Page 102 of X's and O's

I didn’t know how I’d gone from no men to three in the space of a couple of weeks.

But a nagging voice inside my head reminded me I didn’t really have any of them.

X and I might have fooled around once, but the man clearly couldn’t be serious about anything, let alone me. He was gorgeous and funny and terrifying all at once, but could he give me what Rebel had with my brother? A stable life and a family of my own?

My gut screamed no.

Levi could have. We’d spent a year talking about building a life together, but now he ran as hot and cold asa faucet and had me questioning everything I’d ever thought true about him.

Whip seemed the least complicated of all of them. Sex. That was all our deal had been. And that was what it needed to stay. I’d tell him that when he came over.

My fingers shook at the very idea of a late-night booty call, and yet there was a persistent tingle low in my belly that was eagerly watching the clock. Toby had already gone to bed by the time I’d gotten home, so I paced the living room floor alone, padding barefoot from one end to the other.

By eleven, I’d talked myself out of it. I picked up the phone, fingers trembling, ready to cancel the whole thing.

Violet:I think this was a mistake. Don’t come over.

A message tone pinged from outside my door.

I stared at it in horror. “No, no, no,” I whispered, rushing to the door and peering through the peephole.

Whip stood on the other side, staring down at his phone.

I pulled the door open, embarrassment heating my skin.

He looked up, a wry grin on his face. “Should I go?”

I couldn’t breathe. His clean shirt had the first couple of buttons undone, and the sleeves rolled to his elbows. His jeans fit snuggly around his waist, the same ones he’d been wearing earlier when I’d turned up at his house completely unannounced.

He was gorgeous. My heart beat too fast, and I couldn’t talk properly when he was around and staring at me like…that.

His gaze skated down the curves of my body and thenback up, lingering on my lips. “Shake your head no, Violet.”

I did exactly as I was told.

I didn’t want him to go.

He stepped in, and I shuffled backward, making room for him to pass me.

He didn’t. He only moved closer, until my back hit the wall behind me.

I gasped when he pressed against me, ducking his head so his lips hovered just over mine.

“Levi isn’t here to stop me from kissing you this time.”

“Good,” I whispered back.

He laughed, his mouth brushing mine. “You want me to kiss you, Violet?”

I brought my fingers up to twist in his shirt, the warmth of his chest radiating through the fabric. “What if I said no?”

He groaned, touching his mouth to mine again, ever so briefly. “I’d walk away. That what you want?”

“No.”

“Then tell me to kiss you.”

“Kiss m—”