Worth the Risk (The Game #4)(31)
Author: Emma Hart

Hey there. “Are you calling me man whore?” I smirk and let her pull me along.

She shrugs. “Fraternity,” is all she responds. Like that’s a good reason. Actually… I remember Braden and Aston before their asses were tamed.

“I’m no man whore.” I close the short distance between us and wrap my arms around her shoulders from behind.

“I don’t believe you.” Her cheeks twitch with her smile and her face turns into mine.

I move my lips to her ear. “You don’t need to be a man whore to know how to make love to someone well enough. You just need the right girl.”

My carefully chosen words have the effect on her I wasn’t expecting. She swallows again and lets out a deep breath with a tremble. Huh. Seems Miss-Casual-Fuck isn’t quite so okay with the idea of something realer.

“You win,” she breathes out. “Point taken.”

I grin and release her again. Not because I want to – but because she needs to be able to walk properly. If I could, I’d keep her against me all damn day. It’d certainly be easier for me when I decide to talk her down from her little antics. She’s gonna try to run a mile.

“Did you bring me here deliberately?” She looks at me with raised eyebrows.

“Where?” I glance around and notice the pool Cam pushed her in a few years ago. “Ah. No.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Seriously. I was too busy looking at various parts of your body.”

She barks out a laugh and slaps my chest, making me grin. “Prove it.”

What is it with this girl and challenging me at every turn?

“You asked for it.”

I spin her into a large tree near to us and meld our bodies together. My lips crash into hers, and I sink into the softness of her body. I half expect her to push me away, but she doesn’t. She grabs the sides of my shirt, winds her fingers in the material, and holds me to her. Her tongue flicks out against mine, teasing me, and she grazes my bottom lip with her teeth.

I cup the back of her head with one hand and slide my other across her back and down. My fingers curve round her ass, pulling her hips into mine. She makes a small whimpering sound in the back of her throat and I swear to God, all the blood in my body rushes down to my dick. My erection presses into her stomach. She shifts against me, moving ever closer, and knocks my hand from her head. Her hands guide mine to her thighs, and I get it.

Her tongue dives into my mouth as I lift her with only the tree supporting her. Her legs wrap around my waist, her feet locking at my back, and she grabs the back of my head. I run my hands along her thighs, my thumbs teasing at the apex of them, and she pushes herself into me.

I want this girl. Fuck, I do. I want her more than I’ve ever wanted anyone else in my life, and if she was anything less than everything to me I’d take her up against this tree in a split second.

But she is. She’s everything. And when I do have her it’ll be somewhere I can explore every inch of her body the way it should be explored.

“Roxy,” I whisper against her jaw. “We have to stop.”

She lets a long, shaky breath escape from between her swollen lips. “Why?”

I lower her to the ground slowly and push her hair from her face with a kiss to her forehead. “We just do, okay?”

I’m not about to tell her we have to stop because I’m worried one time is all it will take to make me fall in love with her.

~

“Protect her.”

“What do you mean?”

“If anything happens to me—”

“Don’t be a dick, Cam. Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“Nah… You don’t know what’s round the corner, man. One day you could be all happy and shit, and the next lying on a hospital bed while your family says goodbye.”

“That’s some deep shit.”

“Fuck off. I’m just sayin’, alright? Roxy means the world to me, you know that. So if anything happens to me, ever, make sure you look after her little ass. She’d be lost without me.”

“Alright.”

“Promise me, man. Promise me you’ll be there for her. You’re the one guy I trust her with.”

“I promise. I’ll always look out for her and protect her little ass.”

We were fourteen and it was like we both knew. Even then. Like he knew he wouldn’t be around for her. Like I knew I’d eventually fall in love with her. And what a tidy f**king package it looks, eh?

He dies. I come riding in to save the day. She cries on my shoulder. We fall in love.

Maybe if it was a movie. Maybe even a book. But this shit is real and it’s never gonna fit in a pretty little box. I was six months too late to save the day, she kicked my ass before she cried on my shoulder, and we either argue or make out. If only it was as easy as it looks to anyone outside.

“Right,” Iz shakes her hair out. “I’m going to the café. Myra mentioned something about a job.”

“You have a job,” I say dumbly.

“In Miami, moron. Funnily enough, this is Oregon.”

“Alright. I get it.”

“See you later!” She opens the door but pauses before she walks through it, flicking a sassy glance over her shoulder. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t!”

“Free reign then,” Roxy mutters at the slam of the door.

I laugh and pat the sofa behind me. She raises an eyebrow.

“Why are you sitting on the floor?”

“Scamp kept dropping his ball on the floor instead of my lap. I couldn’t be bothered to bend down every time so I’m on the floor.” I grab the blue ball and nod to the sleeping terrier in the corner. “Stupid animal.”

“Hey. He’s adorable. Until he humps my leg.” She sits behind me. I lean my head back to look at her.

“You know dogs take after their owners, right?”

“Yeah, I can see it. Your dad is kinda cute.”

I laugh and grab her legs. They hook over my arms and she bends forward, her hair tickling the bare skin on my shoulders.

“Your hair tickles.”

“Put a shirt on then,” she fires back with a grin.

“You don’t really mean that.” I tickle her legs. She says nothing. “Roxy.” She grins wider. “Do you?”

“No,” she finally gives in. “It would solve the problem though.”

“Who said there was a problem? I’d like your hair to tickle me in all kinds of places.”