He opened the door to his room and stood back so I could walk in first, closing and locking the door behind him. I spun around at the sound of the lock clicking into place.

“Just to be sure no one stumbles in here looking for the bathroom. The last thing I want is some drunken fool interrupting us. Make yourself comfortable. I’m gonna change,” he said

I sat on the edge of his bed, not sure what to do with myself. He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts and tossed them on his bed. When I turned around, his back was to me as he pulled his jeans down. He had the finest ass I’d ever seen, hotter than Channing Tatum’s, and that’s really saying something.

But Emmett’s ass, mother of God, I was practically drooling, and even checked to make sure. Thank God I wasn’t, but holy hell, I wanted to get my hands on this guy. In less than a minute, the jeans were off and his shorts were on, and sadly, that beautiful, naked ass was out of sight.

Damn.

He reached into his top drawer and shuffled around, looking for something. As he closed the drawer I saw a foil packet in his hand. I was on the pill, but we couldn’t be too careful.

Emmett had the naughtiest expression on his face as he walked around to the edge of his bed where I was sitting.

For a moment, I worried about getting hurt again, the way Alec had hurt me. But I pushed those thoughts away and decided to face that possibility another day. Emmett said he didn’t really do the girlfriend thing, so maybe it was okay to get lost in him once. Or twice . . .

He stood over me, and I swallowed hard as my gaze traveled from the waist of his shorts, up his naked chest, to his intense blue eyes.

“Are you nervous?” he asked as he took my hand in his.

“No . . . yes.” I choked out a laugh. “I guess it comes and goes. One minute I think this is crazy, and the next I feel like it’s normal.”

He pulled me up to him, lowered his mouth to mine, and kissed me softly. “It’s normal to think that.” His teeth tugged at my ear. “But let’s not think tonight . . . let’s just feel.” He ran his hands through my hair, capturing my mouth with his and kissing me breathless.

I kissed him back just as frantically, losing myself in the feel of him. I stiffened as his hands settled on the small of my back.

“Don’t worry.” He laid kisses on my neck and inhaled deeply. “You can trust me.”

I sighed with relief as his mouth closed over mine again and he tugged at the bottom of my shirt. Lifting it over my head, he stepped back and looked at my black lacey bra. He smiled as he brushed his hand lightly over my skin, leaving a tingling trail across my flesh. Emmett was a force of nature. His presence commanded my attention, and my body answered of its own accord.

Emboldened by his touch, I ran my hands up his chest and over his shoulders, pulling him back to me, kissing him. He reached down and unbuttoned my shorts, never breaking eye contact with me. My body shook slightly as he lowered my zipper and pushed my shorts down to my ankles. I held onto his arms as I stepped out of them, and reached for the waistband of his shorts, tugging them off. As he lowered me to his bed, I had a flash of Alec and the blond. I locked that memory away and let Emmett make a new one in its place.

The next morning, I woke up with Emmett’s arm around me and my head resting against his chest. I could feel his eyes on me. It was so quiet in the house, a stark contrast to the previous night. As I lay there, still as stone, and wondered what would happen next.

I was out of my element. Way—the hell—out. As I lay there in bed, everything felt normal. But I was the farthest from normal as I’d ever been. My own breathing was distracting me. How could it not when every single breath I exhaled caused silky brown hair to float up in my face?

Sam.

Last night, we met at the frat party. We drank, talked, and fucked. That was normal for me. Yeah, I was a player. I knew it, and was totally cool with it. The abnormal part was waking up the next morning with the girl’s head on my chest and my arm wrapped around her as she slept.

Her breathing was an even rhythm, combined with the faint flowery scent in her hair, and it was almost enough to lull me back to sleep. Almost—if I didn’t have to pee. I slowly withdrew my arm and gently positioned her head on my pillow. I was fascinated by the way her hair draped along her bare back and shoulders.

I walked around to the end of my bed, grabbed my shorts off the floor, and pulled them on. I didn’t want another traumatizing event if I ran into Tamron or Alison in the hallway on my way to the bathroom.

My damn door creaked as I opened it, and I glanced back at the girl asleep in my bed. She stirred a little, but only enough to roll over onto her other side, exposing a hint of her perfect breast. Flashes of how kissable it was flooded my mind, and I forced myself to walk out of my room before I acted on my urges.

After relieving myself, I stood in front of the mirror and stared at my reflection.

What the fuck am I doing? I never let them spend the night. And to make things even more complicated, she’s the girls’ best friend. I raked my hands down my face. They’re gonna fuckin skin me alive. No—they’ll just chop my dick off—even better.

I’d intended to walk past my room and keep going downstairs, but when I got to my bedroom door, I couldn’t stop myself from peeking in at Sam. She was beautiful. Funny. Smart. Sexy as hell. But she’d been hurt, and hurt bad by the little glimpse I had of the pain in her eyes when she briefly mentioned her ex last night.

What a rat bastard.

And now, she had me to deal with. I didn’t even know what I was doing. I just hoped I didn’t mix up her life anymore than it already was. I quietly closed my door and headed downstairs. Just before I made it down, I heard a low whistle from the floor above me. I looked up to see Quinn standing at the top of the stairs, motioning me to come back up.

“What’s up, man?” I asked when I reached him.

“Apparently you, as usual.” He laughed.

I leaned back against the wall. “Yeah. You know how it is.” I tried to act normal.

“So, who was she? Did she get all clingy when you told her she couldn’t spend the night?”

“Uhh, well . . .” I groaned as I ran my hands through my hair.

Quinn’s eyes opened wide. “Wait. No fucking way—you let last night’s romp sleep over?”

I nodded. “It seems that way. I mean, we . . . well, you know, but then I woke up with her head on my chest and my arm around her.”

“Holy shit, Emmett. What the hell are you gonna do now? She’s bound to wanna come back for more. They always do.”

I leaned over and put my hands on my knees. “Well, there’s another complication.”

He rested his hand on my shoulder. “Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it.”

“Yeah, but she’s not just some girl from the party. She’s Sam—as in Tamron and Alison’s best friend—Sam.”

“Oh, fuck, man.” He looked up to the ceiling as he leaned back against the wall.

“Yeah. I know.” I groaned. “They’re gonna have my ass, aren’t they?”

“Dude, you gotta get out of here. I’ll just say you had to work early or something. At least until Riley and I can get them to calm down after they find out.”

“No. I’m not running off. I . . . like her. I think that’s why I let her stay over. There’s just something about her, like she pulls me to her.”

“For fuck’s sake, now you just sound like a girl.”

“Shut up, man. I don’t want her to wake up with me gone and feel like she was just some piece of ass.”