Page 20 of Slapshot Summer
“No!I’m fine!”As if to prove her point, she yanked her sandals from his grip.
Okay, then.“Lexi, I don’t want you thinking … There wasn’t anymercyanything we did on the d-dance floor,” he stammered.Why was he stammering?And pleading?And why had his grammar turned to shit?“That was …”
Incredible.Amazing.
“None of what we did just now was real, so just admit it already.Look, I am not a charity case.I’m a big girl who can make her own mistakesandrecover from them by herself, thank you very much.And frankly, I’ve had it up to my eyeballs with men lying to me.”
Anger began to simmer in his gut.“Hold on a second.I didn’tlie.You wanted my help to make that asshole jealous, and against my own better judgment, that’s exactly what I did.I asked you if I could kiss you, remember?And you said yes.”
“You never asked, and I never said yes.”
“Not verbally.When you looked up at me out there, you let your eyes do all the talking for you.”God, that didn’t come out right at all.He sounded like a perv.“You didn’t push me away,” he pointed out, hoping he came off less creepy.
Apparently, she agreed he was a perv because she turned on her heel and huffed off down the beach toward the hotel.
“Lexi.”He followed, stopped, and followed again.
“Stay away from me,” she shouted over her shoulder.
He was at a loss.How could he untangle the mess he’d made?Right now she wasn’t having any of it—any ofhim.Nonetheless, he trailed after her to make sure she got back to the lobby safely.Oh yeah.He was in full-on Mr.Chivalrous mode without a clue how he had come to don the mantle.Why now?Why her?And why did she cause these explosive reactions inside him?Was it the alcohol, or was ither?He wasn’t going to find out because she’d never speak to him again.
And damn it, helikedher!He didn’t even know her, but all of himwantedto know her.
It wasn’t only the feel of her or the fact that he couldn’t keep from picturing her laid out on white sheets, every inch of her skin on display forhimas he lowered himself and eased inside her.
Fuck!
He pushed out a breath and let melancholy settle into his bones.Hanging out with her had been a balm for his tattered soul—it had nothing to do with sex—and he’d just blown any chance to do that again with her.When was the last time he’d enjoyed himselfthatmuch by simply talking and dancing with a woman?Maybe never.
He shook out his limbs and rotated his neck, watching at a safe distance as she stepped onto the elevator.When the doors closed, he retreated to the bar.An old-fashioned to steady these mini explosions inside him, then he’d crash.Alone.
Only minutes after he’d placed his order, Neil sauntered in, looked around, and hailed him.
What the fuck doeshewant?
Unfortunately, the barstool beside Josh was open, and Neil filled it.“Hey.”
Josh looked straight ahead.“Strike out?”
“Nah.I wasn’t feeling it.”
Incredulous, Josh snapped his head toward Neil.“Surelookedlike you werefeeling iton the dance floor.”Who washeto go all moral on this guy?Still, he didn’t have the energy or the desire to spare this asshole any patience.
Neil shrugged.“Sometimes you got to take ’em out for a test run to know if you want to do a long road trip.”
“What the hell does that even mean?”
“It’s an analogy, dude.”He held up his finger and summoned Matt to take his drink order.“Hey, so about Lexi …”
Josh could practically feel armor locking into place, like one of those transformer robots in the movies.“What about her?”
“Are you and she … you know, together?”
“Yeah, we’re together,” Josh blurted out.Another lie, but he had not an ounce of remorse.
“So why are you sitting here alone in the bar?”
Josh let a smirk form.“She says she has something sexy to show me and asked me to give her a few minutes so she could ‘slip into it.’That’s exactly what I’m doing.”If only.But lying to this guy was giving Josh a lift.Neil’s brows hit his perfectly coiffed hairline, and a twisted sort of triumph made Josh drive the knife home.“You gave up your chance, bro, and I wasn’t about to miss out on mine.Sucks for you.”He threw back his drink and signaled for the check, anxious to get away from this slimeball.
