She needed to go think. Go study. Go listen to Sasha Fox.
“I’d better get home,” she said, wriggling beneath him. Contrarily, she was disappointed when he swiftly moved to let her sit up. He didn’t want to make the most of the new erection he was rocking?
She clutched the sheet to her chest as she prepared to get out of the bed.
“I’ll give you a lift,” he said smoothly, his gaze drifting to where her fingers curled tight at the edge of the fine cotton. “But you want to take a shower before you go?”
“Thanks.”
He offered no invitation for her to stay longer. Certainly not the night. That was fine. This was an arrangement and it was best to keep it that way. A service, in fact. One that was fun for him—being the lover of sex that he was—and beneficial for her.
All good.
He left the bed, apparently unconcerned with his aroused nudity, and went to the single set of drawers in the room. He opened the middle drawer and rummaged for a moment. Abbi appreciated the full length of that moment—the guy’s butt was mighty fine. As for his forever-long legs and the breadth of his back? She couldn’t believe she’d been so lucky to have the full force of his physical attention.
A second later something large and cotton landed in her lap. She shook it out. A T-shirt. She glanced up and saw he’d pulled some boxers on. He winked at her and walked out. She was glad he’d left to let her slip from the bed without him watching.
She pulled on the tee, trying not to melt in pleasure as it swamped her. More than a minidress, but it was his. She felt like she was his too—which was lame because she wasn’t and never would be. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t turned on.
She’d had her lesson for the day, she couldn’t possibly want more…
Okay. She could.
She breathed in a steadying breath, then wandered out in search of the bathroom.
Focus on something other than sex.
She studied the walls. His apartment was much smaller than she’d thought it would be, and its sparseness surprised her. He obviously liked minimalist decor. In that way they couldn’t be more different. There were no family pictures anywhere—no pictures at all, in fact. None on the exposed brick walls, or on the tops of the bookcases that lined one of them. She knew he’d been a foster kid—eventually he’d been placed with a local family, the Burnses; that’s why he’d come to her school. But there was nothing of them to be seen in the place. Nothing terribly personal at all. Not even any pictures of his basketball team or other memorabilia. Nor was there much in the way of home comforts. No large sofa and giant flat-screen TV. There was a nice computer on the desk that had his paperwork in neat piles, but that was about it. The open-plan kitchen area was shiny but wasn’t littered with the gadgets of a MasterChef wannabe. So what were his hobbies, then?
This place could be some hotel or serviced apartment belonging to no one.
She knew shouldn’t be noticing these things at all, certainly shouldn’t be analyzing, but hey, she was curious. And curiosity about other things was eating her up, too. There was no sign here of any female presence in his life. Thank goodness.
“How come you don’t have a girlfriend at the moment?” she just couldn’t resist asking as he handed her a tall glass of ice water.
He didn’t have one, right? He wouldn’t have made this arrangement with her if he wasn’t single.
“No time. I’ve never had time for a girlfriend.”
And never would. That finality rang in his tone.
She took a long drink of the almost-frozen water, but it barely cooled her. “So you just have…flings?” Fuck buddies? Did he make arrangements like this all the time?
He nodded. “Just simple, carefree.”
“How do you keep it carefree?” She set her glass down on the stainless steel counter between them.
“Keep it finite.”
By that he meant short term. “And your partners are all okay with that?”
“If they’re not, we don’t play.”
But he didn’t want anything more? No relationship as such? Just a variety of sexual partners? He was that comfortable with living life alone?
She remembered the lack of personal objects, and figured maybe he’d always been alone…her stupid heart pulled.
“You ready for that shower?” His eyes sparkled with intent.
She nodded. Getting that he was closing the conversation. She smiled, trying to let him know he didn’t need to worry. She wasn’t going to pry more. Ask for more. Not in any way other than what they’d already arranged. And she was telling her already soft heart to harden up.