Page 51 of No Interest in Love

Miss Sure Thing. “Yep.” And though it never felt weird admitting this to Shay before, it does now.

“Do you think you’ll ever want to fall in love?”

“Maybe. If the love interest shows up.”

“The love interest…”

“You know, the girl who flips your world upside down.”

“Your life is just one big movie, huh?”

“And I’m the star, baby.”

“And I’m the poor sucker who got roped into being an extra just for a little bit of cash.”

“You’re…you’re hardly an extra, Shay.” It comes out a bit quieter than I intend, making the air around us warm and electric.

“You know,” she says, arm bumping into mine as she reaches for her glasses, “I think you’re a jackass—”

“Well, don’t sugarcoat it.”

“…but at least you’re not after the girls who want a Ted.”

“Like you?”

She suppresses a laugh. “Like me…but a woman who would actually give you a chance.”

“If you meet one on this trip from hell, let me know.”

“I’m sure there are many girls who want one night with you…until you open your mouth.”

“Well, I love you too,” I say, but my upset stomach starts to churn again, and my voice carries away my thoughts. “But seriously…I just don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

She’s quiet for far too long, and I hear her biting that pinkie nail.

“Look at you,” she says, and her hand flops down, grazing my leg. “You have a sensitive side.”

The corner of my mouth twitches up. “It’s more like a rib.”

She pops her knee right into that rib, and I reach down and stop her from further abusing me. Our sleepy laughter disappears into the dark, and I plant my hand on her knee. And even though I know I’m a Barney, the fact that I’m touching her like this, sleeping next to her with no intention of sex, it makes me feel like a Ted.

Right now…I’m okay with it.

2:53P.M.

So I may have exaggerated a bit when I told Shay that I know how to cuddle. It’s true, I’ve slept in a bed with a woman after we rolled around, but I sort of let her do all the snuggling while I lay on my back and dozed off till morning. I’m not used to sharing sleeping space, especially solittlesleeping space. So it’s no surprise that when I blink my eyes open to the moving train car, I’m taken aback by the extra weight flopped over my legs.

Shay has me in a vise grip. She’s claimed my right leg, hugging it to her chest and using my ankle as her personal pillow. The left leg is hanging out between the bottom of the bed and one of her arms and, I notice with a slight shift, that arm is trapped between my thighs, hand lazily splayed against my ass cheek.

I lift my head just barely, smirking at the way she’s latched on. One of her legs has been tossed over my hip…like she’s taken spooning to a whole other level. Backpacking maybe. If I’d woken up this way with a woman I was trying to get away from, I’d have a hell of a time escaping. But honestly, I can’t wait to see her reaction when she wakes up, so I let her stay there, closing my eyes and pretending I didn’t wake up first.

She’s so damn adorable it’s driving me crazy.

No. Not adorable. Some other word.

My hand twitches and it’s only then I realize that I’m latched onto her ankle. It’s the only part of her body she hasn’t tangled up with my limbs…and I’m holding on to it. And instead of drawing my hand back, I slide it up from her sock to her skin under her pants and my breathing jumps from the steady track it was on.

Her leg is prickly. It’s not smooth and oiled like how I’m used to women’s legs being. Granted, it’s been a few days since she’s seen a razor; my face feels the same way. It should turn me off, and Ineedit to turn me off because I’m damn near losing my mind with her wrapped around me the way she is. It’s Shay…but Shay’s body is warm and her hand is on my ass and her pelvis lined up pretty well next to mine. Dangerous thoughts sprout up in my barely awake brain, and I keep rubbing my hand up and down her somewhat hairy leg hoping it will douse the fantasies, but it doesn’t. Hell, it makes them worse. I’m suddenly hearing the conversation that would play out if shewasawake.

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