“Well thanks, yeah I’m good. There was no trouble or anything.”
“Good.” After an uncomfortable pause he cleared his throat and began, “Listen, about what happened at the restaurant -”
“Max, it’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. I was out of line, I had no right to question you about things that weren’t any of my business. It’s just...well you already know I like you. I guess I’m just hoping that I haven’t messed up any chances I might have had by coming across all paranoid.”
I sighed. “The thing is -” I stopped as his eyes moved from mine to over my shoulder and his expression darkened.
I turned my head to find Jared standing at the edge of the kitchen casually swigging an NST. At least he’d put his pants on. I rolled my eyes at him. I thought you might do that, I grumbled. I might not want Max the way I did Jared, but I had no interest in tormenting him.#p#分页标题#e#
Jared offered me an innocent smile and a small shrug of the shoulder.
Dreading Max’s reaction, I slowly swerved my head back round. To my surprise he had pasted a fake smile on his face. “So it was that kind of night,” he said – something that Fletcher would have said in the exact playful tone that Fletcher would have used.
What could I possibly say? I wasn’t going to deny it. I had no reason to other than that I felt sorry for Max but that wasn’t a reason to lie to him and it would only insult his intelligence anyway. Acting as though I bought his smile and pretence, I smiled back. “Yep.”
“Well I’d better go, got training in about twenty minutes. Although there’s a possibility that my trainer” – he nodded toward Jared – “might be late.” Again his tone was playful, empty of sourness. But I could detect the slight edge to it.
“See you later at the arena,” I said as he let himself out. I then turned to Jared with a ‘was that really necessary?’ look on my face.
He shrugged again and came toward me. “I did warn him that I wouldn’t stay away from you. Not my fault if he didn’t listen.”
“What happened to you staying in my room out of sight?”
“Max won’t do any blabbering. Though he might blubber a little.”
I slapped his upper arm as he reached me. “Must you be so mean?”
He slid his arms around my waist. “I just think it’s better for him that he knows.”
My eyes narrowed. “Or was this about you trying to mark territory that wasn’t yours to mark?”
“No,” he giggled.
“Jared.”
“Alright. I don’t want anyone kissing you” – he kissed me softly – “or touching you” – he slid his hands up to my neck – “the way that I do. Is that really that bad?”
And here I’d been thinking that maybe he was done with me after having his curiosity and horniness taken care of. “No, it’s not bad. But the whole idea of casual sex is that there aren’t any ‘strings attached’.”
He sucked in a breath. “I think maybe we should get you a new handbook on casual sex because you obviously haven’t heard that there are special situations in which exclusivity can be brought into the mix.”
“Ah but that would make me practically your consort, and we’ve been over this.”
Jared inhaled heavily and made a hmmm sound as he released a breath. “Okay, fair enough. I’ll just have to make sure you’re permanently sated so that you don’t have the time or energy for anyone else.”
I smiled. “You’re very welcome to try.” He did try just once more before teleporting back to his apartment to get ready for his session with the squad. That was probably why I had a huge smile on my face as I left my own apartment and headed to the Command Centre.
Instantly Fletcher was on his feet, examining me from head to toe. Then he ushered me into my own office and an impish smirk broke free on his face. “You bonked Jared.”
“Several times.”
He giggled. “How was his performance?”
“You want me to resort to ‘kiss and tell’? Let’s just say he topped the rest by far.”
“What happened to not wanting to be a consort? Not that I’m disapproving of you shagging him or anything.”
“I’m not Jared’s consort…And nor is Joy, Daniela or Tammy.”
Fletcher’s brows flew up. “He dumped them?”#p#分页标题#e#
“Yep.”
“Bloody hell. So are you two seeing each other now then?”
“We’re just two adults having fun.”