Page 65 of Keeping it Real

“You can’t stay.”

Alek kissed the top of her head but didn’t say anything.She rolled over onto his chest to look at him.

“Finn is already confused about enough things,” she told him.“I don’t want him to get the wrong idea about us.”

He studied her for a long minute.“About us?”

“Yes.”She waved her hand over his chest.“About this.Whatever this is.”

She felt the muscles in his arms tense.“Whateverthisis?”

Sheridan pulled free of him and flopped on her back.“Wedon’t even know what this is.”

She knew what she wanted it to be.Except she wasn’t that naive teenager anymore.A relationship with Alek would be complicated.She couldn’t live with herself if they were involved while she held on to the secrets that haunted her.Telling him would almost guarantee he’d want no part of her, however.

“I don’t want Finn to get the wrong idea.”

Or get his hopes up like I most certainly will.

“He for sure got the wrong idea about me and his teacher.”Alek chuckled.“He thought we were getting married.”

“What?!”She sat up in the bed.

“Yeah, so keeping this on the down low works for me.”He tugged on her arm, positioning her so she was sprawled out over his chest again.“Besides, I like the idea of having you all to myself,” he murmured as he combed his fingers through her hair.“But ‘whatever this is,’ it’s important to me, Sheridan.You and Finn are important to me.I don’t want to mess it up.”

Alek captured her lips in a kiss that turned feverish after only a few seconds.She straddled his hips, biting back a moan as she slid against his erection.He fumbled with the condom before she took over the task.She dug her teeth into his shoulder at the same time as she sank down onto him.And then they were moving almost as one, their rhythm already familiar and guaranteed to bring them both pleasure.

Moments later, both sated once again, Alek resumed brushing his fingers through her hair with one hand while he tucked the other hand behind his head.She reveled in the feel of his heart beating beneath her palm.

“Finn wants his phone back,” he said.“He promises he won’t take it to school with him.He only wants it because it belonged to Jamie.”

She was surprised Finn hadn’t started hounding her the minute he’d gotten home.It wasn’t like him to show the kind of restraint he had this evening.Now she knew why.

“He enlisted you to be the mediator, did he?”

“What can I say?I possess an appeal that he can’t offer.”

She snorted.

“Hey, if that wasn’t enough to convince you, give me a few minutes, and I’ll do better on round three.”

Sheridan pressed her lips to his pecs.“If you do any better, I won’t be able to go to Pilates tomorrow.”

His chuckle sounded very self-assured.

“Today was the first time Finn mentioned Madison to me,” he murmured right when she was about to doze off.

The topic had her instantly alert.She spread her fingers out over the warm skin on his chest, hoping the tactile contact would calm her now racing heart.

Alek smoothed his hand over her hair.“He told me they fought about you.”

Her hand stilled.She felt him suck in a breath.

“Finn said Madison used to get upset every time you left after a visit.”

Only because she was the one staying.

“She must have been lonely,” he continued.