Yet here he is. Persistent as hell and by the determined look I see on his handsome face, he’s not ready to give up on me. I let my hand drop, afraid I might do something crazy. Like grab the back of his neck and pull him down for a kiss.

“I came here for you,” he admits, his voice low. “But you were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”

His confession is…sweet. And Tristan doesn’t do sweet. I know this. I’ve heard enough about him—from Kelli—to understand that he’s a man-whore of the highest caliber. When Shep began dating Jade, Tristan started screwing around even more. And when Gabe and Lucy got together?

Kelli said Tristan was going out with a different girl every night, like he was making up for what Shep and Gabe had lost.

Taking a shaky breath, I decide to be honest with him. “I think you’re going through an I-want-what-I-can’t-have stage, Tristan. This has nothing to do with me.”

His eyes darken. “See, that’s the thing. It has everything to do with you. I can’t stop thinking about you.”

We stare at each other silently. I can’t believe he just said that. From the look on his face, I’m thinking he can’t believe he said it either.

“Are you interested in Steven? He’s a nice guy.” Tristan pauses. “I’m not.”

“I like Steven.” The flicker of disappointment in Tristan’s gaze at my admission is unmistakable.

“Of course you do,” he mutters, sounding disgusted. “I get it. You’re right. I should go.”

He lets go of the doorframe, his arms falling to his sides and I reach out to touch him, my hand resting on his chest, feeling the thundering of his heart beneath my palm. “Don’t go,” I whisper.

Tristan frowns. “What about Steven?”

“I don’t like him in—that way.” I curl my fingers into the fabric of his shirt. He’s so warm. So hard. I wonder if he’s that warm and hard everywhere. My entire body flushes at the thought and I want to fan myself. The air crackles with an unseen energy that I can feel swirling between us, making me dizzy.

Making me want him, even though I shouldn’t.

“Not in what way?” he asks, his gaze flicking down to where I’m grasping his shirt.

“Not in the way that I like you,” I confess in the barest whisper. My throat’s dry. My heart is racing. If he says something mocking and stupid I’m going to punch him. Seriously. I just confessed something I never wanted him to know and if he makes a mockery of me I will lose it.

Slowly he reaches for me, those long fingers I admired earlier curling around my wrist, his grip loose, his touch sending tingles shooting up my arm, scattering throughout my body. “You like me.”

“Most of the time I really don’t.” His thumb sweeps across the inside of my wrist and I sink my teeth into my lower lip to stop the whimper that wants to escape. “You’re kind of annoying.”

He smiles, his thumb pressing into my skin, right against my chaotic pulse. Can he see what he does to me? “You think?”

“And beyond arrogant.”

He shrugs. “Always have been.”

My God, I want to slap him. Or pull him in close and kiss him. “You act like you’re God’s gift to women,” I point out.

“I’ve been with a lot of women.”

My heart sinks. He keeps this up and I’m definitely going to push him away. “What’s awful is that you’re proud of that little fact, aren’t you?”

“Only because it’s helped me see what I want.” He tugs on my wrist, pulling me in closer. What does he mean by that? “Aren’t you curious, Alexandria?”

He brings my hand up to his mouth and kisses the back of it, soft lips barely pressed against my skin. My legs feel boneless and I lock my knees to keep from falling. I want to die, just combust into a million tiny pieces. Never to be seen again. All from a simple kiss on the back of my hand.

I wait breathlessly, my fingers trembling in his grasp. He lifts his head, his gaze meeting mine, dark and mysterious and so incredibly sexy I want to say yes to whatever he says next.

“Curious about what?” I finally ask, proud that my voice is so steady. Inside, I’m an absolute mess.

“What it would be like between us.” He takes one step forward and I take one back, suddenly needing the space. “I think we’d be good together.”

“If you’re talking sexually…” I start and he shakes his head.

“Does it always have to be about sex?” He smirks.

This from the guy that lurks around bathrooms, looking to find a chick who’s down to fuck. Please. “With you, yes.”

He chuckles, the rich sound sending a pulsing sensation throughout my body, settling in between my legs. “Maybe I want to do something different with you.”

I frown. “Like what?” What, I don’t rate? This man is so incredibly infuriating. One minute I don’t want to ever see him again and the next, I’m breathless with anticipation for him to do something, anything to me to help ease the ache deep inside.

Like the bossy asshole that he is, he pushes his way into my room, giving me no choice but to step back, letting him in. He shuts the door behind him and grabs hold of me, whirling me around so I’m pressed against the wall and he’s…

Pressed against me.

“Just a kiss,” he whispers, shifting his hips so I can feel every inch of him. And trust me, there are a lot of inches. “I’ve been dying to know what that mouth of yours taste like, Alexandria. Let me have one taste?”

His voice is deep. Sensual. Intoxicating. I part my lips in anticipation, my eyes shuttering closed when his fingers drift along my jaw, his thumb tracing my lower lip. A shuddering breath escapes me and my mouth falls open.

I want him to kiss me. I’m dying for it.

And then his mouth is on mine. A soft press of lips on lips, mine parting at first touch, as are his. Electricity races through my veins, sparking my blood and I sigh, bathing his lips with my breath. He shifts closer, breaking the kiss as his hands lift to cradle my cheeks and then he kisses me again.

I’m lost.

Christ, her lips. They’re so soft, damp and warm and…giving. Eager. Clinging to mine as I kiss her again. And again. No tongue involved yet—what the hell is wrong with me— and I savor the taste of her. Learn the shape of her lips, hear the hitch in her breath when I take her lower lip between mine and gently tug.

She likes that. I make a note of it for later.

Alexandria melts into me, her hands braced against my chest before they slowly slide up to curl around my shoulders. The scent of her fills my head, sweet and clean and she tastes like toothpaste, all minty fresh and straight out of a freaking commercial.

I stroke her cheeks with my thumbs and step closer, her head tilting back when I break our kiss. Slowly I open my eyes to find hers are still closed. A dreamy little sigh falls from her lips and the sound twists my stomach into knots. Fuck, the kiss was just as good as I knew it would be. Maybe it was even better—though I don’t know if that’s necessarily a good thing. More like a bad thing.

Yeah. Bad. Real fucking bad.

Her eyes slowly open as her tongue sneaks out and drifts across her lower lip. I wonder if she can taste me. If she wants more. I stare at her unabashedly, sliding my hands down her neck, over her shoulders, my gaze following the length of her body, taking in the thin tank and the tiny shorts…

“Fuck, what are you wearing?” I sound like I’m in agony and holy shit, I am. I grip her shoulders as I step away from her, staring at her barely covered, incredibly sexy body.

If that first touch of her lips on mine didn’t do it, seeing her like this certainly does. I’m so hard my dick is pressing against my fly, desperate to bust out and get to fucking.

“I was going to bed,” she admits, her voice small. She stares at me, icy blue eyes hazy with lust. “I thought you were Kelli.”