Page 38 of False Start

"I know you're not a bigmorning afterperson. Neither am I, by the way," he rushes to add. "I just…I don't know. I felt weird sneaking out."

My heart goes soft at his honest admission. Normally, I'd call it a win if my gentleman caller left without me even having to get out of bed, but I was pleasantly surprised to see his face this morning. Not just surprised.Relievedthat he hadn't left.

I set my mug on the bedside table and rest my hand on his leg.

"Thank you for staying. That was…sweet." Cory winces at the word and I rear back. "What's wrong with 'sweet'?"

Cory rolls his eyes and sighs.

"'Sweet' is practically 'nice'. And no woman wants to fuck a nice man."

I push his shoulder.

"That is completely ridiculous and narrow-minded. Plenty of women want nice men."

"Sure they do," Cory snorts. "Right up until the clothes come off. It's a scientific fact that nice guys have no stroke game."

I laugh out loud at that.

"Well, then youdefinitelyaren't nice." I take another sip of coffee.

But he might not be the douchebag everyone thinks he is, I muse. He volunteers, he helps his family, and now he's going out of his way to fix things with his new sister-in-law. Even right now, staying rather than sneaking out is not something adouchebagwould do.

"Does that mean we get to keep hanging out?" he asks. There's both uncertainty and hope in his eyes.

I worry my lip between my teeth while weighing the pros and cons.

Pro: He's hot as sin. The long hair is really doing it for me and the six-pack abs don't hurt.

Con: He may not be a douchebag, but he's got some problematic opinions, including that nice guys aren't fuckable.

Pro: He fucks like a god. I can still feel him between my legs.

Con: He's a total fuckboy. One of the worst I've ever seen. He hurt that Bethany woman. And he hurt my best friend.

Pro: He knows he fucked up. He's trying to make things right and helping the community at the same time.

I nod my head, my decision made.

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