Page 31 of Floored (Frenched 3)
He grinned. “The size of my what?”
“You heard me. Now let go. I have to finish this.”
“Leave it, let’s finish tomorrow. I told you I’d come help again.”
“Ha!” I shrugged him off. “From now on, I’m declining all offers of help from you.”
“Come on. What happened here tonight was a one-time thing. And now it’s out of our systems, right? We can be friends.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“This won’t happen again. I promise.”
“What good is your promise to me? I barely know you.” I picked up my hammer again.
“Look, Erin, I know you think I’m an asshole, and maybe I am, but I like hanging out with you. You make me laugh.”
I rolled my eyes. “Really. So I should let you hang around just to laugh at me?”
“With you, not at you. Come on, you like me. I make you laugh too.”
I shrugged. “Maybe you do. Sometimes.”
“See? That’s why I know we shouldn’t sleep together again. We’ll ruin something nice.”
Hadn’t we ruined it already? Charlie didn’t seem to think so, but would I be able to handle just hanging out casually with someone whose tongue was all up in my business? I wasn’t sure. And I didn’t exactly trust Charlie to keep his hands to himself.
And he shouldn’t trust me, either.
“You really want to be friends?” I searched his face.
“Yes. Look.” He ruffled his hair again, which I now realized was his nervous gesture. “I’ve made some really bad decisions in the past. With relationships, I mean. I screwed up with every nice girl I ever dated, and I learned some hard lessons. There’s things you don’t know about me.”
“Oooooooh.” I balled my hands into fists under my chin and shivered. “Charlie has a past.”
He didn’t smile. “Just trust me when I say that you don’t want me anyway. Not like that. I’m a terrible boyfriend.”
He was right. It just stunk that the physical connection was so intense. “At least you’re honest.”
“I try.”
“Except when you’re holding up lemonade stands with squirt guns.”
He gave me The Smile. “Except for then.”
Groaning, I tossed the hammer down again. “Ugh, I can’t resist the dimples. Fine, you can help me finish this up tonight. But no more fooling around—and not because I’ll start pining for you or anything, but because I’m not really into casual sex.”
“Except when you’re handcuffed to the barre.”
My cheeks got warm. “Except for then.”
“All right. So we agree to be friends, help each other out sometimes.”
“And no more sex.” I said it again, to be sure he understood the boundary. “This was just an anomaly. Like you said, it’s out of our systems.”
“Exactly. And we both know I’m always right.”
I slugged him in the stomach. “Get to work already. It’s after midnight and you tired me out.”
