His eyes stay locked on mine as his index finger curls under the elastic band and begins to slide down.

Like a violent wave crashing into me, I come completely undone. Swirls of haze and light fill my vision and I’m floating on seven layers of clouds, my muscles gone from rigid as a pole to pliable putty, and I don't ever want to lose this high.

With deep ragged pants, I faintly notice Trent hovering above me again a moment later. Hot lips touch my collar bone as he grazes it.

“You lose,” he whispers in my ear with a soft chuckle. Then he’s off the bed and pulling his jeans on. “Tanner’s outside.”

“No I didn’t.” I mumble as an afterthought, breathless. How the hell can he call that losing?

***

“You okay here alone?” Trent whispers as I sip a glass of orange juice and watch the sweaty man work on the door. When I raise an eyebrow, he chuckles. “Of course you are. I forgot you kicked my ass.”

“A bag of sand kicked your ass, remember? Where you off to?”

His hand touches the small of my back and he presses me against his body as he whispers in my ear. “Cold shower.” Shivers run down my spine and I’m ready to drag him back into Storm’s room, but he makes a beeline out of the apartment before I can get my claws into him.

“Who lost, again?” I call out in a high-pitched voice, smiling.

I quietly watch Sweaty Door Guy work as I read through a magazine, still glowing from the morning with Trent; enough that this guy’s hairy ass crack peeking out from loose faded blue jeans doesn’t faze me. Livie has staggered through, half asleep and on her way to school. When I suggest she skip the day, she looks at me like I suggested she marries the repair man. Livie doesn’t miss school for anything.

I’m reading an article on Ten Ways to Say You’re Sorry without Saying the Word when Storm’s soft voice calls out, “Can I please get by?”

Sweaty Door Guy cranes his neck, sees Storm, and fumbles with his hammer as he clears a path for her curvy frame. She stalks through, matching my smile, two tall Starbucks in her hands. “Do I need to change my sheets?” She winks.

“Ohmigod, Storm!” Fire burns my face as I see Sweaty Door Guy eyes widen. Storm can be inappropriate sometimes after all. I quickly change the topic. “How’s Mia?”

The reminder of last night dashes her humor and I regret asking. “She’ll be fine. I just hope she doesn’t remember any of it. She doesn’t need to remember her father like that.”

“What’s going to happen to him?”

“Well, apparently he broke parole. That added to the ‘break and enter’ should give him at least five years in prison. That’s what Dan thinks, anyway. I hope he’ll clean himself up by then.” She takes a long draw of her coffee and I notice her hand shaking. She’s still rattled by it all. Rightfully so. If I pull my head out of this distractive Trent sex cloud I’m stuck in, last night is still deep under my skin.

“I swear, I wasn’t sure Nate wasn’t going to throw the cops out of the way and rip his head off.” Storm adds and I nod in agreement.

There’s a long pause. “So … Dan, huh?”

Storm blushes. “I was up early. I couldn’t sleep so I brought him a coffee. Needed to thank him for everything. He’s nice.”

“A coffee? That’s all?” My brow arches.

“Of course that’s all. What do you think I’m going to do? Give the guy a blow job outside my apartment door?”

A harsh coughing erupts behind us. Sweaty Door Guy, covering up a gasp.

It’s Storm’s turn to flush, and I smile with satisfaction. Clearly she forgot we had an audience. “Are you saying you’re not interested?”

“No, I didn’t say that, but …” she toys with the lid of her cup.

“But what?”

“Excuse me,” Dan’s voice interrupts us and we both jump.

“Speak of the devil,” I murmur, covering my smile with another sip of coffee. Storm’s face has turned purple. I know what she’s thinking. She’s wondering how long he’s been listening.

Dan steps over the remnant door frame. “Sorry to bother you again.”

“No bother,” I chirp, grinning.

He nods appreciatively and I’m sure I see a faint blush creep into his cheeks. “Just wanted to let you know that I got that safety order to your landlord. The gates should be fixed shortly.”

Storm’s eyes widen. “Already?”

He grins. “I know a guy who knows a guy, who knows a guy.”

“Thank you so much, Officer Dan,” she says and I’m hit with a weird visual of them in a sex scene with her addressing him in the exact same way. I give my head a shake. Too many hours at the club.

They stare at each other for an awkward length of time, until Dan scratches the back of his head, his cheeks flushing. “So, um, if there’s nothing else I can do for you, I’m going to grab some sleep.”

“Oh, okay,” Storm nods.

I roll my eyes. Utterly clueless. “Yes.” Devious little plot hands rub together inside my head. “Are you free tonight?”

Dan looks from me to Storm. “Yes, I am.”

I catch the side “what the hell are you doing” dagger glare from Storm, but I ignore it. “Good. Storm was just saying that she’d love to go out to dinner with you.” Dan’s face lights up. Going out with Storm is exactly the something else Dan would like to do. “How about around seven?” I suggest. “That works for you, right, Storm?”

Her pretty head bobs up and down dumbly, looking like she may have swallowed her tongue.

Dan watches her with wariness. “Are you sure, Storm?”

It takes her a minute to pull her tongue back out to operational mode. “It’s perfect.” She even manages a tight smile.

“Okay. See you then.” He walks out, his pace picking up as I holler. “Can’t wait!”

I turn back to find Storm glaring at me. “You enjoyed tormenting that poor man, didn’t you?”

“Oh, I think he’s okay with a little torment if the end result is a date with you.”

“I have to work tonight though.”

“Nice try. Cain gave you the night off. Come on, what else you got?”

Storm’s shoulders sag. “This is a bad idea, Kacey.”

“Why?”

“Why? Well …” Storm sputters, struggling for a valid excuse. “Look at the last guy I brought home.” She gestures at the broken door.

“Storm, I don’t think you can compare Officer Dan to that strung out asshat of an ex-husband. They’re kind of on opposite ends of the spectrum. I’m not sure that guy last night was even human.” My brow quirks. “Do they need to make a ‘So I Married an Alien’ movie starring you?”

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, come on, Kacey. Don’t be naïve. He’s a guy. He knows what I do for a living. There’s only one thing he’s interested in and it’s not my cooking.”

I shrug. “I don’t know about that. I might do you for more of that veal parmesan.”

Sweaty Door Guy breaks out into another coughing fit, harsh enough that I think he may bring up a lung. Storm’s hand flies to her mouth, trying not to laugh. She tosses a pillow at my head, but I duck, sending us into an explosion of titters as we scurry to her bedroom and close the door.

“So what are you gonna wear tonight?” I mock in a bubbly Valley girl voice.

She sighs. “I don’t know, Kace. What if he only wants me for … this?” her hands gesture to her body.

“Then he’s the biggest idiot on the face of the earth because you’re so much more than a pair of giant boobs and a pretty face.”

A tiny smile blossoms to dissolve her worry. “I hope you’re right, Kacey.”

“You also have a killer ass.”

She tosses another pillow at my head.

“All kidding aside, Storm. I see how he looks at you. Trust me, that’s not it.”

She worries her bottom lip as if she wants to believe me, but can’t.

“And if that’s all he’s looking for then we’ll set fire to his balls.”

“What?” Storm’s face twists in a mixture of shock and amusement.

I shrug. “What can I say, Storm? I’m into some weird shit.”

Storm’s head falls back as she howls with laughter. “You’re crazy but I love you, Kacey Cleary.” She shrieks, throwing her arms around my neck. I can only imagine what Sweaty Door Man is thinking right about now.