid. I do; it’s been so long.

“You two should go out,” Shelli calls to me just as the water starts running in the sink. “Be nice to be just you two, I think.”

I’m hesitant, and I really don’t know why. As much as I want this, I know it will fail like everything else in my life has. For some reason, though, all that caution left when he pressed his lips to mine. That’s so naïve of me, but I want to see him—and I sure as hell want to kiss him again. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t know what? Stop being stubborn. Let it happen.”

“Let what happen?” I ask, looking over at her. “Let things get serious, and when he’s all in and I’m not, he gets hurt? That’s not fair.”

“Or you’ll go all in too,” she suggests, cocking her head. “You know he’s not Drew, right?”

“Well, no shit, Sherlock,” I grumble. “It’s not that. It’s—” I cut myself off, and I shrug as I look down at my bare feet. Emotion is suddenly drowning me as I sit there, blood rushing to my head. I feel Shelli’s gaze on me, but I don’t know what to say.

“Am…what?”

I swallow around the lump in my throat. “I just don’t think I’m good enough for someone like him. What if he sees the parts of me that obviously pissed Drew off, and he throws me away? I never thought Drew would lay a hand on—” I don’t even see her moving before she cups my head in her hands. I open my eyes, and she’s upside down as she stares down at me.

Concern and sympathy fill her blue eyes as she shakes my head. “Let me say this again. Chandler is not even a smidge of Drew. I don’t even know the guy that well, but I know that. One, Ryan adores him. They’ve been best friends for years. And two, he picked you up in his arms like some kind of damn prince and carried you inside so you wouldn’t cut your feet. Tell me, did Drew ever do anything like that for you?”

“No.”

“Exactly. Now stop being a stubborn ass and see what happens!”

I blink twice. “Shelli.”

“What?”

“Can you let me go so I can sit up? I can’t breathe, and I’m getting a headache.”