My knees hit the back of the couch and Peter eased me down to my back, his lips moving to my ear. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “I’ve been thinking about this since I saw you at the gala.”

He kissed his way down my neck as his hands began to roam. He dragged his hand down my arm, to my side, to my hip, then my thigh. His lips returned to my mouth as his hand reached the hem of my dress. He tasted like peppermint, sweet with a little bite. He seemed to be a little over zealous with his tongue, but eh, that could work in my favor in another capacity.

He slipped a finger under the hem of my dress and I sighed. Taking the sound as encouragement, he started to move his hand higher and higher, pushing my dress up and exposing more of my thighs.

My head was saying this is far enough, but my body was screaming, “More, please!” It had been so long since I had gotten laid, I was ready to just give in. I didn’t particularly want to have sex with Peter, but what’s a little after-dinner foreplay going to hurt?

I kept my eyes closed, focusing on the sensation of his fingers tugging at the edge of my panties. I was just about to hit the brakes when I heard, “Shit!”

I froze and pulled away, thinking it was Peter who said it, but he looked just as confused as I was. I looked over his shoulder and Drew was standing just inside the door, livid. You could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears.

I scrambled out from under Peter, fixing my dress as I sat up.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Peter muttered under his breath.

Once I was sitting up with my dress back down where it belonged, I addressed Drew. “What are you doing here?”

He looked at me, confused. “I…I wanted to talk to you. I didn’t know you had company.” He shot a nasty look at Peter.

“Maybe I should go.” Peter got up from the couch. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

He leaned down to give me a quick kiss. He picked up his jacket and walked out the door. Drew’s eyes followed him the entire trip from the couch to the door. He stared at the door long after Peter shut it.

“Drew, why are you here?” I was angry and a little embarrassed.

He turned toward me, running a hand over his face. He looked flustered. Maybe he was just as embarrassed as I was.

“I don’t know any more, Alex.” He threw a hand up in frustration. “I came over to talk to you. You didn’t answer when I knocked, so I tried the knob, and I come in to find that son of a bitch all over you.”

“I’m sorry that you busted into my apartment in the middle of the night because last time I checked, this is my apartment.” I can play naked twister with a room full of Bronies if I wanted to in my apartment.

“Were you going to sleep with him?” he demanded.

Was he serious? Was he seriously trying to dictate who I could and couldn’t have sex with? I shot to my feet. “That is none of your goddamn business!” I shouted, pointing a finger at him. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

His face went red. I have never seen Drew this pissed. “I’m trying to look out for you. That guy is complete shit. I’m just trying to protect you,” he screamed, taking a step in my direction. “If you…”

“Fuck you, Drew! I don’t need your protection.” Protect me? Was he kidding?

“You know what? Forget it! You want to fuck him, go right ahead, but when he…” He paused, his beautiful face so full of fury.

“When he what?”

“Fuck this!” He threw his hands up and stomped out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

I sank down to the couch. What just happened?

Chapter 13

Drew (Then)

“I never got the point of this movie,” I said, grabbing a handful of popcorn.

“What do you mean the point?”

“I mean, this old chick trains this girl to fuck with the guy’s head and he just takes it? What a pussy!” Red just looked at me like I was crazy. “What?”

“It’s romantic!”

“This is not romantic.” I pointed at the screen. “This is stupid. The old hag tells him she will break his heart. She is engaged when he finds her again in New York, and he still practically begs at her feet. It’s pathetic.”

“He loves her so much that he spends his life doing everything he can to be worthy of her.”

“Why isn’t he worthy of her in the first place?” I pointed out. “He’s a nice guy.”

“It’s a gesture. He wants to prove his love, like what your mom says.”

“That is nothing like what mom says. You fight to be the man the girl deserves after she loves you, not to make her love you. That guy is an idiot. He falls for the first girl to kiss him, and she does nothing but use him and fuck with his head.”

“Then why did you agree to watch it?”

“Gwyneth Paltrow gets naked.” I shrugged.

“Nice.”

“So,” I tried to steer the conversation toward her date with Russell without sounding too interested. “You never told me how your date went.”

“Eh.” She shrugged.

“Eh? What does that mean?”

“It was okay, but there wasn’t really anything there. We have nothing in common.”

“Well, that’s too bad.” I tried and failed to hide my smile.

“I think it was mutual anyway. He hasn’t called me, so no big deal.”

I told that son of a bitch to stay away from her. Looks like he heard my warning loud and clear. “I’m sorry, Red.”

She looked at me with a smirk on her face. “You are not.”

“I didn’t like the guy, sure, but I do want you to be happy.”

“Well then, I guess it worked out for everyone, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I chuckled.

***

I woke up on the couch. The TV was still on and Red was asleep on my chest. We must have fallen asleep and shifted during the night. Her breathing was soft and her head rose and fell with my breathing.

She looked so beautiful. I ran a hand through her hair and she stirred. She turned her face up to mine and opened those beautiful green eyes, focusing on me.

“Good morning, Red.”

She pushed herself off of me and sat up. “Hey.” She wiped a hand across her face. “We fell asleep?”

“Yeah.” I got to my feet and stretched out my back. “You want some coffee?” She shot me an are-you-kidding look. “Right, I’ll start a pot.”

Sean came out of his room and headed into the kitchen. “Good morning.” He shot me a wink. “You two looked cozy on the couch last night.” He stuck his head in the fridge.

“We fell asleep.”

“Sure you did.” He winked at me, sounding less than convinced.

“Whatever, man.”

Red came in the kitchen and yawned, rubbing at her face. “I have to get going. I’ll see you later.”

I nodded. She grabbed her bag and headed out. I watched her leave, keeping my eyes on the door long after she closed it.

Sean leaned against the counter with a cup of coffee. He shook his head at me.

“What?”

“You got it bad, dude.” He took a sip from his mug.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, pouring myself a cup of coffee.

“Yes, you do.” He set his cup down and turned to face me.

“Look, yes, she is beautiful…” I started, but Sean cut me off.

“That girl is gorgeous, inside and out.”

“It’s not like that. We are friends.”

Sean dropped his head and sighed. “Whether you choose to admit it or not, you want her.” I started to argue, but he held up a hand to stop me. “I just hope for your sake you don’t fuck it up. Someone like Alex has longevity, my friend. Before you make a move, you better be ready.”

“You know me. I don’t do relationships, man. It’s too much pressure. Besides, Red is not into me anyway. She thinks I’m a player.”

“She’s not wrong.”

“I’m twenty-two. What’s wrong with enjoying a little variety?” I smiled.