“Oh no,” Amber said loudly, “he doesn’t need to put on a shirt. I’m enjoying the view.”

“Amber,” I groaned. “Seriously, go put on a shirt; I’m going to put on pants.”

Connor smiled softly and kissed me quick and hard before helping me off the counter. “I’ll be right back.”

As soon as he was gone, I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at her. “Pizza is on its way, but, really? Could you not see I was busy?”

Amber was practically bouncing off the couch. “OhmiGod! He adores you! Did you see the way he was looking at you?”

My scowl turned into a smile, and I felt my cheeks heat. “We’ll see.” I shrugged and failed at sounding like I didn’t care.

“Oh, whatever. Go put some clothes on. It’s fun to look at him half naked. You . . . not so much.”

I flipped her off as I turned and began walking toward the hall. “Love you too.”

Grabbing all my clothes off the floor, I took them into my room and found a pair of sweats to put on. I wasn’t exactly thrilled I was spending my night with Connor with Amber as well . . . but I loved the shit out of her for having my back with my brothers. And as soon as I was back in the living room, I let her know by tackle-hugging her on the couch.

Chapter Eight

Maci

“TELL ME MORE,” Amber prompted, and I smiled against the lid of my cup of coffee.

“There’s not a lot more to tell.”

“Come on! I just got done with the worst shift other than the time I had some drunk bitch vomit all over her birthday shoes, and that’s all you’re going to tell me?”

Raising an eyebrow, I pointed a finger at her and whispered so the people near us couldn’t hear. “That’s not fair. You can’t keep holding that night over my head!”

“Just saying! I want to hear more about your crazy hot sex with cop man.”

The old man at the table next to us turned and eyed us for a second before going back to his paper.

“Detective. And you do realize not everyone is as lucky as you and Aaron are. His schedule is all over the place, there are some times he goes in and is home not long after I am, there are some nights where he doesn’t come home from work at all. So, excuse me for not having enough stories for you because I don’t practically live—and work—with my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend? You just said ‘boyfriend’! That was a detail I missed!”

I sighed and slumped down in my seat. It had been a week since Amber had shown up at my apartment and interrupted Connor and me, and she was enjoying dragging out every piece of information from this past week about as much as I had, experiencing it with him. “No. No you didn’t. Connor and I aren’t . . . anything really. I was talking about you and Aaron.”

She gave me a lazy eye roll, and pushed her empty cup at me. “You aren’t going to do the same thing with Connor that you did with Bryce. You and your whole can-only-stay-friends thing is bullshit.” Amber looked over at the old man looking at us again and held up a hand. “Sorry, excuse my language.”

“I’m not. I’m not making us stay anything. We just aren’t anything. There’s a big difference here.”

“Yeah, I could tell last week. The way he kept looking at you and always touching you like he was making sure you were still there. I was getting turned on and nothing was even happening.”

I checked my phone for the time, and grabbed my purse as I stood up. “That’s one of the more awkward things you’ve said this morning.”

“It’s the truth!”

“Ha. Go home and get some sleep, I need to get to work before my brothers start hunting down random guys.”

“I’ll see you tonight for a repeat of last week!”

I turned and hushed her as I looked around the coffee shop. “Please don’t interrupt us again tonight, I haven’t seen him since Wednesday.”

“I kid. I kid,” she said with a wry smile. “But I want details of your monkey sex tomorrow!”

My face had to be as red as my hair by now. I widened my eyes at her and laughed lamely when she blew me a kiss. “Sometimes I just want to punch you.”

“You love me!”

“I do. Seriously, go get some sleep. You look like the crypt keeper.”

Amber threw her head back when she laughed. “Ah, bitch. I love you too.”

I laughed and ran out the door and to my car. My phone went off right after I’d pulled into my parking spot at work, and I frowned when I saw Connor’s text. He hadn’t been able to come home last night, and didn’t think he would beat me back today.

Which also meant I couldn’t make my day go by faster by talking to him since he would be busy with work.

Seven hours, thirty-six games of Minesweeper, and twenty games of solitaire later . . . and I was now all cozy in my desk chair as I read from my Kindle. But I was distracted. Other than one more text from Connor saying he was hoping to be able to leave soon, I hadn’t talked to him today, and I had a feeling that once he got home he was going to crash. I hated and loved that I was this anxious and worried about not seeing him, when I’d seen him two nights before.

Bryce and I would go a week without talking, and I wouldn’t give it a second thought. A week and a half with Connor, and I felt like I was falling deeper every day. I craved him. Craved his touch, his kisses . . . just craved being near him. Part of me was worried he’d see how much I cared, and I’d scare him away . . . the rest of me loved the rush of feelings and emotions I had, just thinking about him, that I’d never experienced with Bryce.