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And it just kept getting worse.

The moment I took my first step toward the staircase, my dick twitched to life in my compression pants and I blew out another sigh.

Tempted to turn around and say fuck this shit, I shook my head and kept walking.

I couldn’t keep walking on eggshells in my own home just because a beautiful woman had moved in.

It didn’t matter how much my body responded to her cries the closer I got to their side of the house. And it didn’t matter how damn good I knew she looked getting fucked, either.

I needed to get laid. That was it. As soon as I found someone else to occupy my time and mind, this little obsession with Goldyn would fade away.

That’s what I told myself. Even as I made it to the top of the stairs and paused. Even as I strained to keep listening when her voice grew faint. Even when I stroked a hand over my dick when I heard her hoarse,“Ah, fuccccckkkk!”

Time stood still and I stood there with it, lost in the sound before snatching my hand away from my dick and forcing my feet to move. I jogged down the stairs, shaking my head the whole way.

As soon as I got back to my room after the gym, I would add ‘getting laid’ to my to-do list.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, beautiful silence greeted me. But I still didn’t go straight to the gym as usual. Instead, I walked into the kitchen, found the canister of pre-rolls I kept in the island drawer, and walked outside to the back deck to face a joint while listening to the crickets.

My dick was still heavy against my thigh. And my heart was still knocking in my chest like I’d been standing at the foot of the bed watching her get fucked into oblivion.

Why did the thought of my friends pounding her to the point of tears make my dick press harder against my pants? Why was she the only one of their girlfriends I couldn’t ignore? Why did I want to fuck my hand to the memory of her voice as she came for them?

Letting my hand fall away from my lap, I took another pull of the jay and let the smoke fill my lungs.

The mellowing effect the weed usually gave me was taking longer to kick in. I was riled up, too fucking aware of how much I needed the woman upstairs.

I knew it wouldn’t happen, but my mind kept snagging on the same outcome.

Goldyn, on top of me, full of my dick and her tongue wrapped around mine until her screams turned into moans and her moans turned into cries.

My abs tightened, and I clenched and unclenched my fists while the joint hung from my lips.

I needed to chill the fuck out. Goldyn Ambrose was off-limits. Even in my fantasies.

Any woman who drove me this off the rails without touching me was a woman I didn’t want anyway.

A week later, after a string of sleepless nights and too many hours spent at the shop distracting myself, Goldyn was the first person I saw when I walked in the house.

She was in the kitchen, inhaling the bouquet of jasmine and lavender I left there this morning. She probably thought Sincere or Lorenzo put it there. But after noticing how much she liked the combination of scents, I clipped a few stalks of lavender from my inventory at Soulstice and stopped at the florist to buy fresh jasmine before I came home last night. The vase had been waiting for her on the counter when she woke up this morning. And watching her inhale with that peaceful look on her face was almost enough for me to live with the fact that she would never know they were from me.Almost.

“Hey, Rome!”

Why was she always so excited to see me?

I hated how much I didn’t hate it.

She was everything I usually avoided in a woman.

Bubbly. Talkative. And too damn optimistic.

Every time she opened her mouth to speak to me, it felt like the sun was shining directly on us, regardless of whether it was night or day.

I didn’t understand how the novelty of her hadn’t worn off. And I definitely didn’t understand why I’d been straining my ears every night since last week to hear even a hint of her whimpers or moans.

On cue, my dick hardened against my thigh, making me happy with my decision to wear baggy black cargo pants today.

Oblivious to the storm her presence created, Goldyn continued to beam up at me until I spoke around the lump in my throat.