The Roommate Equation
I have no idea what to say in response. Dylan might as well have taken a machete to my heart when he broke it. Every word he spoke made me want to rip it from my chest, even for a second, as long as it would take the pain away. Losing him left a gaping hole inside me. I tried my best to find someone else and forget about him.
And when I met Josh, I thought I had moved on from the past. But the physical and emotional scars left behind made that impossible. Dylan doesn’t even know how much one night changed both of our lives. He thinks he only lost me, and that’s how I wanted it, but I lost so much more—more than I’m willing to share with anyone.
“I have some stuff I need to do for work,” I lie.
Well, I suppose I could read a few scripts to help Nico Chase find a role in his next movie. It would get me a few brownie points with Vinnie.
Dylan grunts in response. I guess he expected me to pour my heart out to him. Nope, not going to happen. Never again will I lower my guard with him. If Dylan only wanted my body, I would give it to him. But my heart isn’t ready for more.
I get out of the pool and dry myself off with a fluffy towel that smells like Dylan’s laundry detergent. Water splashes behind me, and within seconds, Dylan is on my ass.
He hovers over me. “What are you wearing?”
“A bikini,” I shoot back. “You got a problem with it?”
His fingers slide down my arm. “You’re making this hard for me.”
“You mean, I’m making you hard. There’s a difference.”
He groans, moving his hand to my hip, and now I’m having trouble focusing. I haven’t had sex in ages, and Dylan is still the best I have ever had. What if all we need is to get this sexual tension out of our bodies? Could we possibly have sex once and walk away?
“Cover me,” I say, handing Dylan my towel.
I tug at the strings of my bikini top, and he curses under his breath as he holds the towel up to shield me.
“What the fuck, Ash?”
“I have to pee, and I doubt you want me walking through your pristine house soaking wet.”
My top hits the pavement, and Dylan makes a noise that sounds like a growl. “You’re killing me.”
“I’m sure you have women you can call, and they’ll come running over to serve you.”
“I’m not Sloan,” he hisses.
“No, you were never like him.”
“I only want one woman,” he challenges.
After I take off my bottoms, I grab the towel from his hands and wrap it around my naked body.
“You should call her,” I say as I walk toward the house.
He laughs. “Go grab your phone.”
Chapter Eleven
Dylan
I can’t get Ash out of my head. She laughed off my comment earlier about wanting to fuck her, and I haven’t seen her since. All afternoon, especially after seeing her naked, my mind has been racing with crazy thoughts.
Staring at the computer monitor, I try to shake my feelings for Ash, but it’s impossible. Sloan is still at the party I dropped him off at in Beverly Hills. Ash hasn’t come out of her bedroom since our encounter earlier. I’m bored out of my skull, even though I have tons of work to do. For every line of code I write, I waste another ten minutes thinking about Ash.
Fuck it.
I slide my chair out from the desk and head toward Ash’s bedroom. I’m hungry, and I doubt she’s eaten all day. I knock on Ash’s door, and as expected, she ignores me.
The more she pretends I don’t exist, the more I want to talk to her. That’s how it has always been with us. Balling my hand into a fist, I knock a few more times with the same result.
“Ash, I’m coming in,” I warn before I push open the door.
She has her back to me, her cell phone raised to her ear. “Look, Vin, I’m working on it. Give me until the end of the weekend.” Ash groans, and then a long pause ensues before she says, “If this doesn’t work out, then I get it. Yep. Uh-huh… Sounds good.”
She ends the call and then curses under her breath, throwing her cell phone onto the bed. “What a dick face.”
“Everything okay?”
She gasps and then spins around. “Dylan, what the hell? Why do you keep sneaking up on me today? Are you trying to give me a damn heart attack?”
“After the stunt you pulled earlier, I’m pretty sure you’re trying to give me one.”
She throws her head back and laughs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I enter her bedroom, careful to keep my distance from her. “Have dinner with me.”