Page 74 of Heated Rivalry 1
“Hm,” she said.
“What?”
She gave him a small smile. He wasn’t sure what it meant. “I’m sorry. I’m going about this the wrong way.”
“Going about what?” And suddenly Shane felt like he was staring down a slap shot. He braced himself for impact.
She reached out and put her hand on his. “Shane. I really like you. But... I’m getting the vibe that maybe I’m not...doing it for you.”
“You are! You do! I like you a lot too!”
“You like talking to me.”
“Yeah...”
“Do you like...kissingme?”
“Sure.”
She laughed. “Wow.”
Oh god. Shane was fucking this up. “I mean...yes, of course I do!”
“It’s okay, Shane. I just...get the impression...that maybe you would rather be kissing, just for example... Miles?”
Shane didn’t know what to say. He had never encountered a direct accusation like this before.
Except it wasn’t really an accusation. Rose wasn’t judging him. She was just trying to understand him.
He stared into his wineglass. He knew he had taken too long to reply already. The jig was up.
“It’s okay,” she said again, her voice soft and warm. Her fingers brushed over his hand reassuringly.
“I like you,” Shane said quietly. “I like being with you. I like talking to you. But the sex part... I know it’s...a problem.”
“It’s not a problem,” she said. “A problem is something you can solve. We’re like...a square peg and a round hole.” She scrunched her nose. “Ew. No. Gross. Forget I said that.”
Shane laughed. “I get it.”
“We just...aren’t supposed to fit together. And that’s fine. But we can’t keep trying.”
Shane nodded. “For the record, I’m not sure that I’m...like Miles, exactly.”
When he met her eyes, she smiled. “Well, it’s nothing that you need to figure out today.” She took a sip of her wine, possibly for courage, because the next words out of her mouth were, “Have you ever been with a man?”
For whatever reason, Shane didn’t feel like lying. He’d made it this far.
“Yes.”
“And? Was it different?”
“Of course.”
“I mean...was it better?”
Shane’s memory supplied him with flashes of golden brown curls and sparkling hazel eyes and a playful smile and hard muscles and of strong hands holding him down as he was entered and filled and...
“Yeah,” Shane said softly. “Yeah. It was better.” He cleared his throat. “The thing is... I kind of prefer to be the hole. Than the peg.”
