Time never flies as fast as when I’m with Carter. We spent the rest of the day on the water and now that it’s time to say goodbye, I don’t want to. “When am I going to see you again?” I ask, leaning against the hallway wall. My fingers sweep across her forehead to tuck a strand of windblown hair behind her ear.

“When do you want to see me again?” Her manner is playful. I like seeing her this way. It’s a new side that she’s never exposed. She’s slowly letting me in.

“If it were up to me, I’d just move in so I could spend every free minute with you, but I think that might be too much Nick for you at this point.”

“I think you might be right.” She smirks

“Hey.” I poke her in the side. “Be nice.”

“Do you want to come to dinner tomorrow night?” she asks, looking unsure.

“Yes.”

“That was quick. You sure you don’t want to think about it?”

“What’s there to think about? A beautiful woman wants to cook me dinner. I’d be an idiot to turn down that offer.”

“You think I’m beautiful?” she questions, doubtfully.

I caress her cheek with the back of my fingers. “You’re stunning. Looking at you makes it difficult to breathe; my heart races and my stomach feels weak.” She remains silent, staring up at me with wide eyes, shimmering with unshed tears. “Is that an honest enough answer for you?”

Nodding, her top teeth bite into the fullness of her lower lip. A tear slips over her bottom lashes, trailing down her cheek. Catching it with my fingertip, I brush it away. “I know your ex hurt you, but you shouldn’t doubt how gorgeous you are; inside and out. I don’t want you to shed another tear over him.”

“It’s not because of him.”

“I know it’s not directly, but the fact that you’re unsure of your worth is because of him. I swear if I ever cross paths with this dude, I’ll beat his ass for what he did to you. And then I’ll take him out for a drink.”

“Huh? Why would you take him out after?”

“To thank him for being such a dumb motherfucker. If he wasn’t, you and I wouldn’t be standing here right now. And you wouldn’t be making me something delicious for dinner tomorrow night.”

“I see how it is. It’s all about feeding you.”

“I have a healthy appetite, woman.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her and she giggles.

“That was such a cheesy line, but I’ll let it slide since I had such a great time today.”

“I did too. Thank you for coming with me. I can’t wait to take you out again. Maybe next time we’ll bring Noah and Reagan, so we can go tubing.”

“I’d like that.” She glances down the hallway as a door slams shut. We fall silent as one of the other residents passes by us on their way to the front door. “Come over at six, tomorrow night.”

Squeezing her arm, I draw her attention back to me. “I’ll be here, Candy.”

* * *

I spent the remainder of my day, lying around, taking it easy. By the time nine o’clock rolls around I’m bored out of my mind and my roommates aren’t home to distract me. I’ve been trying to ignore the devil on my shoulder that keeps prodding me to go knock on Carter’s door, but after drinking more than a few beers and hours of boredom, seeing her seems like a solid plan. Quickly, before I have a change of heart, I grab some provisions and my keys. Pulling the door shut behind me, I cross the wide hallway and knock on Carter’s door. She answers almost immediately, a curious look on her face as she notices my pillow clutched under one arm and a bag of chocolate covered pretzels in my hand.

“I’m here for a sleepover,” I say, gracing her with my most charming smile.

She presses her lips together then taps her index finger to them as if she’s pondering whether to let me stay. “I’m only letting you inside because you brought me a snack.” She steps back, gesturing for me to enter. “Nice Patriots pillow case by the way.” She smirks, locking the door.

“Thanks, my grandmother bought me the matching sheets too. We can have the next sleepover at my place, so you can get the full effect.” I tell her, winking.

“I can’t wait.”

“I bet.”

She rolls her eyes. “Come on, I was just about to watch Mean Girls. Have you ever seen that?” She flips off the overhead kitchen light, flicking on the small one over the stove.

“No and I can’t say I want to.”

“You’re welcome to leave the chocolate covered pretzels and return to your place.”

“Hell no. I’ll suffer through a chick flick if my reward is chocolate and cuddling with you.”

“Which one do you want more?”

“Hmm, that’s a tough one.” I grin, following her into the bedroom.

She pauses beside the bed, arching an eyebrow at me. Climbing under the covers, she settles back against her pillow.

Heading around to the other side of the mattress, I throw the bag of pretzels on the middle of the bed and drop my pillow down in front of the wooden headboard. Kicking off my slides, I strip off my t-shirt and basketball shorts. Her eyes travel greedily over my chest and hard earned six pack. “I meant to ask you earlier, when did you get that tattoo?” she questions, nodding at my left pec where there’s a Boston Terrier wearing a football helmet.

“He’s been with me since freshman year. Brady, Zeke and a few other guys from the team all got them. We did it as a drunken bonding experience.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Hell no. In fact, some of the younger team members recently went and got this same tattoo.”

“I like it. It’s cute.”

“Cute? Don’t you mean intimidating?”

