Page 40 of The Fighter
“Yes!”
“You think I’m gorgeous?”
Leo lowered his brow. “That’s not the point. The point is that you shouldn’t…” He trailed off and just watched me.
“I shouldn’t what?”
“Why do you show up to fight training wearing tight clothes that show off your beautiful curves? Or those shorts you wear to show us all your long golden-brown legs.” He used his hand to signal how short my shorts had been.
“They weren’t that short.”
“Fuck yeah they were. You can’t wear hot pants or tight outfits like that. You have no idea how it affects all us men.” He hiccupped. “I mean the other men.”
“But not you?”
“Na-huh. Not me.”
Tilting my head to the other side, I smiled at him. “Liar.”
“Okay. Maybe it affects me a little bit.” Squinting his eyes, Leo underlined his admission by showing a bit of distance between his thumb and index finger while smiling again.
The same feeling of satisfaction that I’d felt when I found my shirt in his nightstand now warmed me from the inside out. Curiosity about how it would feel to let him touch me convinced me that it was time to get out of his bedroom. Getting up, I walked to the door. “You’re probably tired. I should go.”
“Hey, what happened to your pants?”
Looking down at my torn pants, I felt my face turn hot. “Ehm, they tore.”
“When?”
I rubbed my nose and thought about some clever answer, but Leo’s closeness andthe curiosity that always got me in trouble whispered about this moment’s being a great opportunity to try out some of the things I had only fantasized about.
“What happened, Raven?” Leo leaned closer. “Are you bleeding?”
“It’s nothing. I just tore my pants when I climbed your fence. I got a scratch, but I’ll survive.”
Leo’s mouth opened as if he wanted to say something, but then he shook his head and reached out his hand toward the tear in my pants. “Do you want me to clean your wound?”
From the back of my mind, the not-to-be-trusted Raven pushed forward and spoke on my behalf. “Would you?”
But internally my head was a war zone between the sensible part of me and my troublemaker.
No, you should be leaving now. You got what you came for, and Leo touching you isn’t part of the plan. Just get out!
But the troublemaker inside me tempted,Come on, wouldn’t it be fun to play a little? Leo would never hurt a woman and you always found him attractive. Don’t pretend you haven’t been curious about men for years, and how often does a chance like this come along? Have a little fun?
No, don’t do it!
Ah, come on, you know how you can’t resist the chance to try new things for the first time.
Raven, be sensible. You are going to get yourself into trouble – you always do.
“You sure that you want me to clean your wound?”
Leo’s question brought me back from the war zone in my head.
“No,” I said while at the same time taking a step closer and almost standing between his legs. “I mean, yes.”
Leo who was still sitting on the bed leaned his head back and met my eyes. His hands hovering on the side of my thighs without touching. “Which is it? Yes or no?”
