But instead, he smirked. “Do me a favor and hit me up sooner rather than later next time, okay?”
I laughed, surprised and relieved and filled with traitorous hope. “That’s it?”
His smile fell. “What do you mean?”
“I mean …” I paused, not sure what to say. “You don’t want … more?”
His brow quirked. “You said no strings. This is what no strings looks like. Penny, you don’t owe me anything.”
I watched him, unsure if it was a trap. “You really mean that?”
He laughed at that. “Yeah, I really mean that.” He crawled half into my lap, his arms on either side of my thighs as he looked up at me. “It doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to be hard. It can be easy. And I’m around. Whenever.”
As I sat there in my bed with the most beautiful man I’d ever known smiling up at me, I believed every word he’d said. I heard Veronica’s voice in the back of my mind, telling me the three-date rule was stupid, and in that moment, it was.
Bodie had said it could be easy, and being with him was fun. Being with him made me happy. Being with him was like a balm to my blistering crazy.
But was that enough to throw my rule out the window and risk the consequences?
There were so many reasons to say yes, including:
1. That smile.
2. The warmth nestled in the middle of my ribcage.
3. That wonderful wang that had dicknotized me.
In fact, I’d been dicknotized so hard, that list was all it took to punt my rule into the end zone and do a victory dance. It was stupid and irresponsible and I didn’t give a single shit. I wanted to be with him, and I foolishly believed I was safe and strong enough to know my limits.
So I answered him with a kiss full of relief and thanks and absolute pleasure.
When I broke away, he was smiling again.
“Hit me up, Penny.”
“I will,” I said.
And as he left, I reassured myself that I could have fun and keep seeing Bodie with no strings.
I couldn’t even blame him for the fact that I was already falling for him, and I was so naive that I didn’t even realize it.
Easy Peasy
I hit the bed with a thump and a bounce, naked and out of breath and grinning from ear to ear.
The bed jostled as Bodie flopped down next to me, smiling just as wide as I was, looking just as sated as I felt.
It had been four days of nothing but work and Bodie. Somehow I’d found myself at his place every night, plus once during my lunch break. Ramona had moved out, a tear-filled, horrible day that I ended in Bodie’s bed. The void of her moving had been filled by Bodie and his smile and his jock and his big, muscly arms.
He was absolutely perfect.
There were no strings, not a single longing gaze, not one second where I felt the itch to ditch.
It was a goddamn miracle. I’d found the unicorn of men — a smart, snarky, magical sex creature who made me want to stay put for a minute — and I didn’t think I’d been so happy in my whole life. I didn’t feel crazy, and neither did he. It was easy, just like he’d said.
I hadn’t laughed so much in ages. I hadn’t felt so good in ages.
Bodie let me lead under the promise that I wouldn’t wait too long between us seeing each other. As if I could stop. I was addicted. A-dick-ted.
I giggled stupidly to myself at the thought, and he somehow smiled wider, deepening his dimple.
We rolled to face each other at the same time, and I curled into his chest, his arms wrapping around me as our legs scissored.
“You sure are something else,” I mused.
He chuckled, the sound rumbling through his chest and into me.
My smile falling as I thought about leaving. “Ugh. I wish I could stay for a while.”
“Well, you can hang here as long as you want.”
I frowned — in part because the thought of staying didn’t bother me at all, which bothered me, and in part because I couldn’t actually stay.
“I’ve got to head back to the shop to film an interview.”
“I thought you weren’t filming until the wedding?”
I snuggled deeper into his chest and smelled him shamelessly. “We aren’t, but we have these interview things we have to do for a recap on what’s been going on since the break. They’re going to film a little for a montage at our dress fittings in a couple days.”
“Is it weird being on TV?”
“Not really. I mean, every once in a while someone will know who I am, which is really strange. Like, they feel like they know you because they watch you on TV, and they know all this stuff about you, but you have zero context for who they are. Mostly I just smile and listen and take the occasional picture with them.”