Chapter Three

Kayla

I sneak glances into the living room as I stir the sauce in the pan, my focus split between the dish I am preparing and the large man currently typing fast on his laptop.

The house is quiet tonight. It often is when Cash is home, but it's never felt this eerie. Cash is not a talkative person in the first place, and I'm often the one who has to fill the silence with chatter, but tonight, after seeing my stepbrothers, I'm feeling a bit out of sorts.

My father was the only family I had left, and with him gone, I have no close relatives. No one to stand up to my stepbrothers and whatever the hell they are planning.

No one except, Cash.

I lower the heat on the stove and leave the sauce to simmer before sneaking another peek into the living room to find Cash asleep. My eyes travel over his face that looks peaceful in his sleep. His dirty blond hair is a little mussed up, and my fingers itch with the need to run through his thick mane like he's done with me countless times while we've watched movies together.

Don't do it, Kayla. Don't you dare . . .

My eyes travel to his chest and the muscles pushing hard at his shirt, and I suddenly hate that I know what lies beneath it. I hate the fact that I have seen his flexing six-pack and touched his muscular arms. Cash has the body of a Greek god and a face to match.

My cheeks flare with heat as my gaze trails the rest of his heavily tattooed body to the impressive bulge in his pants.

I swiftly turn away, my heart hammering in my chest as I rush back to check on my simmering sauce. My fingers are shaky as I grab a spoon to taste it, and it takes a few tries before I can scoop anything up.

Christ, what is happening to me?

My mind should be on preparing the meal I promised Cash. It was the thing I used to get convince him to stay, but now . . .

I resist the urge to take another peek at the man, pushing back against the kitchen counter as thoughts I should never have about my best friend filter in.

I've only touched his body when riding the motorcycle or when he cuddles me on the couch while we watch movies. Cash has never shied away from showing me affection, but it always felt like something between friends, no matter how desperately I wanted it to mean more.

Lately, he hasn't been as affectionate, and he's been spending more nights away from the condo. He claims he's been swamped with work at the clubhouse, but I have to wonder if he's intentionally putting distance between us. It's why I seriously started to consider moving out. What if he's dating someone? Seeing him bring someone home would kill me.

No, I cannot entertain these thoughts about the one person I have in my life who's in my corner. I can't risk scaring Cash away and him leaving me like everyone else in my life.

But . . .

What if . . .

"No way," I whisper with a chuckle. No way am I thinking that getting intimately involved with Cash will keep him by my side forever. Surely, I am not that na?ve.

Apart from it being completely wrong, I wouldn't even know where to start. At twenty-one, I have never even kissed a guy. Not even an innocent press of lips like most of my friends bragged about in school. Growing up, I was so sheltered from the world that I didn't really pay mind to anything that has to do with sex. So how the hell am I supposed to seduce Cash into staying with me?

And why would I even entertain the idea?

The Cash I know doesn't need me to seduce him to stay. The man has stayed by my side through the darkest period of my life, and it's an insult to assume that giving myself to him is the only sure way to get him to stay.

Even so, the thought remains in my head as I finish up with dinner, no matter how hard I try to push it back. I can't shake the idea of taking it a little further with Cash. I know it's useless to entertain these thoughts when he probably doesn't even want me in the first place. We've lived together for nearly a year, and he's never indicated the slightest interest in more than friendship.

"Stop, Kayla," I chastise myself as I put the finishing touches on my dish and finally turn off the stove. I should at least wait until Cash is gone to entertain these thoughts, and with that settled, I go to wake him.

The hot prickle on my skin is back when I step into the living room and my eyes lock on the man sprawled on his back on the sofa. I walk closer to him and lean down to catch his warm familiar scent. It's comforting, always has been, and I resist the urge to lean down, bury my nose in his neck, and get a lungful of it.

Christ, that would no doubt make me seem like a creep.

I drop to a crouch and lift a hand to pat his shoulder to wake him, but the second my hand connects with his arm muscles, I stop. My heart beats harshly as I drag my hand down his arm, chewing at my lips nervously with every inch I move.

He's so hard, all male.

Everything about this man is like he's been carved from stone, from his hard muscles to the way he acts, and yet, I find myself drawn to him. Most of the girls I talk to at the bar are attracted to the boyish charm of the local college boys our age, but they do nothing for me. Until nearly a year ago, no one did.

Not until Cash and his sexy body rescued me.

Except I have to keep those feelings to myself. Cash can never find out that I like him in any other way but platonic.

I breathe out a sigh, but before I can move my hand, Cash's shoots up and grabs my wrist, startling me. My eyes jump to his and find them narrowed on me.

"C-Cash . . ."

"What are you doing?"

"Waking you up," I say hurriedly. "Dinner is ready, and I was, um . . . waking you up so we can have it together." His eyes stay narrowed on mine as long beats of silence pass by. The grip on my wrist loosens, but he doesn't completely withdraw his hand. Instead, he starts rubbing circles on my wrist with his thumb that have my breathing growing short. "C-Cash . . ."

"You're so fucking gorgeous, Freckles," he says roughly, his voice deep and sultry from sleep, doing things to me it shouldn't.

I should push away from this madness since it's clear he's still sleep-ridden before we do something we both regret, but instead, I stupidly say, "You think so?"

"Of course. You're the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, Kayla. From your pretty brown eyes to the freckles on your nose and that perfect mouth that I want so badly to kiss."

My eyes drop to his firm mouth, and I swallow hard as his words slowly filter into my foggy brain. "K-kiss?"

He tugs my wrist, causing me to fall forward, and that is all the warning I get before his lips are on mine. It's soft at first, a simple brush of skin that causes my body to shudder and my nipples to harden into pebbles behind my bra. He seems to grow impatient with the kiss as he buries his fingers in my hair and tugs, making me gasp into the kiss and giving him the perfect opening to deepen it. He leans in and winds our tongues together in the most carnal of dances. The deep, growly sound he makes at the back of his throat as he twists his lips hungrily over mine sends liquid heat pooling between my legs.

I moan into the kiss, my knees buckling when he tips my head back and devours my mouth like it's the one thing he's been his whole life to do.

I think you're just choosing not to see that Cash has basically laid claim over you.

Lana's words are an unwelcome thought in the moment, but I can't shake them off or the feeling that this is something Cash has been wanting for a long time too.

My first kiss.

Does he have a clue that, before this moment, I have never kissed anyone in my life? It fits that Cash would be the man I give my first kiss to, and . . .

I want to give him more.

Christ, I want to give this man everything. If something happens in the future that creates a wedge between us, at least I'll have this. The memory of his kiss and touch to hold on to.

Cash breaks the kiss but doesn't loosen his hold. Our breaths mingle hotly with each other, and I realize that we've crossed a line. There is no going back now or pretending that I don't know how his lips taste.

"Tired of waiting, Freckles," he breathes over my lips, his voice deep and sultry, making my sex clench with need. "I'm going to make you mine now. This is your last chance to run away."

Run away?

No, that was off the table the second he kissed me. Perhaps we could have ignored the fact that I was crouched beside him and thirsting over his hot, masculine body, but the second he touched me, he unlocked something in me that I can't ignore any longer.

No, there is no running.

And I am going to show him just how much that is not an option at this point. Even with my limited knowledge, I am going to make my best friend want me.

Here goes nothing.