Page 167 of Surprisingly Us

“I fucked up. I’m sorry I left. I needed to clear my head.”

I yank the door open.

“Do you know how humiliating that was? I was naked, Rhys.Naked. You could have said something. Anything would have been better than you running off.”

“I felt trapped. Overwhelmed. You were adamant that I fuck you right then and there. And I just…I couldn’t.” He clears his throat.

Oh.

It occurs to me that maybe Rhys has a problem with the functionality of his man parts. Which is odd because he was hard as a rock when I gave him that twenty-second blow job a few weeks ago, and he had an erection when I brushed my buttagainst him last week at Lake George, but maybe it’s a thing that comes and goes.

My eyes drop to his crotch.

“Are you getting help for this problem?” I ask.

His eyes narrow at me. “My dick is not the problem. It’sneverbeen the problem.”

I shrug innocently. “There’s a first time for everything.”

“Well, that’s not the issue here.”

I want to be happy for him that his dick isn’t broken but that just means he didn’t want to have sex with me.

“I’m sorry you felt forced into it. I didn’t realize it would be such a chore for you.”

“That’s not it at all.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Fuck. Can we do this inside?” He motions to my apartment behind me.

I cross my arms over my chest again. “No.”

“Okay.” He drops his arm to motion down the hallway. “Will you come with me so we can talk?”

“No.”

His hands find his hair and he lets out a frustrated growl.

“I fucked up…again. I panicked. And I’m sorry, but now I need you to let me make things right.”

“You want to make things right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I think it’s only fair if I let you experience what I did at the hotel.”

“What do you want me to do?” he asks. “Name it and I’ll do it.”

An idea pops into my head and I press my lips together to smother the smile that’s trying to break through.

“Take off your clothes.”

He searches my face, his lips pinned down in a frown, but then he nods. “Okay, if that’s what you want.” He moves toward me, toward my apartment, but I put a hand out to stop him.

“No. Here.” I nod to where he’s standing outside my apartment door.

He looks down the empty hallway, then back to me.

Mrs. Donahue is tucked safely inside her apartment for the night, but Ricardo, my neighbor across the hall, is unaccounted for. For all he knows, Ricardo could be throwing a party tonight and the guests are scheduled to arrive any minute.

He gives another glance behind him at Ricardo’s door.

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