“You should probably go,” I manage to say, not willing to give him the chance to say it first.
“Damn. Use me and toss me,” he jokes, prompting me to grin like an idiot.
Kode being playful is a good side of him to see.
I manage to walk back into the room after finishing up, and his eyes greedily rake over my body like he’s not as thoroughly spent as I am.
He’s already wearing his underwear and pants when I start pulling on a fresh pair of shorts and a T-shirt. He looks too good, which reminds me what this is—physical. Nothing else.
“So that’s how it is?” he muses, trying and failing not to grin. “Friends with benefits?”
As if it could be anything else. “Don’t say that,” I groan. “It’s too cliché, and I hate clichés. Besides, we’re not exactly friends.”
He laughs again, a sound I refuse to admit is my favorite thing to hear. “Fine. Not friends with benefits. Enemies with benefits?”
The mocking amusement in his eyes doesn’t go unnoticed as I sit down beside him on the bed. He glances down at all the leg my shorts expose, and he draws in a long breath.
“I wouldn’t say we’re enemies either. Just… casual… whatever.”
He grins while lifting his eyes to meet mine, and I get lost in the grayish-blue pits for a moment. It really is too bad that he’s one of the most unobtainable men ever.
“Fine. Casual whatever it is. I’ll see you when I see you then.”
It’s blunt and honest. Just like him. We can serve our carnal appetites without getting ourselves in a messy entanglement that would only end badly—oh so badly—for me.
After tossing on his shirt, he moves like he’s going to kiss me before stopping just barely. He’s so close that my eyes go blurry against the nearness, and his breath coats my lips.
“For the record, I was going to stay the night and make it worth your while. Maybe some other time.”
Yeah… breathing… not possible.
I watch with a mixture of awe and confusion as he walks out of the room, letting the door shut behind him. With a few curses, I drop back to lie on the bed, and the ceiling and I have a staring contest as my mind tries to sort through the wreckage and piece together something rational to explain what I’ve just done. Pathetic.
My phone chirps, and I reach over to grab it. When I see the name on the screen, I tilt my head.
Your Favorite Fuck: This works both ways. Now you’ve got my number. Use it.
Kode. Only he would program something so crude as that to be a name. Deciding I should respond, I start typing back a message. Then I erase it and start over. Then I erase it again and drop my phone to the bed in frustration.
Never should have left my phone out for him to play with. I’m tempted to tell him I’ve changed my mind and want him back in here right now. Then my phone chirps again, and I take a deep breath before reading it.
Your Favorite Fuck: Night, Tria.
I guess I missed the opportunity to do something as embarrassing as telling him to come back.
Me: Should I ask what you have me programmed as?
He responds almost instantly, and a grin forms on my face just knowing he has sent me another text.
Your Favorite Fuck: I wouldn’t recommend it. ;)
That just makes me smile harder.
I really am stupid.
Chapter 5
KODE
“What the hell happened to you last night?” Maverick asks as I sluggishly drop to the chair next to him. This restaurant has more gold embellishments than I’ve ever seen before. And the glaring glow of all the reflective surfaces is grating on my already frayed nerves.
“Whiskey happened to me,” I grumble.
Tria asked me to leave, which I was actually grateful for, considering I really did want to stay. Not sure why the fuck I wanted to stay, but I did.
But like a fucking clingy chick that couldn’t wait five minutes, I sent her a text before I even got on the elevator. I regretted it the second I hit send, and when she didn’t reply, I reacted by sending another damn text. Christ.
At least she sent something back that time, and I had the chance to keep myself looking somewhat suave.
I got back to my massive suite, and had to literally fight with myself to keep from going back down to her room. In the end, I drank myself into a numb stupor until I passed out.
“That’s not what I meant. You disappeared from the party and never came back.”
I saw no reason to go back up there.
“You’re the best man, Mav. I showed up and did my duty as the brother by playing nice.”
I’ll never forget how shitty I felt when Dane asked Maverick to be his best man. It would have been me, but as usual, I fucked it all up. That’s my specialty.