The rush of heat to my face is unbearable. I can’t stop shaking my head. Yet there’s another feeling moving through my body.

A curiosity that beckons for me to peek through my fingers. To get another good look at it before he puts it away. It’s been far too long since I’ve seen one. And I’d never seen one as big as this.

I fight the urge.

“Put it away,” I shout, not entirely convinced by my own words. “Don’t you have any manners?”

“Are you sure you don’t want another peek?” He laughs and I’m almost tempted to look at him.

“No, I don’t.”

“Last chance,” he sings. I bite down on my lip and shake my head. I wait for the reassuring sound of zipping before I look. My hands are shaking and my knees hit against each other. I turn to see that shit eating grin of his.  

“What’s wrong with you?” I get up to walk away. I need to put a little distance between him and me. I don’t trust myself. I might be tempted to do something I regret.

It doesn’t help. Every time I blink, I see it.

Every long, thick inch of his cock.

I stop myself from running my tongue along my lips with hunger.

“What’s wrong with me?” he says, shoving his towel into his backpack. “You’re the one who walked into the men’s locker room.” He takes a step forward, his index finger pointing at me. “You’re the one who bumped into me. Let’s not forget that.”

I open my mouth to retaliate, but I have nothing. He has a point.

I shouldn’t be in here. But that doesn’t change the fact that he could have waited until I left to disrobe. I didn’t need him to shake his package in front of me.

“I don’t have time for this. I need to be at the station in half an hour.” He throws the backpack over his shoulder, his biceps bulging out of his t-shirt. The thin fabric stretches, barely holding back his muscles.

This time I can feel my own animalistic tendencies come out. I tighten my hands into a fist. I want to attack him right here and now. Push him against the locker and tear that shirt off his beefy body. The look of surprise on his face just might be worth it.

“Station?” The word doesn’t register with me. He walks toward me, one hand clutching the strap of his backpack. He turns to the side and shows me the emblem on it.

It’s a red fireman helmet with a pike and axe crossing through it. Above the emblem reads ‘Fire Station’ with a number worn out underneath.

So he’s a firefighter. That explains why he’s so big and muscular.

“Yeah, some of us have to work, sweet cheeks. Now can you get out of my way?” He looks at me and then to the door behind me. “Unless you want something?”

My eyes involuntarily fall on his crotch before shooting back to his face. He smirks at me before I move to the side.

“Not a chance in hell,” I mutter. I don’t entirely believe myself. I want to fight the urge, but something is pulling me toward him.

He takes another look at me before he shrugs his massive shoulders. “Suit yourself. You’re missing out.” He moves past me and walks out the door. Just as the door is about to swing shut, his hand grabs hold and his brown hair pops back inside. “The name is Blake, sweet cheeks.” His eyes fall down my body one more time before he slinks back outside.

I open my mouth to shout at him, but he’s long gone by the time I can figure out what to say. I make my way to the women’s locker room and open mine. A cluster of different emotions surges through me, but there are two that ring louder than of the others.

Lust and regret.

* * *

“I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon,” Alex says, “especially after you hung up on me.”

She’s not going to drop that for a while. She hates when I hang up on her, on the rare occasion that it happens. Over the years, I’ve learned that it’s her pet peeve. And I might or might not use it when she gets on my own nerves.

“Sorry about that. I was a little overwhelmed at the time.” Still am. I pour myself a glass of red wine and look around at the piles and piles of moving boxes. This is going to be a long night and that has little to do with the moving boxes. “I need to run something by you.”

“Oh?” Alex genuinely sounds curious. It’s not often that I’m so forward when I ask for advice. “Is the know-it-all Rose coming to me for help? Me of all people? Who would have guessed,” she laughs.

“Are you done?” I hold back a chuckle. “I just figured this might be something you were more experienced with.”

“Okay, now my interest is piqued. What do you have for me?” I can practically imagine Alex jumping onto her bed, legs swinging behind her as she waits with anticipation. It feels like we’re in high school and I’m about to dish out some hot, juicy gossip.

It doesn’t take long to give Alex the run down. She doesn’t interrupt much, only when she needs to burst into laughter at my inexperience.

“And that’s pretty much it. I doubt that I’ll run into him again.” The apartment building has 40 floors and over 20 rooms on each floor. I know because I counted it myself. Trying to convince myself that I won’t meet him again. The chance of meeting him is slim to none. If I’m careful, I can avoid him for a long time.

That idea doesn’t please me. I close my eyes and the shape of his cock forms in my mind. I run my tongue along my lips and feel the heat rush between my legs. I won’t be able to sleep until I get it out of my system tonight.

“You missed out on one important detail.” Alex brings me back to reality. “How big is he?” I can almost picture the big smirk on her face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” It’s easier just to play dumb with Alex sometimes.

“Bullshit! He had his cock basically swinging in your face and you didn’t see it?”

“I saw part of it,” I admit, hoping that it’s enough to get her off my back. I didn’t want to think about it. Not now, at least.

“That big, huh?” Alex laughs. “So, are you going to track him down? He seemed interested in you.”

“He was only interested in me because I was the only one there and in the men’s locker room. And no, I’m not going to track him down.” Blake couldn’t have possibly wanted me.

I’m not the kind of girl that he’s into. I’m curvier around the edges than whatever his type is. That much I’m sure of.

“Does it matter? You’re in dire need of a quick and hard fuck. Sounds like Blake is just up your alley.”

“You know that I’m not like that. I can’t just throw myself at everyone who looks at me.” I think of how Blake looked at me in the locker room, his eyes devouring every inch of my body. The raw hunger in his face as he licked at his lips. I can’t help but think that that wasn’t something he normally did.

“Ro, you’ve got to live a little. You can’t be the good girl all your life. It doesn’t work like that anymore.” I down the last of the wine from the glass, pouring myself another. Alex’s words strike deep down.

Maybe she has a point. Maybe I do have to live a little. Spending a night with someone like Blake couldn’t be the worst thing.

“Do you want me to come over? If we start knocking on every door in the apartment, we can find your mystery lover by the end of the night,” she gays, giggling.

“Oh god, no. That reeks of desperation,” I blurt.

“Girl, at this point, beggars can’t be choosers,” she quips back. “And you can do a lot worse than Blake.”

It’s rare that it happens, but Alex does have a point. I’m not going to admit that to her, though. She’d never let me live it down.