Page 39 of Pucking Your Best Friend

“Sorry, I had no idea,” she called out louder. “Oh God.”

She groaned loudly and Matt wished she would stop. Groaning.

Fuck. He didn’t know how to handle the situation.Should he barricade himself in here, ignore it, or send Maddie away? No, that would be too obvious. She would wonder if it bothered him and start worrying that things had gotten awkward between them.

No, there was only one solution: He had to laugh the whole thing off.

Yes.Sorry, no big deal, (laugh). The three things that stroked a man’s ego like nothing else.

Shit,stroking. Even the word was fatal.

“I’m so sorry!” she repeated. “Really. Sorry...”

Matt took another deep breath, made certain his towel covered everything important, that he was no longer mimicking a tent, and then he rubbed his face several times. He pulled himself together, put on a smile, and pushed the door open.

“You don’t have to be sorry, Maddie,” he said, admiring how calm he sounded. “It’s not like you saw something you’ve never seen before, right?” He raised his eyebrows wryly.

She laughed nervously. Her face was so red that she could have hidden in a tomato patch. “You’re right, of course. But, but…yeah, it’s true.”

Make light of it – he had to make light of it. “Are you certain? You seemed rather curious,” he said nonchalantly. “Almost…hungry.”

He expected her to laugh and shake her head. To tell him that he was an idiot and, naturally, dead wrong.

But she did none of that. She just stood there as her chest rose and fell heavily, her gaze focused on his face. Then she answered contritely, “Yes. Maybe.”

He felt his hand on the knot of the towel clench.

“Argh!” She groaned and rubbed her forehead. “Sorry. I was staring a bit, wasn’t I? I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It’s just been a while since I’ve seen a man naked. Five years, at least.”

She looked at him again. At his chest. He had the feeling that her gaze was not platonic at all. It wasn’t provocative or intrusive either. But it was warmer than usual.

Her words slowly reached him and swirled in his stomach, hot and probing because that meant that she hadn’t been…

And now he completely lost it. He wanted to be the normal Matt, the Matt who took everything in stride. The Matt who couldn’t be upset by anything, but…

“Well then, I’ll be happy to offer myself up again,” he said, and made a move to untie his towel.

At least this time he had an effect on her. Maddie laughed loudly. Unfortunately, she also moved forward and pressed her hand against his so that he couldn’t undo the knot.

“Don’t you dare! This is embarrassing enough.”

No. Embarrassing wasn’t the word burning in his mind.

His gaze wandered downward to the spot where her hand was resting, where her warm fingers were scratching hishard stomach. Her soft skin touched his. His muscles tensed automatically, and a sweet pull shot through his body.

His breathing grew heavier as the mood changed, the air around them growing unbearably hot. He raised his head. He looked at Maddie’s flushed cheeks and her slightly parted lips. He looked straight into her dark eyes and felt her index finger – absentmindedly? On purpose? – slide over his skin, stroking the fine hairs that had strayed from under the towel.

Then there was that moment.

Her gaze darted to his mouth. It lingered there for a tenth of a second and he could swear that they were both thinking the same thing. Even if only briefly.

They were both thinking what would happen if…

Maddie cleared her throat loudly and took a step back. “Keep the towel up, mister!” she said in mock warning. Her voice, though, sounded hoarser than usual, or was he merely imagining it?

“If you want to be an exhibitionist, then grab a trench coat and go down the Walk of Fame like any self-respecting nude activist!”

He smiled, the corners of his mouth straining. “Noted. So…what are your plans for the evening?”

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