Page 65 of The Path to Loving Him
“The temptation to let her in on the secret is real,” Abel says. Jesus, he’s in rare form tonight. “I think we’ll keep it between us for now, but if you mess this up, then I will bring it to the society.”
“Mess up what? There’s nothing to mess up.”
“I don’t know, she seems pretty chill,” Hayes says. “She might be good for you.”
“I don’t even know her,” I say as Abel stands from the table and pats me on the shoulder.
“Then maybe you get to know her.” He nods at Hayes and says, “Let’s get out of here so they can talk when she’s done showering.”
“I’m not talking to her,” I say. “There’s nothing to say.”
“Okay, man.” He winks, and both of my friends take off, leaving me worse off than when they arrived.
I’m not fucking talking to her.
Nope.
Not happening.
Then why are you still in the kitchen?
You could easily slip up the stairs to your room where you haven’t even built your own bed yet.
But here you remain, eyes avoiding the bathroom, but also, checking the bathroom every few seconds.
The bathroom door opens, and she slinks out in her purple silk robe, her hair wet and braided, her skin glistening from whatever lotion she applied, a lotion I know smells like cherry and almonds.
I might have smelled it earlier today.
In the bathroom.
Nose to nozzle.
When she sees me sitting at the kitchen table, friendless, she pauses. “Aw, did your friends leave you?”
“Kicked them out,” I say casually. She doesn’t need to know the truth. She’s quite familiar with not telling the truth.
She glances around the kitchen, then saunters to the table and takes a seat. Crossing one leg over the other, she allows the hem of her robe to slide to her upper thigh.
Christ.
I lift my eyes, avoiding the decadent amount of skin exposed, only to be greeted by the part in her robe showing off her cleavage. Those fucking tits. I could play with them all goddamn day. One shift from her would completely expose them. I’m salivating over the possibility.
Fuck.
Me.
“That doesn’t seem very nice, Ryland.” She flips open the pizza box and plucks a pepperoni off a slice, only to slowly stick it in her mouth. I watch in fascination as she licks her fingers before picking up a paper towel and drying them.
I clear my throat and shift on my seat. “Shouldn’t you be going to your apartment?”
She nudges my beer and says, “I think we should get to know each other.”
I shake my head. “Not a good idea.”
“Not a good idea to get to know your assistant coach and co-worker? School starts in three days.”
“Well aware.”
