I’m in love with Sophie Meyer. I am. It’s been true for quite a while, and I know that soon I’ll need to tell her the truth, not just about how and when I knew I loved her, but the whole painful truth that will inevitably lead us down a thorny trail. I have never dreaded that road because I knew that one day the truth—my truth—would come out. And now that it’s almost here, I can taste how sweet it is.

It’s week five of the social experiment that the coach had to twist my balls into joining, and now I feel like falling down and kissing his sweat socks in gratitude. Dexter’s show has catapulted to super status in a week’s time, trending on social media sites—the YouTube channel has since shut down, and all new episodes are being funneled straight to cable television with a new show running three times a week. Petra says they have enough footage featuring every couple combined to fill three seasons’ worth already. I’m damn glad Dexter isn’t throwing Sophie and me into the mix. Nope. Soph and I need to remain private until we’re ready for prime time. I know for a fact that’s one show Braden would not want to catch.

In fact, I’m on my way to the makeshift studio for the next taping. Tonight’s date is Sophie’s choice, and I’m curious what she’s decided on. She let me know it will knock my socks off. That alone has my interest piqued because Sophie already knocked my socks off literally last Saturday night. And I’ve been reliving that night ever since. Her soft tits in my mouth, the smooth velvet of her skin against mine, the two of us loving one another as if our lives depended on it. We dragged that night right into the early hours of the morning, and I’m sure we would have taken it further had I not stubbornly left my protective gear back at Leland. It was a hard decision to make to begin with, but once things got moving, it was one I deeply regretted. I’m glad she came prepared. Hell, I’m glad she didn’t slap me once she saw that tent and its carnal implications. Yes, I wanted to spend time with her, have a romantic night—but hot damn am I happy with the way things worked out.

I’m just about to make the turn into the psych building when I hear my name faintly from behind. I turn around and realize the mistake I’ve just made as Becca comes trotting forward, flagging me down with an open-mouthed smile as if she were picking me up at the airport.

“Where you off to?” She pops up, breathless.

“Just—uh”—I glance back at the building with bodies streaming inside, all of which are knee deep in Dexter’s maze just like I am. Only I’m betting I’m the luckiest bastard in there because I get to be with the love of my life. I glance back to Becca, and my expression sours. “Look, I gotta go.” I try to bypass her, and she jumps in front of me.

“Well, if you’re not busy, maybe we could get some coffee?” There’s a hopeful tone in her voice, and something in my gut says run.

“Becca.” I scan the vicinity for signs of anyone even remotely resembling her demented other half. “Why are you doing this? We haven’t spoken in years. Look, I have nothing against you. In fact, I’m happy for you. Yes, it took a moment to wrap my head around it, but I’m over that now. I appreciate you telling me about the baby. I just think we should continue to keep our distance.” That baby. My heart breaks all over again, but I can’t help but wonder what would have become of my life if it had lived. I’m sure Becca and I would have stuck together, but it would never have worked. I would have loved that baby, though. I would have made it a point to be the best father. And yet, in my heart, I think the universe would have led me straight into Sophie’s arms regardless. Sophie and I were meant to happen. There’s a real connection there. There always has been.

“Keep our distance?” Her left lid lowers a notch. A clear indication she’s pissed. I know that look. I know all of Becca Carmichael’s facial expressions, and I’m not a fan of any one of them. “What if I told you that I’m no longer interested in keeping my distance?” She takes a step in as if to prove her point, and her finger runs over the lip of my jacket.

“Did you run this little scenario by Braden?” I lean back, out of reach. “Braden is crazy about you. He’s given up a lot just to have you. He’s shut people out, told lies to cover up what you did, and he broke a lot of hearts to do it. You were worth it to him, Becca.” My anger hits its zenith. “You were the reason every moment of the last three years has felt like walking through a fire.”

