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“No, that is actually a very current want.” Reaching over, his hands spanned my hips and he pulled me towards him.

With no other choice, not that I’d want one, I shifted my legs to straddle him. Facing him, I settled in on his lap and felt the current-ness of that want.

Jake’s fingertips dug into my hips for a moment before he loosened his grip. “Can we give this another shot, see where things go?”

“I meant it when I said I don’t play games. Are you gonna push me away again and say I deserve better?”

“No, I’m gonna be selfish as fuck.”

“While we’re talking about all this, I like calling you Jacoby. But you aren’t Jacoby, the owner of Hyde, to me. You’re just… Jake.” I reached out and ran my fingertips on his jaw. “Okay?”

“Yeah. We good?” he asked softly.

It wasn’t lost on me that there’d been no talk of hearts and flowers. He wasn’t promising a future and I wasn’t asking for one.

I hadn’t believed in fairy tales when I was a kid and I sure as hell didn’t now.

I wasn’t walking into things wide-eyed in my rose colored glasses. There were no stars in my eyes as I tried to fuck a commitment out of him. That wasn’t him and, for all I knew, it wasn’t me either. I just wanted to spend time with someone I liked and have some fun without getting tripped up by unrealistic expectations.

Hanging out with a sweet, funny badass and having, hopefully, awesome sex for a while?

Yeah, there are worse ways to spend my time.

We were going to enjoy each other for however long it lasted. When one of us ended things, we’d move on and hopefully do so on civil terms. I wasn’t planning on inviting him over for a slumber party where we gossiped and braided each other’s hair, but I hoped that some amount of our friendship would remain.

Instead of answering, I closed the distance to kiss him. The little kiss, one that was supposed to let him know things were alright, quickly spiraled out of control.

Jake slouched down on the couch so his head was resting against the back of it and his long legs were spread in front of him. The position gave him better access to my mouth, neck, and chest.

Access that he took liberally.

His mouth was hot, his stubble scratchy, and his body so hard. Even being almost overwhelmed with the different sensations, I wanted more.

He gripped my hips and pulled me to him as he lifted his pelvis off the couch.

Feeling him so hard, pressed against where I wanted him most, I moaned into the kiss.

His hand slid under my shirt, my nipples tightening in anticipation as his rough skin trailed up my ribs. His other hand went into my hair and held me, as though I were about to jump off and run away.

Leaving was the furthest thing from my mind, especially since my brain was no longer functioning. I was focused on what I was feeling, and while it was amazing, I wanted more.

No, Ineededit.

My hands went in between us, shaking as I worked at the button on his jeans. When I finally got it undone and was reaching for his zipper, a ringing filled the air.

Holy hell, do his pants have a security system?

Did I just trip his dick alarm?

Realizing it was his phone, I pulled back to get off of him.

“Ignore it,” Jake growled, grabbing my hands and moving them back to his zipper, before taking my mouth again.

I slid my fingertips into the waistband of his boxers when his phone stopped ringing just to start again.

I pushed back and fell to the side onto the couch.

He cursed, pulling his phone out and touching the screen to answer it. “This better be fuckin’ good. Yeah. Yeah. You’re fuckin’ kiddin’ me? It’s for a fuckin’ eighty year old car. Who the hell else would need that part? Alright, yeah, I’m on my way. No. No. Fuck no. Yeah, bye.” He touched the screen to disconnect before putting the phone, and other better things, away.