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Shelby Rakestraw’s mouth is unbelievably perfect and would look so good wrapped around–

Dammit.

Taking a breath I start at the top.

Shelby Rakestraw is your best friend’s little–

I go through the list over and over, trying to get my head on straight.

Finishing up, I start unbuttoning my shirt before I get to my room, shrugging it off and tossing it in the laundry basket in the corner. I thumb open the button on my jeans and hook my thumbs in the waistband and–

“Stop!”

The voice is a rushed squeak, and I turn. Shelby is standing on the opposite side of my room, the bed between us. Her hair is loose around her shoulders in an oversized hot pink T-shirt and plaid pajama pants, her eyes are glued to my open fly.

Fuck.

I glance out to the hallway, making sure that no one heard her, but Reese is occupied and Axel isn’t back home yet. Thank Jesus.

The right thing to do, theonlything to do, is for me to send her back downstairs to her room. I should lock myself in here for the night, protecting us both from the inevitable disaster of this situation.

“What are you doing in here?” I whisper.

“Waiting for you.”

Nope. Nada.Hard pass.

Instead of kicking her out, I shut the door and lock it.

“You shouldn’t be in here,” I tell her, reaching for a pair of cotton shorts hanging on my desk chair. “Turn around.”

“What? Why?”

“GG, I don’t think either of us are ready for you to see what’s under the denim.” Her jaw drops and she spins. I change fast, dropping the jeans and dragging on the shorts. It’s probably not a great trade for me, because there’s less fabric hiding my increasingly growing erection. “Okay.”

She turns and again, her eyes roam over my body. I’m about to ask her again what she’s doing here when she blurts, “I justthought maybe, you know, we practice kissing some more, but that’s a dumb idea…”

She rushes toward the door, but she has to get past me first. I grab her hand and pull her against my chest. “It’s not dumb.”

“No?”

“It’s fucking stupid and it’s going to get us both into a lot of trouble.” I tilt her chin, making her look up at me. “Coming to a man’s bedroom means something, GG, innocent intentions or not.”

“What does it mean?”

“That you want to take things further.” I swallow. She needs a warning. Needs it spelled out. “Further than kissing.”

“Okay.” She nods. “So what if I want that, too?”

“Do you even know what I’m talking about?” Because she’s not stupid, but she is innocent, and even in those silly plaid pants she’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever had in my room.

“Yes,” she says quickly, but then shakes her head. “Sort of. I mean, what you and I did before, that night on the porch.”

“I shouldn’t have. I went too far.”

“You didn’t.” Her hand flattens against my stomach and I inhale sharply. “You didn’t do anything I didn’t want.”

I thrust my hand into my hair, this girl is going to be the end of me. The end of my relationship with Axel. The end of my sanity when this all falls apart.