Page 80 of The No Touch Roommate Rule
When she presses closer, I feel it everywhere, a fuse lit low in my spine. Her fingers curl in my shirt, and her breath hitches against my mouth. It’s not just a kiss—it’s a confession. A question.
One I’m ready to answer.
When she pulls back, I let the words I’ve been holding in pour out, “Be my girlfriend. Live with me. Let me help you with your business. Let me let you help me help you help me learn how to be the best partner you’ve ever had. Just…let’s do it. Fuck it.”
Her eyes go wide.
“Going slow is dumb,” I add, apparently unable to shut my mouth now that I’ve opened it. “And you said yourself that you wished you’d given me your number eight months ago. Do you really want to be another eight months down the line, kicking yourself for missing out on all the fun and hot sex we could have had if we’d been under the same roof that entire time?”
Her lips curve, slowly at first, but when the smile takes hold, it’s the best smile I’ve ever seen. A fearless, hopeful, “I’m falling in love with you, too” smile that’s just for me. “Okay.”
“Okay?” I ask, exhaling in a rush. “Yeah? You’re moving in for real?”
She nods. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”
A grin bursts across my face. Still, I try to play it cool. “Well…good. That sounds good.”
“You’re funny,” she says, laughing as she sways closer.
I wrap my arms tighter around her. “Yeah? Why? I wasn’t joking. For once.”
She nods, her smile fading. “I know. Not funnyha ha. Funny like…” She trails off, cocking her head thoughtfully before she continues in a softer voice, “I like that you’re not as confident as you play it. I like that this scares you a little bit, too. It makes me feel less alone.”
“You’re not alone,” I murmur. “I think all the big things in life are a little scary. It’s how you know you’re doing something important.”
“And real,” Makena adds.
“Is it wrong that I really want to take you back to the room and wreck you before we get dressed for the party?”
Holding my gaze with a heat that makes my cock perk up and take notice, she shakes her head slowly side to side. “No, that’s not wrong. That’s the rightest thing I’ve heard in a while, actually. Why don’t you pay for that nightmare cat, and we can get out of here?”
“Fuck the nightmare cat,” I say, setting the monster back on the closest shelf and taking Mack’s hand. “Let’s go, F.C.”
The elderly owner watches us leave with an expression that says she knows exactly what we’re planning to do with our afternoon.
Back at the hotel, the elevator ride feels endless. Makena keeps touching me—fingertips on my wrist, palm against my lower back, her hip bumping mine. Each contact sends heat straight to my cock.
“Stop that,” I mutter.
“Stop what?” All innocence, but her hand’s sliding into my front pocket now, brushing against where things are already getting obscene.
“You know what.”
The doors open. Thank God.
Inside our room, she kicks off her sandals and heads straight for the bed, pulling her sundress over her head as she walks. No bra. White lace underwear. All mine.
Finally, mine.
I follow her, still not quite able to believe this is real.
When I meet her beside the bed, she reaches for me, but I catch her hands. Hold them. Feel her pulse fluttering under my thumbs.
“What?” she whispers.
“I just want you to know, I don’t plan on fucking this up.”
She sobers. “Me, either. I’m pretty committed to not fucking it up, actually.”
