“Later, Jamie!”

I looked through the windshield and brought my hand off the wheel, letting Quinn see it after she called out.

She spun around and ran up the driveway, climbing the porch. When she got inside the house, she stuck her hand out the door and waved once more.

“She’s sweet,” Tori stated as I was backing us out of the driveway. “Is her birthday party really going to be at a strip club, though? Was she serious?”

Laughing, I started down the road. That was the only response I gave her.

When we got back to her place, Tori didn’t say shit to me about not coming inside or getting gone and not wanting me there. She didn’t even seem to mind when I took it upon myself to get us set up with a movie to watch while we ate, choosing a free one On Demand after plopping down on the couch and grabbing the container of chicken and broccoli, minus the broccoli.

Tori didn’t say a damn thing to me about what I was doing.

It was weird. A good weird, but still … weird.

She sat on her end of the couch, knees bent and bare feet propped up on the coffee table after kicking her flip-flops off, shrimp fried rice and mango chicken containers in her lap, still warm, so we didn’t bother reheating them, and watched Mad Max with me while alternating bites of food between the two meals and sipping on the Cherry Coke I gave her.

She didn’t talk. She ate.

I was liking this side of her, the non-bitching-at-me side and the one who seemed to not only tolerate my presence, but possibly enjoy it, so I didn’t talk either and chowed down.

And I was absolutely enjoying it. Every fucking second.

When Legs was finished eating, she put the half-empty containers next to the other ones on the coffee table, grabbed the tattered green quilt off the back of the couch, wrapped it around her shoulders, tucked her knees up against her chest, and continued watching the movie.

She didn’t dismiss me. She didn’t get up and sprint upstairs again since I was hanging around, finished eating myself.

Tori sat there, not saying a word, and gave me more of her time.

I thought that was weird, too, really fucking weird, but I wasn’t about to shed light on this side of her she was showing me, figuring if I did that, she’d pile on more layers for me to peel back and become more aware, putting up a stronger guard in response.

I couldn’t have that. I was liking this version of her too much.

I liked the other version, too. The mouthy, giving as good as she gets version, but I wanted it without the bullshit.

And I was gonna get it.

A bet was a bet. And last I checked, we were still playing.

When the movie was over, I made it look like I was leaving, heading out with the leftovers she didn’t want while she used the bathroom down the hall.

I stood in the entryway and told her I’d see her tomorrow.

She called out, “Please don’t,” from behind the bathroom door.

I smiled.

Then I pulled my dick out and waited.

Chapter Seven

TORI

“I’m out, babe. See ya tomorrow,” Jamie hollered from somewhere inside my house.

He was leaving. Good.

“Please don’t!” I hollered back, head turning toward the bathroom door I was behind as I washed my hands in the sink.

I really needed him to leave. And I really needed to go a day without seeing him.

Things were starting to feel a little too familiar.

And when things started feeling familiar, stupid people started letting things happen, like sharing meals and watching movies together after going on a family rescue mission like some cozy duo.

I had no business meeting his family, ever, because Jamie and I weren’t a duo or cozy in any way.

But I had gone with him. And I didn’t just meet his sister. I liked her. She was sweet, easygoing, and talked my ear off like we’d been best friends for years.

Not many girls were that friendly off that bat.

Then Jamie and I came back here, shared a meal, and watched a movie together while sitting on the same piece of furniture. Looking like a duo. And looking cozy, considering I hadn’t smashed myself up against the armrest again to put as much distance between Jamie and myself as possible.

I sat on one cushion. Comfortably.

He sat on one-and-a-half cushions, stretching his body and taking up more room than I was doing, even without stretching out his body. Jamie was absurdly fit but he was still a big guy. Tall. Broad shoulders. He took up space.

Leaving us with just a half a cushion between us.

Not enough. Not nearly enough.

But I had let it happen, meaning I was acting like a stupid person. Thought like one the other day at the tiki bar when I was putting meaning into what he was saying and now I was taking it a step further.

This was not good. I needed him to leave.

And I seriously needed to win this bet already so I could stop putting myself around him and showing him my goods.

After turning off the water and drying my hands on the towel, I flipped the light off, opened the bathroom door, and stepped back out into my living room with a plan in mind.

Lock up. Head upstairs. Get ready for bed. Maybe redo my toenail polish if I didn’t start yawning once I was up there, allowing for sufficient drying time. Check my phone for any missed messages since I’d left it here to ride with Jamie to rescue his sister. Then crash.

It was a good plan, and one I was looking forward to.

But that plan went right out the window when I saw Jamie was still here and standing in my entryway. I froze. Then my gaze lowered.

And kept lowering … Holy … shit.

My hand flew up to my mouth. My eyes widened, then widened further when I saw a shiny metal barbell.

I gasped against my fingertips.

Jamie chuckled like the devil himself, but I didn’t react. I couldn’t focus on clever comebacks or even the little concentration needed to lift my head and deliver a scowl.

I was startled, rightfully so; I wasn’t expecting him to still be here, but my shock and paralyzing fascination weren’t deriving from Jamie’s mere presence in my house when I’d trusted him to be gone.

Shorts unbuttoned and opened at the zipper, Jamie had his hand wrapped around the base of his dick.

This was what had me startled.

This was what had me paralyzed with fascination.

And this was what I had been dreading since the day Jamie McCade stepped foot inside Whitecaps.

He wasn’t hard, not fully anyway, but God, he didn’t need to be. Honestly, I was grateful he wasn’t.

Two of my greatest fears were being realized without the influence of a full erection.

The first fear being that Jamie had the goods to back up his arrogance, which he clearly did, bastard, and the second being I’d somehow, even with all the hard work and dedication I was putting into avoiding seeing this evidence for myself, come to learn this to be true.

Well, I’d learned all right. And there was no unlearning this.

Stomach clenching and skin tingling, I stared at his beauty. At all of it. Transfixed. Awestruck. You name it. I probably looked mad.

He was long. He was thick. Perfectly formed. Manscaped nicely but not overly done. Adorned in jewelry that looked both intimidating and oddly fascinating.

So fascinating I wanted to get a closer look, but I wouldn’t.

I couldn’t.

I could, however, continue to stare from my safe distance away. I could also tilt my head in further captivation when tempted to do so, this happening when Jamie slid his thumb over the one barbell at the top of his piercing.