Page 46 of The Red Zone
“Doubtful,” I scoffed. “You might’ve been a decent lay, but I can assure you it was nothing to write home about.”
He crossed over to my side of the bed, placing his hands on the mattress on both sides of me. “Then tell me why I have this overwhelming feeling that less than two weeks from today, you’ll be pounding at my door, begging to jump back into this bed so you can ride my cock again.”
“Maybe you should tell me why I have a theory that less than two weeks from today,you’llbe the one beggingmeto jump back into bed with you.”
“Let’s bet on it, then.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling a rush of heat crawl up my neck. “A hundred bucks.”
“Come on, that’s chump change to people like us, March baby. Scared you’ll lose if we up the stakes?”
Squinting, he leaned in as if to challenge me. I maintained eye contact while pushing away the fluttery feeling that was forming in my stomach
“Fine, a thousand.”
“Fifty thousand and you’ve got a deal.” His gaze dropped to my lips as he spoke.
Was this man out of his fucking mind? Betting some peoples entire yearly salary on whether or not we’d fuck again? This was insane.
But why did I kind of like it?
“Ten thousand. Final offer.”
Dragging his gaze back up to my eyes, he smirked and my heart dropped to my stomach. “Great doing business with you.”
“I don’t like you,” I grumbled as he turned away from me, revealing the bright red scratch marks on his back from last night.
It took everything in me not to gasp.
“Like? We’ve taken a step up from hatred, haven’t we?” October walked over to the dresser across from the bed and picked out a light gray shirt from the top drawer and threw it over his head. “In that case… likewise.” He grabbed his bag from the ground—no doubt heading out for morning practice—but paused in the doorway before leaving to peer over his shoulder with a smug grin. “Twenty years.”
I squished my eyebrows together.
“That’s how long it took to get you to admit you don’t hate me.” The corners of his lips twitched. “Twenty more and you might actually admit you like me.”
My eyes grew wide for only a second before I schooled my expression. I might’ve given him a nonresponse in return, but my lack of a reply said a lot more than any words could have.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Looking forward to seeing how they play out.” He shot me a wink before ambling out into the hallway and I listened as he let the front door of the pool house slam behind him as he left.
I laid there in disbelief for an extended moment, trying to gather my thoughts. My brain was simultaneously rushing with flashbacks from last night while also being completely and utterly blank.
With a sigh, I glanced around Scarlett’s old room, taking in the minor changes October had made since moving in until I peered over to the nightstand closest to me. Sitting there, on a beige marble coaster, was a steaming hot cup of ginger tea waiting for me.
What the hell had I just gotten myself into?
SIXTEEN
MAE
There weretwo things I knew with complete and utter certainty.
One, I wasn’t going to throw away ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat. And two, had ten grand not been on the line, I without a doubt would’ve crawled back between the sheets with October Calhoun.
Now listen, I hadsomeself-control, but by no means did I have a lot. Vibrators existed for a reason, which was tremendously helpful. However, had this been the early nineteenth century, I would’ve been fucked. Literally.
For the last eight and a half days, I’d avoided October at all costs. Well, aside from a few glances at Friday night dinnerand the occasional peak out the window while he skimmed the pool in the mornings.
