Page 14 of The Boyfriend Effect (Frisky Business 1)
She lets go of my arm and throws her head back on the couch with a sigh of relief. “I feel so much better already,” she says happily. “Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty more to do, but it feels like things are looking up in all aspects of my life.”
“Yeah? Even, uh . . .” I nod my head to her lap, and she stares back at me blankly. “You’re feeling better . . . down there too?” I shift my gaze briefly to her leggings before meeting her eyes.
A pretty blush creeps over her cheeks and down her neck. She tries to suppress a smile and looks at the floor, shifting in her seat. “It’s still a little tender. But yeah, it’s almost all healed up.”
I can still kiss it better. “Good. I was worried.”
“You were worried about my . . . down there?”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. “No, I mean—in a medical sense. I just want you to be safe and healthy, dove.”
“Oh. Right.” Her chest stutters with an inhale.
My voice drops lower. “Burns should be taken seriously. Especially on . . . delicate parts of the body.” Why the hell am I still talking?
“You didn’t say anything to my brother, did you?”
“Of course not.”
She sighs, blowing out a slow breath. “He’d never let me hear the end of it.”
You and me both.
There’s no telling exactly what Wolfie would do or how he’d react if he found out his best friend and his kid sister were talking about the state of her pussy, but something tells me he wouldn’t be too stoked.
“What he doesn’t know won’t—”
I stop mid-sentence. Maren isn’t listening to me. She’s pretending to watch the movie. But really, she’s curled up in a ball with her head in her hands, tears welling up in her eyes and her shoulders shaking.
“Dove, what’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry. I’m just so embarrassed,” she whispers. “First the waxing accident, and now Riverside. You must think I’m a mess.” She swipes at the corners of her eyes, giving me a sad look that devastates me.
“Come here.”
I pull her into me, looping my arm around her shoulders, and she lays her head on my chest. It breaks me to hear her talk about herself that way. Maren’s the last person who should be feeling guilty about anything. And I want to make sure she knows it.
“I’m here because I want to be, okay? Not because I feel bad, and certainly not because I pity you. You’re strong, smart, and beautiful. Shit happens, and we all need a little help sometimes.”
“You really think I’m beautiful?” she asks, sniffling.
Fuck. This girl will be the death of me.
I smirk, trying to downplay how spectacularly I just stuck my foot in my mouth. “Don’t let it go to your head.”
We stay like that for the rest of the movie, Maren with her head on my chest, and me doing my best to train the crouching tiger in my pants. It didn’t take long for her to stop crying and relax into me. Let’s just say tonight proved she’s really not big on personal space.
If Maren knew all the ways I’ve fantasized about taking her—pushing her hard up against a wall, bending her curvy ass over a table—she’d be horrified. She certainly wouldn’t come willingly into my arms, or hang all over me like I’m her personal jungle gym.
I know a lot about women, both from my time in the dating scene and because of my job. But I don’t know much about matters of the heart. The human heart confounds me. Like, how can I feel so many things for Maren, but be too chickenshit to do anything about them?
Shortly after the movie ends, I rise to my feet and Maren walks me to the door.
“Thanks for coming over tonight.”
I nod, trying not to look at her chest. Yeah, lingering would only leave more time for temptation. “Of course. It’s actually helping me too, you know.”
“How’s being here helping you?” She shoots me a questioning look.
I shift, suddenly wishing I hadn’t said anything. But now that I have, I know Maren won’t drop it, so I might as well be honest. “With my self-imposed break from dating, I have more free time on my hands.”
Maren’s expression turns thoughtful, and she nods. “We can help each other then.”
“I’d like that.” As the words leave my mouth, I realize they’re absolutely true.
Her lips part, breaking into a happy grin. “You sure you’re not going to mind when I point out all the ways you absolutely suck as a boyfriend?”
This pulls a laugh out of me, despite my uneasy mood. “I do not suck as a boyfriend.”
Maren narrows her eyes. “Hayes.”
I chuckle. “Fine. Lay it on me.”
She leans against the doorframe, appraising me with a cool expression. “First of all, contrary to popular belief, women do not like dick pics. And they show them to their friends, you know?”
