Page 58 of Payback
I shake my head, still mortified that I was wearing Roan’s name on my back and didn’t even know. “I have a feeling Vi was the true ringleader there. She is like this adorable little demonic puppet-master, secretly pulling strings from behind the curtain.”
Roan chuckles. “I think she wants us together. She’s set us up twice now.”
I shrug my shoulders but can feel Roan watching me. “What?” I ask, hitting him with an annoyed look.
“Are you going to Sunday dinner at Vaughn’s this week?” he asks pointedly.
I roll my eyes. “Um, yes.”
He nods curtly. “We can tell them then.”
“What?”
“Bring me as your guest and we’ll tell them then.”
“That’s a horrible idea.”
“No it’s not. They’ll all be there, so we can tell everyone at once.”
“Have you been to one of those dinners before?” I ask, sitting back in my chair and abandoning my food.
“I have not, but I’m not intimidated.”
“You should be because they are complete and utter madness. Crazy, loud, over-crowded, and charged with way too much energy in a small space. It’s a bad, bad idea to tell them about us at Sunday dinner.”
“That’s fine,” he says with a nod, seemingly accepting my response. He tosses his napkin on his plate and adds, “We just won’t have sex until we tell them.”
My eyes fly wide. “What?”
He shrugs. “I won’t have sex with you until you find a time when we can tell them we’re dating.”
“Why would you do that to yourself?” I ask, my face twisting up in confusion. “I think what we just did in the kitchen kind of took us to a new level that’s worth exploring.”
“Call me old-fashioned,” he says matter-of-factly, “but I don’t want to date my manager’s niece or my teammates’ cousin behind their backs. It’s a respect thing.”
“You’re right. It’s definitely more respectful for us to announce that we’re fucking over Sunday dinner.”
Roan rolls his eyes and chuckles at my phrasing. “I don’t think we should use those exact words.”
I push my plate away. “You’re crazy. You wouldn’t withhold sex. You’re a guy. You thrive on sex.”
“I think you thrive on sex with me,” he states with a dirty smirk. “More than you realise.”
I open my mouth to argue but promptly close it and turn to look away with a laugh. “I can go without sex from you.”
“All right then. We’re officially taking a break.”
“Fine,” I snap. “What an awesome night. Our first fight, our first makeup sex, and our first breakup!”
He laughs at my little outburst, and it irritates the living shit out of me. I get up and grab both of our plates and state loudly through clenched teeth, “We’d better clean up then because there apparently won’t be any sex for dessert!”
I can feel him following close behind me as I take the plates inside. I set the dishes in the sink and suddenly feel his heat wash over my back as he reaches around and grabs the soap.
“Sorry. Just needing a bit of soap,” he says against my neck, and a riot of goosebumps take flight as he presses his groin into me in an obnoxious way that is not at all conducive to doing dishes.
He turns on the faucet and squirts some soap into the warm water before his hands land on mine, which are currently splayed out on the edges of the sink.
“Mind helping me?” he asks, taking my hands and plunging them into the hot, soapy water.
