Chapter 12 #2
She shrinks into herself slightly, lips tugging down. “No. I’m just . . . Things are different here, is what I’m saying. You called us friends, and I like that. Friends aren’t really my thing back home. Any that I do have aren’t there because they enjoy my company. It’s all about status and money.”
“You can’t change who you are at your core by driving a few hours from your hometown, Millie. You’re either a good person or you’re not. That’s not something you can pretend. I don’t care how confident someone is on their ability to wear a mask. I’ll see through it.”
“I know I’m a good person. I’m just not who I want to be yet.”
“So, that’s why you’re staying? To figure out who you really are?”
Her eyes find mine, so bright there’s no mistaking her words for honesty. “Yeah, I think that’s what I’m hoping for.”
“Consider me a part of this mission, then.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I’m intrigued by who you are already. I’d be missing out not seeing the final stages, wouldn’t I?”
“That, or grateful when I learn that I’m into something really weird.”
“I like a bit of weird,” I poke, finishing the last bite of my pizza.
Millie gives my shoulder a bump. “So, friends?”
“Friends, but I haven’t forgotten about last night either.”
“What does that have to do with being friends?” she asks, her voice swooping up in pitch.
“I don’t make a habit of flirting like that with my friends, princess. Either you put an end to that right now, or the label of friends is going to get a bit weighted.”
Her throat pulls with a swallow. The crust of her pizza joins the rest of the untouched slices in the box, and then she’s twisting her body sideways. With her knees pressing into my thigh, she inhales deeply.
“Did you mean what you said?”
“Be specific,” I push gently, ignoring the quickening of my pulse.
Glancing up at the ceiling, she drops a hand to her leg, digging her fingers into the fabric of her tights. “About making exceptions to your rule?”
My groin tightens, blood pooling there and making my temperature rise. I drape an arm along the back of the couch, needing to try and loosen my tight muscles. The heat from her body makes my skin buzz with excitement.
“For you?” I ask.
Her lips part, her tongue gliding along the bottom one. “Yeah. Yes, yeah for me.”
“I would have told you last night.”
“Tell me now,” she murmurs, gaze falling, drifting to my mouth.
I adjust my arm, letting my hand hang before looping a finger through her hair.
The touch is subtle, hardly much to write home about, but her reaction to it is what makes it intoxicating.
Her eyelids fan closed at the same second her body quakes with a shiver.
I reach for her now, taking more of her hair and fitting it loosely in a fist.
My gaze is sharp as it runs over her face, dissecting the breaths being sucked quickly between her parted lips and the fluttering of her lashes.
I give her hair a gentle tug, just enough to have her feeling it.
The whimper that escapes her sends an electric charge right through my middle.
I release her hair and smooth it over her shoulder.
Jesus Christ.
It takes a few moments for her to realize I’ve let her go. The flutter of her lashes as she opens her eyes is gentle, so unlike what I’m used to in situations like this.
“I’ll make the exception for you,” I decide, letting my words fall between us without knowing exactly how she’ll react.
Her brows pinch together. “You . . . will?”
“Did you think I’d turn you down?”
“Don’t make me answer that,” she whispers.
Curling my fingers into a fist, I keep it bare of her hair and push it against the couch back. “I can’t fuck you, though, Millie.”
Her face blooms in a deep pink blush. “Oh! Oh, right—”
“I’d destroy you. I might be open to changing my rules, but I can’t give you the kind of sex that’s fit for a woman like you.”
“A woman like me,” she echoes, her nostrils flaring as the wheels in her mind start turning.
I reach for the hand she has still on her thigh and give it a squeeze. “I didn’t mean it that way. More like I wouldn’t treat you right. The romantic love shit. It’s just not my thing.”
“So, what, you’d only want to teach me the other things?”
My head almost falls back as my cock grows too stiff in my jeans. I clear my throat and shift my hips, trying to find a comfortable position.
“Is that what you’re looking for? A teacher?”
“Why not? We could still be just friends that way.”
“Spoken like someone with little experience, princess.”
“Flirty friends are a thing, aren’t they? You’re a good guy, and I’m asking you to do this for me. We could set boundaries, rules. It would work, right?” she asks, sounding so damn hopeful that I agree without meaning to.
“Yeah, boundaries would work.”
Or fuck us both over when someone inevitably tumbles over them. I know it wouldn’t be me, which means that Millie would be the one getting hurt. That’s not the point of her being here on this self-discovery journey of hers.
I’ve always known I was a bit of a jackass, but right now, it’s a matter of fact. It’s just too bad that still doesn’t make me call this off.