Page 127 of Endgame

When we got home and I walked her to her bedroom door, she turned and looked at me with a confused expression etched on her pretty face. I knew Six wanted more from me tonight – she wasexpectingmore.

One look in those big grey eyes and I could see the desire. Fuck, I wanted it, too, but her vulnerability had taken ahold of something inside of me and I was hell bent on making her comfortable. She wasn’t just vulnerable; she wasinnocent.

A virgin.

Six was fucking perfectanduntouched.

Oh, I was having her alright, but when she was really ready. The fact that she so willingly offered herself to me sparked something inside of me. Something possessive and dominant. Knowing Six wanted me to be the first one inside her was one hell of an ego boost.

“Night, Six,” I whispered, pressing a quick kiss to her lips before stepping away from temptation. I wasn’t going to rush this –her.

“Yeah, um, goodnight, Rourke,” she replied with a blush as she tucked her hair behind her ears.

Nodding, I turned around while I still had the strength to and walked down the hallway to my room.

When I was halfway inside, Six called out, “Rourke?”

I swung back around to face her. “Yeah?”

“Thank you for dinner tonight.” She grinned at me with this huge, megawatt smile before saying, “It is customary to thank someone when they buy you dinner, remember?”

I threw my head back and laughed. “No problem.”

Six smiled once more before waving me off, and I stood in the doorway of my room watching her every move as she disappeared.

When I heard the door click behind her, I shook my head and released the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

Oh yeah, I was so fucked.

Mercedes

IT WAS PAST four in the morning and I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I was assaulted by the memory of the last couple of days with Rourke. Frustrated was an understatement for the way I was feeling right now.

Burning with anxiety and driven by lust, I threw my covers off and climbed out of bed. Padding to my bedroom door, I quietly pulled it open and slipped onto the landing.

Yeah, I had feelings for Rourke. Big, angry, swallowing-me-whole feelings. I had no clue what to do with those feelings, but they were there.

Iagreed. I gave in to this stupid ‘friends with benefits’ deal and he had taken a sudden step back from me, slamming the brakes on our impending affair. Could you even call it an affair at seventeen? Rourke definitely wasn’t my boyfriend, but I hated the wordfling. It reminded me too much of my mother. And although the wordaffairwasn’t much better, it seemed much more appropriate.

This is temporary.

Growing attached to Rourke was not a sensible thing for me to do. In fact, it was downright crazy. He couldn’t give me what I needed. He’d told me exactly that. A boy like Rourke Owens wasn’t one a girl walked away from unscathed. Just look at Britt for Christ’s sake. She was a black hearted mess over the guy. And I was nowhere close to being as tough as her. This was my first time...

I hovered outside his bedroom for what felt like forever before forcing myself to turn the handle of his door and creep inside.

Rourke’s bedroom was in complete darkness, illuminated only by the full moon shining in from the floor to ceiling window; identical to the one in my room.

The full moon glowing through the glass allowed me to see him, and the moment my eyes landed on his sleeping frame, something tight knotted inside of me.

He was lying face down on his bed with the pillow his head was resting on tucked in the crook of his right arm.

Long, lush lashes framed his high cheekbones; lashes that any girl would die to have. His dark hair was sexily disheveled and, to my utter disappointment, he was wearing both a t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts.

Holding my breath, I padded over to his bed and just stood there for a moment, plotting. I debated retreating to my bedroom for a brief moment before shutting that notion down. I wasn’t going back to my room to toss and turn until the sun came up.

No freaking way…

“Rourke?” I whispered into the darkness, desperate to hear his voice and have him comfort me. “Are you awake?”

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