Ryan Hunter

However, that she didn’t say I’d have to sleep on the floor lifted my spirit. “Good choice, Matthews,” I mumbled and settled down beside her.
    Right then, I was aware of every inch of her that touched me. Her left fist was curled under her chin and pressed against my shoulder, our legs touched the entire length, and if I moved my arm just a little, I’d be holding her hand. Oh my fucking God . It would take just so little to roll on top of her and make her mine.
    I took a deep steadying breath and wondered if she had the tiniest idea of how much effort it cost an eighteen-year-old guy to rein in so much testosterone. But I did—for now. And only because I wanted to be fully aware of all my senses when I kissed Liza Matthews.
    Tilting my head to her side, I let her know through a smirk exactly how I felt. Then I growled, “I swear you’re safe with me for the next three to six hours. I can’t make promises for any time after that, though.”
    I wasn’t sure if she was aware of the small smile that just slipped to her lips. She gazed into my eyes for a moment longer, then her pretty eyes closed. It didn’t take long until her breathing became even, evidence of her being asleep.
    Hard to say for how much longer I studied her that night. I had lost my sense of time. But when I couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer, I was positive that every little detail of her beautiful face was edged into my memory. The three freckles on the tip of her nose, the fact that the right bow of her upper lip was just a tad higher than the left, her long lashes that rested on her cheekbone when her eyes were closed. She smelled like my mom’s roses and her hair felt like fine sand running through my fingers.
    I fell asleep with one thought. This girl was mine. She just didn’t know it yet.

    The next thing I knew I lay on my back in what seemed to be my bed, and someone’s eyes were fixed on me. My arm was draped over my eyes, so I couldn’t see, but the awareness ran from the back of my neck down to the very tips of my toes.
    However long ago, this wasn’t the first time that I woke up with a girl in my bed. But for once, I had no memory of whatsoever had happened last night, and who I had taken up to my room with me. It was a weird feeling, especially since we seemed to have taken on quite an entangled position from all I could tell.
    “I can feel you staring at me,” I said, without turning or taking my arm away from my eyes.” The warm hand that had rested on my chest snapped away. “I only hope you’re a girl and not one of the drunken guys.” I reached down to the leg that was draped over my hip. Wow, that leg was naked and satiny soft. “Yep, definitely female.”
    I wondered how much more naked skin I would find if I ran my palm upwards. Unfortunately, I didn’t get very far, because the girl’s hand caught mine in a tight grip and held it in place.
    “Move another inch, Hunter, and you’re a dead man.”
    Okay, if someone could stab me in the eye right now, so I’d know I wasn’t dreaming. It was the most wonderful sound to wake up to, and totally surreal to hear it in my room, especially next to my ear when I lay in my bed. I laughed softly. “Matthews?”
    Oh glorious morning, so much for getting Liza into my bed before the week was over.
    She didn’t reply, but then she didn’t have to. I knew it was her, could tell by her sweet scent. Our hands were still joined on her thigh, and it didn’t seem she was going to let go of me any time soon.
    It was time to open my eyes and take a peek at what I had done last night. Dropping my arm to the pillow above my head, I turned toward her and instantly took in that she was fully dressed, even though I only seemed to be wearing my jeans. I most definitely hadn’t popped her cherry, which I was unspeakably glad for, because I couldn’t remember a thing. But that didn’t mean she had to be so abrasive. “Tell me, Matthews. Why do I have you in my bed, when I’m not allowed to touch you?”
    She looked at me for a stunned second, then her face crinkled to a grimace. “I didn’t know there were strawberries in the soda.”
    Right . And that meant what? “Come again?”
    “Someone was getting me sweet soda all evening.” Her voice didn’t sound really steady, and her gaze kept drifting down to her naked thigh, that I still had my hand on. “I didn’t realize it was the wine cooler you meant when you said—”
    “Not to touch the strawberries.