Page 11

Easton

A fter spending Tuesday with Isaac, I break my routine on Wednesday for the second time this week, and surprisingly, it doesn’t kill me. While I’d usually head to the stadium for a weight session after dropping Isaac at Mom’s, I shoot off a message to the group chat—giving them a bullshit excuse—and make my way to the apartment gym instead.

I’ve just grabbed the door handle when my phone buzzes with replies.

Luke: Your truck won’t start? Really? Who is she and why is she still in your bed?

Reed: Do you need help? My friend owns a dealership and they have mobile mechanics

Luke: You believe him? He has a brand-new top of the line vehicle

Reed: Why would he lie?

I groan as I toss my phone into my bag and swipe my pass to unlock the gym, impatient to see Paige.

But she’s not there.

My shoulders drop and I let out a frustrated sigh, until someone taps my shoulder and giggles erupt behind me. “Looking for me?” Paige asks, her voice rife with mischief.

“Yes.” Relief fills me as I turn. “I wanted to explain.”

“Explain what?” She leans her shoulder casually against the wall and waits for my response.

“Explain what you saw.”

Her brows furrow as she glances away, lost in thought. “What did I see?”

Rather than answering, I start with the reason I ditched my regular training to find her. “I’m not cheating, if that’s what you thought.”

“What?” Her eyes widen before confusion really takes over.

“When we ran into each other Monday night, you couldn’t get away fast enough.”

“Was I supposed to act differently?” Her lips purse before she laughs. “You seemed to be in a hurry.” I was. But…uh… What the fuck am I doing?

“I thought…” I trail off because it only just occurred to me that she probably doesn’t care.

“Thought…” She waves her hands, willing me to continue, but when I shrug, she answers for me. “You thought I’d be worried about seeing you with a kid?”

“I did. The kid’s my son.”

“I figured that.” She scrunches her nose but her expression comes across as shy. “I’m guessing you didn’t want me to know about him.”

“What?” I thought she’d be pissed off and jumping to the wrong conclusions. I didn’t even consider that. “No, it’s not that, I just don’t—” I cut myself off. I didn’t come here to talk about Isaac. “I didn’t want you to think you were the other woman. That I was using you for some reason. But I’m single. And a dad.”

Paige smirks before ducking under my arm and pulling me into the gym, closing the door behind us. “Weren’t you using me though, a little? We had sex and I didn’t even know your name. I didn’t have any expectations beyond that. Did you?”

“No, not really. But I don’t like the idea of you thinking I left you and went home to someone else.”

“Technically, I left you. But why?”

“I don’t know. I’m not that guy. I—” Fuck . She doesn’t need to know I was cheated on and that I’d never put someone else through that kind of pain and humiliation. I’m a dick. I should have left it alone. “Ignore me. My life is a complicated mess at the moment. I didn’t want you to think I’d dragged you into it.”

I turn to leave, but Paige stops me, gently wrapping her hand around my wrist, her hold quite the contrast to the way she squeezed me last time we were here. “My life isn’t messy as such, but it is complicated and…complicated is enough of an explanation.” She shakes her head and it’s obvious she’s holding back, but I guess, so am I. “We were both in need of some tension relief and I sure as hell got it.”

“You weren’t the only one.” I smile.

“So… I’m thinking… Should we continue to use each other?”

“What?” My jaw drops. I was expecting her to tell me she doesn’t do “messy” and walk away. But this is…interesting. “How would that work exactly?” I raise an eyebrow as my thoughts run wild.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, something tells me I shouldn’t be entertaining this idea, but that something can get fucked.

Paige perks up, perhaps expecting me to run at the suggestion, and she’d generally be right. But things are different when it comes to her. “We’d have to keep it simple,” she begins. “No strings. No commitment. No feelings. Just sex. A release. We don’t need to get to know each other. Don’t need to engage in regular conversation. We can look at it as though we’re getting a high from pleasure rather than breaking shit.” She winks and I release a sarcastic laugh. Touché . “I think you need it. I know I need it. It’s a win-win.”

“That easy, huh?”

“Yep.” She smiles confidently. “It’s that easy. Do you think because I’m a girl, I can’t do casual sex?”

“Not at all.” That thought hadn’t occurred to me… “I meant the ‘no conversation’ part. You’ve failed on that during every one of our interactions.”

Paige bursts out laughing, grabbing my arm as she buckles over. “You’re not grumpy all the time, are you? It’s a front.”

I’m not sure that I’d call myself grumpy just because I’m not bubbly and forthright. “I’m just me, Paige.” I shrug. I don’t really know what else to say.

Paige smiles, but it’s not her usual grin. This one holds a little intrigue. “You know, I’m starting to see that. But who knew you were so funny? It makes you that little bit hotter.”

“Thanks.” I think. My voice lifts in question and I wait to see if she’ll bite. And of course she does.

“You seem confused. Or are you fishing for more compliments? You’re hot and you know it. Actually, you’re a dangerous level of hot because there’s also a mysterious air about you that sucks people in and…” She trails off when I smile.

“What?”

“I knew you couldn’t do it.”

“Do what?”

“Go without conversation.”

“But you—”

“All I did was say thanks.”

“ Dammit . Okay, let's take that one out of the rules. It wasn’t all that important anyway.”

I consider that for a moment. We’ve made it this far with conversation and it’s mostly surface level anyway. Plus, it might be nice to have another adult to talk to that isn’t my Mom, sister, or one of the guys on the team.

“Fine, but when my cock is buried deep inside you, the only words I want coming out of your pretty little mouth are the ones telling me how good I’m making you feel. Deal?”

Paige falls silent and I laugh.

“You’ve gone quiet? You don’t have to do that yet; my cock’s currently secured in my pants. You’re safe. What happened?”

“Deal. And we need to change that. Stat.”

“Stat?”

“Please.” She drops to her knees and curls her fingers into the waistband of my shorts, ready to suck me right there in the entryway of the gym.

She likes it when I tell her what to do. And what a coincidence, so do I.

Stepping back against the door to stop it from opening, I lower my sweats just below my ass and release my length, both of us watching as it springs up between us, rock-hard and ready to go. “You wanted this? Now wrap that perfect little pout around me and suck.”

Paige opens her mouth and leans forward, but just before she touches my tip, she stops and glances up at me.

The vision alone has me twitching but when she speaks… Fuuuck. “As much as I love this.” She licks her lips as her gaze lowers to my cock again. “Next time we meet, bring a damn condom; I need to feel you inside me.”

Christ… I almost come on the spot.

“Earn it.” I wink, loving it when her eyes widen and her lips part in a gasp.

Where did this woman come from? She’s going to be trouble. I can tell.

I think I’m going to like this agreement. A lot.