Falling asleep in West’s covers means I’m surrounded by his scent. That has to be about the best way to sleep. Even though I’m not supposed to crush on him anymore. Hell, after last night when I made a complete ass of myself, he’ll definitely never like me. Which is probably for the best.
I get the hell out of there when I wake up. West is still snoozing in Theo’s bed, holding a pillow to his chest with a cartoon fire truck on it, and I will myself not to think he looks adorable.
When I pull open the door to my parents’ kitchen, I’m grateful that they are already gone for the day. That way, they don’t have to see what an idiot I’ve been. My ego still stings. But I don’t have time to wallow.
Instead, I carefully peel off the bandages on my hands. I’m expecting it to look a lot worse than it does. There’s a dull ache and red skin, but it’s not so bad. Once I get new bandages on, I tackle my hair. Sleeping with wet hair without conditioner means my hair closely resembles a rat’s nest. It takes a while to carefully brush it all out with some spray-in product, but finally, I get it more or less smooth and pulled back into a neat-ish ponytail. Then I finish getting dressed in a hoodie and sweats. I fold up West’s t-shirt, debating whether to return it, or be creepy and sleep with it under my pillow. But no, I will return it. Definitely. My crush is officially over. Today we can go back to ignoring each other.
Anyway, I have enough work to do before tomorrow night to make me crazy. Even if I want to cancel my second pop-up dinner, I can’t admit defeat yet. Not when I don’t even have a job to go back to in New York. This is what I have to do right now. That’s all there is to it.
Downing a quick cup of coffee and stuffing a muffin in my face, I grab my keys and mentally prepare to tackle the mess at The Daff. Thank heavens Jess picked me up last night, so I’m not stranded at home today.
When I finally get the box of extra cleaning supplies and my mom’s steam cleaner into the car, I screech when I feel a hand grab my shoulder out of nowhere.
Whipping around reveals West with a scowl on his face. “What are you doing?”
“Going to work, obviously.” I look between him and the cleaning supplies.
He shakes his head. “You need to take it easy on your hands.”
“Well The Daff isn’t going to clean itself. So I’m going to make do. Thank you for your concern.” I slide into the seat and pull the door closed. When I turn the engine, West is sliding into the passenger side.
I groan. “The day is half gone already, West. I really don’t have time to argue.”
“No argument here. I’m going to help you, okay? At least let me help.”
“You don’t owe me anything.” My tone is harsher than I mean it to be.
West’s trademark scowl deepens. “It’s not about owing you anything. We’re friends, right?”
“Are we?” I ask in disbelief.
“Amelia, is this about the pool? I shouldn’t have let things go that far and this is why. Everything’s all weird between us now.”
“Only because you’re making it weird. Because you’re on some high horse thinking you can’t hook up with anyone because you have a kid.”
“Theo is because of a hookup. A one-night stand. I didn’t even know Abby and now she’s in my life forever. And look what she’s putting me through. Threatening to take Theo from me. And to keep him I need to prove that I’m here for him. That I can care for him. That I can do more than work a low paying part-time fucking job. I’ve got too much baggage, Amelia. You don’t want to tie yourself to me. What if we slept together and you ended up pregnant too? Then what? Now I’m a deadbeat dad to two kids and no place to live because your parents would never forgive me and dammit, I rely too much on their generosity to keep my life afloat right now…” West buries his face in his hands.
“Whoa, West. Easy, buddy.” I pull at the hands covering his face, and he resists a few times until I finally pry them away and he looks at me. Man, his face looks wrecked. “That’s a lot you are carrying on your shoulders. I hear that. But you have a few things wrong there.” His brow creases in question, and I continue. “First off, I didn’t say I wanted to date you or anything, I just thought while I’m in town working on The Daff, we might have a little fun. Second, if you don’t know by now that my parents love you like one of their own, then you’re an idiot. They don’t throw people they love out of their life, so you’re fine where that’s concerned. And think about how much they love Theo. If we had an oopsie baby, they would be fucking thrilled. But third, you should also know that I would never, ever accidentally get pregnant. I’ve always been very careful where that’s concerned.”
My speech seems to have stunned West into some sort of catatonic silence, so I throw the car into gear. “So if that’s all sorted, come help me clean because I am a bit desperate, and now you do owe me for making so many negative assumptions about me and my family.”
