“What about War?” I asked, passing him a cold can.
It was a simple card game where two players each put down one card, and the person who put down the higher value took the cards. If both players put down a card of the same value, they had to stack five cards on top, and the fifth card was the tiebreaker. Whoever collected all the cards was the winner.
“Let’s do this,” Luke said, raising his brows at me in challenge. I couldn’t help but laugh. Any tension from a moment ago seemed to dissipate. Luke was just too easy to be around to let things be weird for too long.
I shuffled the cards and split the deck evenly between us.
After losing my sixth hand in a row to Luke, I groaned, “No.” I went to take a pull of my beer but found it empty. The game had started off fine, but I was getting closer to the end of my cards each hand, and if I continued on this trend, I would be out of cards entirely in no time.
“New rule,” he said, finishing off his beer as well. “You can buy back your card, only it’ll cost you an article of clothing,” he laughed.
“Not fair! I’m in sweats, and you’ve got your full uniform on.”
“Those are the rules. You want the card back or not?” He shrugged. He didn’t seem in the least bit concerned, so I wasn’t going to be either.
I rolled my eyes, trying with all my might to keep the blush off my cheeks. I reached down and pulled a sock off my foot, throwing it at Luke.
“You asked for it.” I smiled smugly, raising my shoulder with attitude.
His smile dropped, and an unmistakable heat lit his eyes. “And I’ll take it.”
I won the next hand, so I threw his offer back at him. It wasonly fair, after all.
“Buying it back, or am I keeping this?” I waved his card in my hand.
Luke reached down and unbuttoned his police shirt. “I’ve been dying to take this off anyway. Might as well get my card back while I’m at it,” he said. He was wearing a plain white T-shirt under his police shirt. He folded his shirt neatly, placing it on the floor next to my sock. His gaze held mine for a beat. This felt like uncharted waters, and I wasn’t sure what to do.
“Card, please.” He reached his hand out, a smirk on his face.
“It’s all yours,” I said as nonchalantly as I could.
My other sock went, along with Luke’s socks, my hair elastic, and Luke’s T-shirt.
I laid my card face down, only turning it over when Luke had his card placed beside mine. “Shoot,” I grumbled. His ten of clubs stared back at me next to the eight of diamonds that I had played. “I don’t have anything else that’s small.”
“You could always lose your bra,” he said. His bare chest rose and fell quickly. His eyes darted to my breasts before pinging back up to my face.
“I’m not wearing a bra,” I told him. My voice was low, almost sultry-sounding. My breasts were full but on the smaller side. Behind the baggy sweatshirt I was wearing, it wouldn’t be obvious that I was braless.
The column of his throat bobbed on a thick swallow. He rubbed his hand along his jaw roughly, his eyes closing shut. He cursed under his breath. When he opened his eyes, I felt like I was seeing a completely different side of him.
“Guess it’s mine, then,” he said.
I stood and dragged my sweatpants down my legs. I may not have been wearing a bra, but I did have underwear on. Itseemed like the safer option.
Luke let his eyes roam up and down my body. The sweatshirt I was wearing was long enough to cover my butt, but just barely.
“Christ, Letty. You’re killing me,” Luke groaned. My skin tingled in every spot Luke’s darkened gaze touched. I didn’t want to overthink what was happening between us. I wanted to stroll over to him and straddle my legs over his lap. I wanted to feel the bulge that was evident in his pants rub against my sensitive center.
But before I could do any of that, my phone rang, startling both of us. I glanced at the screen out of habit.
“It’s just my sister. I can call her back.”
Luke jumped to his feet. “You should answer it. It’s getting late. I’m going to jump in the shower. You’re good if I take the spare room tonight?”
“Of course. That’s fine,” I said automatically.
I waited until he had walked away, my phone long forgotten, before I picked up my discarded clothes and shut myself in my bedroom. Confusion and embarrassment were fighting for dominance in my brain. I lay in bed, listening to the sound of the shower, to Luke shuffling around in the room next door, all while replaying the events of the day.
