Page 12 of Necessary Roughness

I pick up a small rock and throw it at her window. It clanks off the glass and draws her attention. When her eyes meet mine, my body reacts the same way it did the first time I saw her. For a minute she looks surprised, then annoyed, then like she’s going to smile, but she turns away and hides her face. I wait and watch as she goes to her door. She’s coming out to see me. I meet her at the side door when she comes out.

“Bobby, what are you doing here?” Her tone is neutral. I can’t tell what she’s feeling. “Better yet, how are you here? Did Charles tell you where I live or something?”

“Yeah,” I lie. Better to break the whole private investigator thing to her after I fix whatever’s wrong. “I just had to see you, Natalie. You were so upset after last time that I had to come make sure it wasn’t something I did.”

Natalie frowns. “You came here to make sure it wasn’t you that upset me?”

“Yeah,” I reply with a smile. “I’m not as big of an asshole as you may have heard.”

There’s a look in her eyes; she believes what I’m saying, but there’s still something else going on.

“It wasn’t you, Bobby. I—it was just somet

hing going on with me.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, approaching her slowly. I know this is a delicate situation, but my cock doesn’t care. I’m growing a full bulge as I get closer and her scent fills my nose, reminding me of the best night of my life. Her curves are fucking deadly. Those shorts are doing nothing to contain that phenomenal ass of hers.

“I’m sure, Bobby,” she says. For some reason, I expect her to back away. Even though we haven’t been official or anything, this feels like a breakup conversation.

“So then what is it?” I ask. I slide my hands around her waist. She shifts like she’s going to pull away but doesn’t. She’s so soft. This girl has me tripping all over myself. Never in my life have I gone out of my way like this for a girl, especially one I hardly know. But Natalie is different; I want to know everything about her. I want to share myself with her. Normally I’m a very guarded man, but with Natalie, I want to open up completely.

“I—I really don’t want to talk about it, Bobby.”

“Okay,” I reply. “So can I see you again?”

She twists her lips in thought. “I don’t know.”

“What are you afraid of?” I ask her. “You know, I’m not normally like this with girls.”

“Oh, so that’s supposed to make me feel special?”

Wrong thing to say.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” I tell her. “I just want you to know how I feel about you.”

“You barely know me, Bobby.”

“That’s what makes me trust it,” I reply, gazing deep into her eyes, eyes I could wake up to every morning. “I don’t know you, but my heart doesn’t care. I want to know you, Natalie.”

She’s breaking; her walls are giving in. I’m almost there.

“I want you more than I want the Stanley Cup.” I smirk. Finally, Natalie laughs. Her face lights up and I pull her close to me. Her body is warm and soft against mine. I kiss her on the forehead and she looks up to me. Our lips are just about to meet when a man’s voice rings out.

“Natalie, what the fuck!?”

I turn my head to see a tall, red-faced dickhead in a lime-green polo shirt striding toward us. My mind instantly puts the pieces together—Natalie upset after we had sex, her leaving and not wanting to tell me why; this is her boyfriend.

“Rick, what are you doing!?” she blurts out. Yup. Boyfriend all right. I let go of her; it feels like I’ve just been stabbed in the chest with a fucking dagger. I should have seen this coming. I don’t know why I didn’t. Maybe it’s because I thought that there was no way a college girl who was a virgin could have a boyfriend. Or maybe I just didn’t want to even entertain the possibility.

“Who the fuck is this guy—” Rick stops when he recognizes me, then glares at Natalie. “Bobby-fucking-Brodeur? Your assignment? You’re fucking your assignment? Wow, so professional, Nat.”

“I’m gonna go,” I say. I’m not the kind of guy who backs away from a fight, but I’m not about to fight over a liar and a cheater.

“No, wait, Bobby!”

“Yeah, get the fuck out of here, man!” Rick-the-Dick calls after me. If this was back in my college days, I’d break his nose for talking like that.

“I’m out of here,” I say over my shoulder.

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