“Nope, I mean cute,” she giggles. “What’s this?” She points to my pillow, where it lies on its side. Flipping it the rest of the way over, she snorts when she recognizes Julian Edelman’s face. “This is just weird.”

“Hey, he’s my favorite player.”

“Like I said, weird. Ooh, do you have a man crush on him?” she teases as I climb between the sheets.

“No, but I’d have a bromance with him. He doesn’t need Tom when he could have me as a friend. We could go out for beers and cruise on my boat. Although he probably has a huge yacht we could party on and rub elbows with all the rich and famous.”

She laughs. “I’m glad you have it all worked out.”

“I’m nothing if not prepared.”

“Okay, well it’s time to prepare to watch Mean Girls. You can’t talk if you want to stay here.”

“What if I have a question about the movie?”

“I think you can keep up.”

“Hit me with it. The sooner we start watching, the sooner cuddle time begins.”

I try to follow along for the first five minutes, but I get distracted by the length of her leg next to mine. Her skin is warm and soft like I remember other parts of her being. And just like that my dick is iron hard. I will it to go away, but it has a fucking mind of its own and won’t listen. Every time she fidgets she rubs against me, turning me on more until my cock hurts. I’ve had blue balls since the day I met her. Every nerve ending in my body is on high alert whenever she’s nearby.

Shifting toward the edge of the bed, I do my best to avoid contact with any part of her and focus on the movie. She’ll probably want to discuss it once it’s over and right now my other brain is the only one that’s functioning.

Reaching for the bag of chocolate covered pretzels, I tear it open. Grabbing a handful, I pop one in my mouth and think about how delicious it tastes instead of the fact that Carter is in bed with me. And she’s half naked, only wearing a tiny tank top and tight shorts. I throw two more pretzels in my mouth. Mmm, salty and sweet...just like her pussy. Fuck.

Flipping the covers off, I practically launch myself out of her bed.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to grab a glass of water if that’s okay?”

“Sure, there are bottles in the fridge. Will you bring me one, please?”

Nodding, I beat feet from the room, heading to the kitchen. Opening the door, I stand there, allowing the cold air to cool my heated skin. I need to get a grip on my control. Maybe sleeping over tonight was a bad idea after staring at her in a bikini all day. I’m only human and she’s built like a fucking goddess...pure temptation.

Grabbing two bottles of water, I remind myself to calm down and take things slow with her as I retrace my steps back to the bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, I hand her the water, keeping my eyes focused on the TV screen mounted on her wall.

“Is everything okay?” she asks, perceptive to my mood change.

Turning my head in her direction, I answer, “yep, all good.” Flashing her a quick grin, I pray she’ll let this drop and not pursue it further. I know I’m acting strange, but she doesn’t need to know why.

Thankfully, she lets it drop, and I shift on the bed until I’m sitting propped against the headboard with pillows behind my back. I’m not sure how it happens, but I watch the rest of the movie without getting distracted by her. It could have something to do with the fact that I’ve avoided looking in her direction for the last ninety minutes.

“What did you think?” she asks, pulling my attention to her. She looks so captivating with her dark tresses spread out over the pillowcase. The lamp on her nightstand gives her skin an ethereal glow. I shouldn’t be here. She’s too perfect for my world. Girls like her go for assholes disguised as good guys and I’m more of a good guy disguised as an asshole. If she’s not willing to see beyond my playful exterior she might not realize there’s more to me.

“It was better than I expected. Rachel McAdams being in it helped.”

“You’re such a guy.”

“I’m glad you noticed.” I flex my biceps and wink at her.

“I hate to cut this party short, but I need my beauty sleep.”

“Yeah, I noticed, but didn’t want to mention it....”

She tugs one of the pillows from underneath her and smashes it into my chest. “You’re not a gentleman.”

Catching the pillow, I snatch it from her grasp, chucking it to the foot of the bed. Scooting down, I maneuver until I’m hovering over her. “I never said I was a gentleman in bed, although watching the movie with you next to me was the ultimate test for my fucking will.” Dropping closer, I rub the tip of my nose down the length of hers then gently brush back and forth over the tip. Her warm breath fans over my lips, teasingly. “What do you want?” I whisper, hoarsely.

“Kiss me.”

Capturing her lips with no hesitation, I roll to my back, pulling her on top of me as our mouths move together, conveying what we’re both fearful to admit. We continue, tongues thrusting, hips grinding until I’m ready to explode. Caught between lust and love; there’s no ride I’d rather be on.

Our lips part and we both gasp, short of breath from our heated exchange. Carter gazes down at me an awestruck expression on her face, lips swollen and wet. We’re fucking magic together. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.

She giggles, shaking her head and I have no idea what’s set her off. “What’s so funny?”

“I just realized Edelman is staring at us.” Chuckling, I tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Flip that sucker over or I’m not kissing you anymore.”

I reach behind my head, grip the pillow and throw it off the bed. “Where were we?”