Her dark eyes harden over mine. “I wasn’t the reason, and you know it.” She leans in and lands an open palm slap over the side of my cheek, leaving a sharp sting in her wake. “That’s for always insisting on twisting the damn truth. You’re right. Braden gave up a lot for me—because I’m worth it, Rowen.” She over annunciates those last few words. “I am worth it. I hope you curl up in a ball at night because you miss me so bad it hurts.” Tears come, and her affect softens from rage to helplessness. Typical Becca behavior. I’ve never met anyone who runs from hot to cold like she does. “I do those things, Rowen.” She slaps me over the chest before pulling me in and sobbing over my chest. “I curl up in a ball at night wishing it were still you holding me! I miss you.” Her voice grows weak, and I try to step away, but she’s latched onto me with a death grip. “Don’t you miss me? Can’t we at least have a conversation once in a while?” She pulls back and pinches her eyes shut a moment. “I just need you in my life in some small way.”

“Look, I have to go. But I don’t like seeing you upset. Go to Braden. Tell him that you need more of him. Hell, I don’t know how to help you, Bec. You’re with him now. You made your choice, and I’ve moved on. I’m not thinking about you,” I say it as gently as possible. “I’m thinking about someone else.”

She snorts at the thought. “A couple dozen someone else’s. They don’t mean squat to you, Rowen. I do.”

“I found someone.”

The whites of her eyes eat up the night. “Who?”

“No one you need to concern yourself with.” But she will soon enough. Sophie and I can’t keep this a secret forever.

“I see.” She startles, looking around as if she were suddenly coming to. “Are you sure? Are you serious about this girl?”

“Yes, I’m serious. I’m in love with her. She’s it for me. All roads lead to her, all the time, every time. I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life.”

“Wow.” She takes a stumbling step back as if my words had the power to blow her away, and they do. “I guess I’ll see you around campus then.” Her gaze rides up and down my body, stunned as shit. “I’ll see you, Rowen,” she says the words caustic and tight as she staggers away like a thief fleeing the scene.

Something tells me I haven’t seen the last of Becca Carmichael. And as long as she’s with Braden, she’ll always be in my life in a twisted sort of way. But I’d put up with Becca and her odd behavior as long as I have Sophie. I will move heaven and earth to make sure Sophie and I stay safe and sound in one another’s arms.

And there’s nothing Becca or Braden can do to stop it.

* * *

By the time I arrive, Petra is pissed. The sound guys strap me with a mic while the makeup gal runs a comb through my hair.

“She’s already in there.” Petra points to the little room Sophie and I were first reintroduced to one another in.

“I thought tonight was Sophie’s choice?” I’m pretty sure that room isn’t near the top of her list, is it?

“It is.” Petra smiles as if reading my mind. “Oh, and by the way, this Saturday is couple’s choice, so you can both start brainstorming anytime you like. Try to keep it on campus if you can.” Her lips pull back in mock horror. “Production has sort of run away from us. Dexter says he needs a sure thing to make the network love us.”

“I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you. I’ve really enjoyed my time here.”

I head inside, and Sophie spikes to her feet just as the door closes behind me.

“Hey, beautiful.” I land a smiling kiss to her lips. Sophie is stunning in her skin-tight sweater, her sprayed-on jeans. The table they had set up last time has been removed, and it’s just the two of us just like it was in the beginning. “Back to square one?”

“Sort of.” She jumps up on the balls of her feet, landing her mouth in my ear, and like a reflex my arms find their way around her. “Our real date awaits.” She backs up and waves a hand around. “We can assume the introductory position, but I had to change it up a bit.” She points to the cameras on the ceiling while wrinkling her nose, and that little action warms me. It’s times like this that magnifies exactly how much I’ve missed having Soph in my life. “So—rules are, we each tell the other three truths. The catch is, the other person has to ask a question.” She shrugs. “You go first.”

“Questions, huh?” A thousand thoughts run through my mind, all of them perverted, all of them concerning this girl right here. “The other night when I gave you that special kiss.” My brows rise a notch. “Did you really enjoy it?” I’m not sure why I went there, but I like the idea of hiding something so intimate from the TSE. It’s none of their damn business that Sophie and I slept together, but I’m sure if given half the chance, they’d mic us up for the occasion. One more week and we’re out of here.

“That special kiss?” She glances down to her jeans, and my mouth waters all over again. “Oh, right. Why, yes, I did enjoy it. I enjoyed it very, very much.” She pulls the words out nice and slow before she gets that wicked gleam in her eyes that I love so much. “And”—here it comes—“if I didn’t enjoy it, I would have totally faked it.” She flicks those lashes my way, and I groan.

