Page 31 of Necessary Roughness

She was single. He had no right to dictate to her about where she went, whom she saw, or what she did while she was seeing others. She drew herself up to her full height and pointed a finger back at him as she found her voice.

“Again, why do you care? We don’t like each other. Why do you—”

The words she longed to hurl at him died in her throat as he reached out with one quick motion to pull her into his arms. The stubble on his cheek scraped across hers as he muttered, “What the hell is wrong with me? I see you, and all I can think about is kissing you.” He let out a long breath. “I don’t like you.”

“There’s a news flash.”

“You drive me nuts. You—you smile at everyone else all the time. You look like you walked out of a fairy tale.” He let out another gust of warm air against her ear. “You really piss me off.”

“You’ve mentioned that too.”

He pulled back enough to stare into her eyes while he reached to cup her cheek. His thumb slipped over her skin. “God, I hate you.”

“I hate you too,” she whispered.

His mouth touched hers. His lips were soft, warm, and he tasted like the beer he’d been drinking. She grabbed two handfuls of his T-shirt and hung on. She realized that the better reaction would have been to push him away and barricade herself in her room, but she might get over her weird thing for him if she kissed him. His mouth moved slowly. She heard him mutter something as he tipped her chin up a bit for better access.

“What?” she said.

“Don’t say anything,” he said, and he sealed his mouth over hers.

Tanner might have been a great football player, but he was a better kisser. One had to wonder where a guy who was so unbelievably cranky learned to kiss. It was definitely a puzzle for later. Right now, she wanted to enjoy every second. He slid his tongue into her mouth as her knees started doing this weird melty thing.

“Don’t drop me,” she whispered a few minutes later.

“Oh, I won’t, DP,” he said. “Pretend you like me.”

“Can’t stand you,” she whispered before she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him back.

“Stop talking and kiss me again.”

Her fingers strayed into his hair. Maybe she should spend more time kissing guys she couldn’t stand, or maybe it was just him.

“Demanding, aren’t you?”

He rested his forehead against hers. They were both breathing hard. She was still stroking his hair, pulling gently on the curls that formed at the back of his neck.

“I should go to bed,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” he said. He didn’t let go of her. She didn’t let go of him, either. A few minutes passed, or an eternity. The warmth of the summer night surrounded them with soft breezes and new romance. She closed her eyes to breathe in his scent, the freshly showered combo she’d always associate with him.

“Does your knee hurt?” she said.

“What knee?” he said. Tanner’s doorbell rang. “I’m still hungry. I ordered another pizza. Want some?”

She wanted to stay, but she knew she was already in trouble. She tore herself out of his arms, hurried into the house, and ran down the stairs to her room.

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