She thrashed and writhed beneath him, moaning his name. His cock raged in his joggers, begging to be let loose. He couldn’twaitto be inside her. He kissed her mouth, a blistering heat on her lips, on her tongue.
“I want you so goddamn bad,” he growled in her ear.
He pulled down the elastic band of his sweatpants and set his dick at her entry. But something was wrong. She squirmed, her pelvis moving precious inches away, and she looked at him oddly, her eyes narrowing into slits.
“No,” she said.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t think that thing will fit, dude.”
He chuckled. “Sure it will. You’ll see.”
“No, I mean—you’re huge. You’re gonna have to get me really wet first.”
“You’re plenty wet, babe.”
“I think I know my own body better than you do,” she said, a small note of annoyance in her voice. “Can’t you just give me head first?”
He sat up on his heels. “Oh. Uh. Ha …”
“Oh my God. You don’t go down on girls.” She was struck by an outburst of laughter when the realization hit her. But once it left her, she buried her face in her hands. “Are you serious right now? You’re not joking, are you?”
“I mean, you of all people should know,” he said, trailing off.
Angrily, she wrapped the towel around her naked body and moved to the far end of the couch. She stared at him, her eyes wild with hot judgment.
“What’s your problem, anyway?” she asked. “I mean, is somethingwrongwith you?”
He could see that she felt rejected. She was lashing out. It wasn’t her fault, she didn’t know the shame that roiled in the pit of his stomach whenever this came up. But it hurt all the same. And it sure didn’t help his case that he didn’t know how to voice any of it.
“I just don’t want to,” he said. “It’s nothing personal. I never do it. For any girl.”
“Oh, thanks. That makes me feel a lot better.” She rolled her eyes. “You know, theothergirls you’re used to might not have a problem with this, but I do. It’s selfish, Dane. It’s so unbelievably selfish—and immature, too.” She paused. “You’re really not even going to say anything?”
He tutted. He didn’t know what to say. He felt like the suspect being grilled on TV—sweating under the bright light of a lamp.
“Fine.” She stood. “In a way, I’m glad you’re like this, because if you weren’t? I probably would’ve done somethingreallydumb with you just now.”
He watched as she stamped over to the dryer. She stopped the machine and took out her clothes.
“Are they dry?” Dane asked.
“No,” she said as she stepped into her still-wet panties. She managed to hike them up her legs without opening her towel.
“You should let them finish drying, Austen. You don’t want to catch a cold.”
“Nice try, but I’m not falling forthatagain.”
“Seriously. Throw ’em back in and wait a little bit longer. I’ll leave you alone. I’ll even go up to my bedroom if it makes you feel better.”
“Yeah, sure you will.” She stepped out of view to put on the rest of her clothes. “This is exactly why I told you we should stop before we took things too far—butno,you wouldn’t take no for an answer, would you? And look where we are now.”
He frowned. “I’m sorry. Really.”
“Just forget it,” she said.
She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. She called a cab and gave the address and as soon as she hung up, she headed for the door.