“That’s a ball buster.”

“The truth always is. Next question?” She offers an expectant smile.

“How often do you think of me?”

Her lips purse, tempting me to take a quick bite. “I think of you every Wednesday and Saturday per the TSE instructions, seeing that our present infatuation is of a purely experimental nature.” She lifts her mouth to my ear. “And I’m a damn liar. Next.” She blinks up at me with an innocence you can’t deny.

There is an entire ocean of questions I would love to ask Sophie, but I know we’re not there yet. My finger caresses her velvet soft cheek.

“Can you handle going public with me?”

Her mouth opens, and a slight choking sound comes out. “I don’t know.” Her face fills with pain. There it is again. I always seem to put it there. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I needed to know. I want to help you.” I clear my throat. “Questions?”

Sophie burns through her three questions by asking if I still love my dog, if I thought my parents’ marriage would last forever—of course, and if the sky was blue.

No sooner do we finish with the task than Sophie hops on my hips and we kiss for old times’ sake even though old times were simply a few weeks ago. It feels like I’ve spent a lifetime with this girl, and in a strange way I have. Each moment more treasured than the last. We feast on our tongues until the buzzer sounds and the lights flicker. And just like that, we’re off to our real date.

And I can’t wait to find out what Sophie has planned for the two of us.

* * *

Canterbury.

Sophie took off for her dorm and gave me her room number, told me to meet her there in five minutes. She’s still unsure about us being seen on campus together. I sure as shit don’t care who sees us, but I know that she wants to break it to Braden in a far more delicate fashion.

I head up, taking the stairs two by two. A couple of coeds pass me in the hall and expel an audible sigh. I won’t lie. It strokes my ego, but right about now, the only one I want, I need stroking anything is Sophie.

Her door is slightly ajar, just the way she said it would be, and I let myself in as I was told. It’s dark inside, save for a stream of light coming from the bathroom, and a cool pair of hands lands themselves over my eyes.

“Boo!” she whispers sweetly into my ear. “Are you here for a trick or a treat?”

Halloween is in a week. I’d love to take Sophie out to have a good time. The Greeks host a campus-wide event every year at the Underground.

“I’m just here delivering some man candy.” I spin into her and find her lips with mine.

“Just what I was craving.”

“I’m having a little craving of my own.” I dip my mouth to her neck and take a gentle bite. Right about now, I’m thanking God I stocked my wallet with as many condoms as I could squeeze inside. “Some sweet, sugary—”

She sucks in a breath in anticipation of the word.

“Lips.” I sneak a quick kiss. “We’re still talking in code, right?”

She smacks me and laughs just as my eyes adjust to the dim light and I see her beautiful face. She looks younger in the dark, and yet she exudes a wicked brand of beauty.

“What you said back there.” I nod toward the door. “About not being sure if you can handle things once word gets out—I just want you to know that I’m here for you. I want this to last, Sophie. I know we can. But at some point, we have to tell Braden. We don’t want him to find out the hard way. It’ll kill him.”

Her lips invert, and her eyes gloss with tears. Sophie gives a quick nod before taking in a cleansing breath. “The hard way, huh?” She gets that devious look about her that has always had the power to center me. “Like if he suddenly bursts through that door and I was doing this?” Sophie sinks to her knees, and I’m instantly hard. She quickly frees me from my jeans, and her hot little mouth gets right to work.

A groan works from me. I’m pretty sure Sophie made some sort of arrangement with her roommate, although I wouldn’t stop the show just to ask the question. At this point, they could pull up a seat and watch. It feels too damn good to stop. My fingers work through her hair, holding her there, hoping she’s comfortable because I never want her to leave. Sophie reaches down to the boys and pumps my balls like she’s checking fruit at the supermarket.

“Shit,” I hiss without meaning to. I pull out, and she nearly bites off the tip trying to hold on. “Ah, fuck.” I flop onto the mattress, blind with pain, and writhe around on the sheets that hold her scent.