For better or worse, I totally take advantage of West today, and not in a sexy way. I send him out to pick up my grocery order and then put him to work cleaning up at The Daff. Even though he protests and asks me every five minutes how my fingers are doing, I work alongside him. There’s just too much to get down. After a few hours of scrubbing, which actually doesn’t bother my burns too much, I reward him with club sandwiches and fries from the diner across the street.
Smacking his bottom causes him to do this little startle that gives me a deep satisfaction. He cuts the vacuum cleaner off with a frown while I hold up the stuffed plastic bag. “Food’s here, sweet cheeks.”
Unpacking the food on one of the empty tables while he washes up, I can’t help but think back to the meal we tried to cook together. Damn, that had been nice. But he had been lowering his guard around me and I pounced, fucking everything up. Pushing him is clearly not the answer.
He slides into the chair across from me and pulls the box closer, opening it and immediately shoving a fry in his mouth. Going for the sandwich, he takes a massive bite next. “What?” he asks around the food.
“Nothing.” I shake my head and continue to watch him.
He swallows and sips at the coke I brought. “Don’t be weird. Just say whatever you’re thinking.”
“Yeah, because that’s worked so well for me in the past.” I snort a cynical laugh.
“Maybe you’re right. You’re full of dangerous ideas.”
Pointing a fry at him, I argue, “I thought we established my ideas aren’t dangerous.”
Setting down the sandwich, he counts off with his fingers. “Not getting the sprinklers fixed, getting drunk while baking, blowing me in your parents’ pool…need I go on?”
Maybe I should be mad that he’s judging me, but I can’t help smiling because he mentioned the blowjob, which is wholly unlike him. “For your information, I already booked the sprinkler guy my dad thought he sneakily had come out for a quote, my mom is the person who taught me about drinking while cooking, and that blowjob was hot as fuck and you know it.”
West’s cheeks are flushed at my words. “Y-you booked the sprinkler guy?”
“That’s your takeaway?” I scoff.
I can visibly see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows. “Maybe.”
“Well if you aren’t sure, I can do it again and remind you.” What the ever-loving fuck am I even saying?
“Do-over?” he repeats, blinking at me with dumbstruck eyes.
I nod, biting on my lip. “I dare you. Let loose for ten minutes. Have fun. Are you really too chicken?”
He shakes his head. “You think you can bully me into sex?”
I shrug. “Tell me you aren’t hard right now, and I’ll never mention it again.”
His eyes drop down to his lap and back up again. I can’t help the throaty laugh that escapes my lips.
“We don’t have to have the kind of sex that gets girls pregnant, you know?”
“Amelia,” he growls in warning.
“Just saying. We’re both consenting adults. You’re hot as sin, and I’m pretty sure you find me tolerable in the looks department. I’ve never had to beg for sex before.”
West takes a long inhale, his eyes locked on mine. Then in a split second, he’s standing, pulling me up out of my chair. My legs wrap around his hard waist. Our mouths lock together in an overdue kiss, tongues hungrily lapping and teasing.
“Upstairs,” I gasp between kisses, painfully aware that there are windows all around us and a good amount of foot traffic in this area.
West doesn’t argue, for once, turning us to the stairs and easily carrying us both up toward the bedrooms. He walks into the first open door, and we fall onto the musty bed, but I can’t even give a shit about that because West is on me. His delicious weight presses into me, and I arch into him.
With each kiss, I inhale his woodsy scent as I practically suck his tongue clear out of his damn mouth. When I tug at his shirt, he lets me pull it off, and once again mine is off too, and I assume any second he’s going to pull away, but he doesn’t. Instead, he kisses down my collarbone, down my belly, and stops at my belly button while his hands work to tug down my sweats. Oh hell yes!
He slides down the bed and lands on the floor on his knees, pulling my thighs until I’m at the edge of the bed. He shoves my pants to my ankles and pulls them free. They fly across the room. Amen!
West’s mouth latches onto me over my panties, and the heat from his mouth is other-fucking-worldly. I’m no prude, but it’s not like I have loads of experience, and so this little move is new to me, and I fucking love it. Heat floods my core, and I rock my hips into his mouth in little thrusts. My hands find their way into his short hair, and I rake through the soft locks.
His tongue darts out then and licks over the fabric. “Please, take them off,” I beg, eager to feel his rough tongue on me. He groans in reply and then tugs at the fabric, removing the last barrier.