Page 49 of Decidedly Off Limits

“Even though it’s the same thing?”

She nodded, the grin on her face as bright as the sun overhead. But then it disappeared as quickly as it had come—and I knew why.

“We just have to make sure Holly understands where things stand between her and me,” I said.

“We?” Kelsey poked me in the chest. “There’s no ‘we’ here. You want to break her heart, soyou’llbe the one doing it, not me. Anyway, it’s not like we can let anyone know about us.”

“Why’s that?” I asked, even though she was right. She wasn’t my girlfriend, which meant that what was going on between us was no one else’s business.

“Hello, have you met your reputation? If my brother has you calling interference on my dating life, do you think he’s going to be supportive of me messing around with someone who changes women as often as he changes his underwear?”

“Hey, I’m not that bad.”

“Yes, you are. And your sister wouldn’t be too impressed either. Not after what happened with She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.”

“Who?”

“Michaela. Just don’t mention her name to Erin.” She gave a dramatic shudder.

“Why’s that?” I mean, I got that things didn’t go down too well after I broke up with her, but I didn’t get what this had to do with Kelsey and me.

“You really don’t know?”

I shook my head.

“Let’s just say Michaela was crazy, and after what happened with her, Erin said she would disown any of her friends if they went out with you.”

Oh. I just figured she would kill me. I had no idea she had placed an actual ban on me. Which meant it didn’t matter to my sister (and probably Liam) that I hadn’t slept with another woman in over two months. Not since Kelsey had stepped back into my life again without trying to avoid me. As far as Erin was concerned, I was the forbidden fruit—so to speak.

“All right. But if we’re doing this”—I pointed to Kelsey then to myself—“it has to be exclusive. No tennis pro, no Josh, and no other men.”

She laughed, which wasn’t the reaction I was expecting. “How much free time do you think I have?”

I shrugged because I really had no idea. The concept of free time was foreign to me.

“The same goes for you,” she said. “And we can’t do anything until you’ve squared things with Holly. I know you guys aren’t involved, but it doesn’t feel right for her to think she has a chance with you when I’m the one sleeping with you.” Without waiting for a reply, she turned toward the path and continued walking.

“All right. I’ll deal with Holly.” I hiked after her. “And just so you know, I haven’t been with anyone in a while.”

“Really? Well, if it makes you feel any better, I can guarantee your dry spell isn’t as long as mine—if we don’t count the gold medal winner of sprint fucking.”

And I didn’t. The guy was a goddamn idiot.

“How long are we talking about?” From what I remembered, she dumped her asshole of a fiancé over six months ago. So yeah, she “won” that competition.

“Well, before him, the last time I had sex was with Owen over fifteen months ago.”

I stopped abruptly.What the fuck?How the hell did the asswipe manage to be with Kelsey that long without sex? That would mean they were together for the last nine months of their relationship without having sex once during that time? What was he—gay?

If she were mine, I couldn’t go three days without tasting her. Anything beyond that and I was positive I’d go insane. And even three days was pushing things.

As it were, if we hadn’t been in an area popular with hikers, and if the issue of Holly wasn’t hanging over us, I would’ve taken Kelsey deeper into the woods and ended her fucking hiatus.

“The guy was an idiot,” I said. “Glad you dumped him. You definitely deserve more than that tool.”

She smiled and kept walking, picking up her pace. “You’re right. I do,” she called over her shoulder as my phone rang.

I checked who was calling. Dad?