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” She tries to hold me, but I’m too busy reeling in pain to stand still. “I swear I didn’t mean to hurt you! Should we go to the ER? Do we need ice? Did I bite it off? God, you’re going to be on the news!”

“No.” I moan out a laugh. “I won’t be on the news, I promise.”

“Now that would be a totally nuclear way for Braden to find out.” She falls next to me, and I wrap an arm around her, pulling her in.

“That would have been the worst way. Although, if my dick falls off, he would have ultimately approved.”

“Touché.” She bites down on her lip. “Can I kiss it and make it feel better?” Her brows twitch into her forehead, and she looks cute as hell.

“Yes. A thousand times yes. But let me demonstrate how to treat the boys. They are essentially as delicate as blown glass. Even the most tender touch can have them wishing they had the power to retract.”

“Wow, I made your balls wish they could retract? It sounds like you picked a winner with me.”

“I did pick a winner. Where’s your roommate?”

“Why?” Her voice dips to icy decibels. “You want to bang her, too?”

“No, I just want her to demonstrate how to lick my balls.” I roll on top of her as she giggles up a storm.

“I’ve banished her for the night. And, yes, if my door is shut, it locks. We’re safe and alone, all night if you’re up for the challenge.”

“Hell yes, I’m up for the challenge. We had a little sleepover in the past. Do you remember?”

“How can I forget? Mindy invited me camping, and your parents saw nothing wrong with you sleeping in the girls’ tent.”

“It was the kids’ tent—and at the time I still qualified.”

“Yeah, well, you probably still got off on the fact I was there. I bet you had your first wet dream about me.”

“Are you kidding? I had no time to dream. I couldn’t catch a wink with all those donkey kicks you doled out all night long. It was like watching an aerobic workout taking place horizontal.”

“Ha-ha. I’m ready for another by the way—horizontal workout that is.” She kicks me over the ass with her bare foot.

“And I’m ready to deliver. I hope you got some solid rest last night because it’ll have to last you two days.” My hands glide up her sweater, inspiring both a shudder and a moan. “I won’t be gentle this time.” I hold back the wicked grin ready to take over.

“Good.” She swallows down that lump in her throat. “Neither will I.”

“Buckle up, Buttercup. I’m going to make love to you like I was running up a hill. Get ready to break a sweat.”

“Way to make it sound like boot camp.” Her hands slip down the back side of my boxers, and she gives my ass a hearty squeeze. “You might be Sergeant Garret, but I’ll be the one barking out orders.”

“Yes, ma’am—but I’ll be barking out a few orders myself. First command, lose the clothes, every last stitch.” I pull her sweater right off and start in on her jeans, but they’re practically glued to her body.

“Did you grow these on your skin?” I give another firm yank, but they’re not budging.

“Yes. I grew them specifically to annoy you.” She lifts her bottom off the mattress. “I’ll make it easy for you.”

I give a few more tugs and yanks before they peel off as slow as skin.

“I think I see the problem.” I sink down and bite them off the rest of the way. The feel of her bare thighs against my face is enough to send me through the roof.

Sophie offers a slow clap in recognition. “Now that you’re down there, maybe you should give some French lessons to your favorite kitten.”

“Soph.” I pretend to groan at the euphemism, but damn that made me harder than steel to hear her ask for it.

Sophie and I roll like tigers over the sheets. We expend all of the missile shields I happened to stuff into my wallet all night and into the next morning. I savor every touch, every taste, lick and kiss.

And as if loving Sophie all night wasn’t enough, I get to watch her sleep in my arms. I get to sleep right alongside of her the way I’ve wanted for so long. Everything is going perfectly between us. Maybe we don’t have to tell anyone—tell Braden of all people.

Yes, everything is going so perfectly, but Braden is the loose thread that just might have the power to unravel us.

But he won’t. He can’t. He’s already unraveled enough of our lives. I won’t let him steal another moment from Sophie and me.

I may have rolled over the last time, but if he thinks I’m walking away from Sophie, he’s got a fight on his hands.

Sophie snuggles closer into me, and my arms wrap around her a little bit tighter.

I’ve got a fight on my hands for sure.

It’s a good fight.

One I plan on winning.