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“You’re scared ofme? You think I’ll hurt you?”

Her eyes finally meet mine when she says, “Every other man in my life that looks, and acts like you, has.”

Well, damn.

I take a deep breath and look out to the street. It’s quiet, but the sound of my heartbeat rushes in my ears. It covers up the warning bells, the one I should have listened to before I smoked that joint. But I don’t like to see this girl question herself. It makes me fucking furious.

“How about you give me a chance to prove to you otherwise.”

With her hands behind her back, she braces herself on the door frame across from me. Interest flickers in her expression. “And exactly how do you propose that?”

It’s not a no, but this girl deserves more than me reading signals, which is why my next move is slow, and I lean across the small space, trying my best not to crowd her in. Using my fingers, I brush the hair off her cheek, tucking it behind her ear.

“Can I kiss you?”

I wait for the rejection. I’m expecting it. But her chin lifts, and she says the words that will change everything, “Yes.”

5

Nadia

Oh fuck.

What have you done?

That’s the first thought when I wake up to the weight of an arm circling my waist. Amalearm. He’s warm. Comfortable. And, well, from the steel rod stabbing into my backside, hard as fuck.

And big. Really big.

I don’t have to look to see who’s got me tucked into his body. Yet, I carefully lift the sheets and peek underneath to confirm. Yep, no doubt about it. The tattoos are a dead giveaway. No mistaking the owner of the dark ink that covers his muscular forearm all the way down to his hand. From this angle, it’s a jumble of designs and symbols, but it's the letters on the knuckles that turn my gut to stone: YOLO.

Axel.

His fingers graze my lower belly, right at the edge of the elastic band of my panties. Butterflies swirl in my gut as themorning fog clears and the memory of the night before comes rushing back. Last night was…

An epic fuck-up.

Jesus, we didn’t even last two hours.

“Axel,” I whisper, shifting to get his hand to a less dangerous spot. Unfortunately, he shifts with me, sliding his hand to my breast and cupping it.

“Five more minutes.” He buries his face in the back of my neck. “No morning skate today.”

I roll my eyes, because of course this guy has my tit in his hand and all he can think about is sports. I definitely have a type. A type I swore off, yet here we are.

I’d love to say I didn’t know how it happened, but that would be an outright lie. Axel and I were at the Badger Den, toasting with water about how we were going to get our shit together. Unfortunately, once the hot wings and fries were gone, sitting around the bar while everyone else partied and partnered up was lame. Which is why when he offered to walk me back to the house, it seemed like a good plan. The smart,responsible,plan.

I start to rise, but he holds me tight, and I sigh.

“You need to get up,” I start, but outside my room, I hear footsteps on the hardwood and the bathroom door open and close, followed by the hum of the fan turning on. Damn it. Twyler must have slept here last night, which means–

“Axel,” I whisper more urgently, pushing at his handsy hands, “get up now.”

He groans, but rolls away, rubbing a wide hand over his face. “What’s wrong?”

“Shhh!” I sit, pulling my tank down from where it had pushed up over my tits. His sleepy eyes track my moves. “And what do you mean what’s wrong? You’re in my bed. Half-naked!”

He lifts the sheet, which is already tented, and looks underneath. A smirk lifting the corner of his mouth. “More than half, T.”