Page 58 of Make It Last

I held his gaze, my lips curling slightly. “Are you sure about that?”

He let out a sigh. “I don’t know.”

“I’m just curious,” I added.

“Look, I never know what to expect with life, but I haven’t had another relationship. Back to my ex, the way she blamed me for everything and the way she described me, well, I kind of can’t come back from that. Does that make sense?”

“It does.”

“So no, I don’t miss her.”

I blinked, heat flaring in my cheeks. “Tanner, you cannot have been celibate since she left. I mean...” I swallowed. “You’re good at this.”

“What’s ‘this’?” He couldn’t help but tease.

“You know.” My cheeks burned even hotter.

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking.”

I bought a moment to find some composure by stuffing the last bite of pizza into my mouth. After I swallowed and took a sip of water, I eyed him. “Sex.”

“I feel the need to point out we haven’t had sex.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You know what I mean. Like I said, you’re good at it.”

“I appreciate the compliment. But no, I haven’t been celibate. I don’t have relationships. Just situationships.”

“What is a situationship, even? I’ve heard that word, but I don’t honestly understand it.”

“Well, like friends with benefits would probably be a situationship. This is a small town though, so things can get awkward fast,” he explained.

“Is it awkward with me?”

“Definitely not.”

“Can we have a situationship?”

Tanner eyed me, nodding slowly. “We can.”

“Okay, good. Because I would really like that.” I paused, my heart thudding against my ribs. “In fact, can we do the whole thing?”

“Excuse me?” Tanner sputtered, eyes going a little wide.

“Sex. I want to have actual sex.”

“For fuck’s sake, Ava, give a man a minute.”

“Just a minute?”

“I’m just...” He leaned his head back, taking a breath. “You know, for someone who said you weren’t good at this, you know how to drive a man crazy.”

“Oh wow, am I driving you crazy?” I was so excited I almost wiggled with joy.

He reached for my hand and tugged it over, placing it on his cock, which was hot and hard through the denim. “This is your answer.”

Tanner’s gaze held mine, the heat banked there like a scatter of sparks across my skin. I didn’t know how he did it, but his look alone was a sensual caress—completely and utterly hot.

“So, um, how do we do this? Do we just see what happens? No expectations.”