Page 162 of Skate the Line

I’m still pressed into her when I back us to the bed and collapse. We lie still for so long that the sweat on both of our bodies dries.

“That was…” I swallow roughly.Hot. Chaotic. Staggering. Life-blowing. Not enough to curb the desire.The wrong fucking move.

I shouldn’t have fucked her, because now, it’s all I want to do.

She whimpers when I slowly pull out of her, and I refuse to let myself believe it’s because she wants me back inside.

Shit. This is bad.

She falls beside me on the bed and curls onto her side. It takes everything in me not to glance at her bare breasts. “Thank you,” she whispers.

“Thank you?” I repeat.

Suddenly, she’s her warm, sweet self again. She’s back to being my Sunshine, and after what we just did, I’m not sure which way I prefer her.

I’d take both. Any day of the week.

She nods shyly.

“For giving you multiple orgasms or for breaking your abstinence streak?”

A playful smile appears, and it’s official, I’ve touched the fucking sun. “For both.”

There’s a funny, unfamiliar feeling burrowing itself into my chest, so I quickly get up and head into the bathroom. After disposing of the condom, I wet a washcloth with warm water and bring it to her.

She looks surprised.

“I’m a gentleman, remember?”

With gentle pressure, I place the damp cloth in between her legs and clean her up.

After I finish, she slowly stands and begins to get dressed. I grab her panties and shorts and slip them back onto her body after she tugs on her shirt. I smile to myself at the mark on her thigh, knowing she’ll find it later and remember how she got it.

I hide the amusement and push her messy hair over her shoulders to give way to her face.

She’s fully sated. Her features are soft, and her lips are swollen. It’s painful to think that I’m making her go back to her room. But this was a one-time thing, and how would we explain her in my bed when Ellie wakes in the morning?

“Sladkih snov,Sunshine.” I rub the pad of my thumb against her high cheekbone before she turns and heads out my door.

She’s all I think about when I close my eyes to sleep, and I have a feeling it won’t be the last time.

Forty-Seven

SUNNY

It’s game day,which means Ellie is up with the sun, holding her Blue Devils bow in her hand, patiently waiting for the game, although it’s hours away.

Her little feet kick back and forth while she eats her blueberry pancakes—blueberries for the Blue Devils, of course—and with every little noise she hears, she perks up and gets ready to shout,“Go Blue Devils!” the second she sees her dad.

I am also perking up with every little noise I hear. Except, I’m perking up for all the wrong reasons, those of which I will keep under lock and key.

Last night was impulsive and sporadic.

The last few times Rhodes and I have been alone together, we’ve blurred the lines. It hasn’t been on purpose, from either of us, but our chemistry is palpable. Now that I’ve let him in, I’m having a very hard time keeping him out.

He was the first thing I thought about this morning.

And then again when I hopped out of the shower and saw what he left on my thigh from our littleescape. I grew giddy at the thought of his hands on me again.

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