“Fuck,” I muttered and turned to face her. “Perfect night, Ashy.”

“Second best night of my life,” she whispered. “Best night of my life was when I was nineteen.”

Hearing her say that did something to me. “Next time, I’ll be sure it’s the third best night of your life.”

“Josh.” She sighed.

“I’m a rule breaker, baby. Remember that.” I shot her a wink and tapped her nose lightly with my finger.

She shook her head while trying to hide a smile, and went to roll over into me, until she realized I was still all over her chest. I shot out of bed and walked to the bathroom, still sporting a half-erect cock. When I returned with a warm cloth, I stood beside the bed and gazed down at my come still tainting her tits and stomach. It was the best fucking sight in the world. Could I consider this marking my territory?

Ashlyn’s eyes turned deviant as she looked at up me. “I just realized something. You’ve tasted me, but I’ve never tasted you.”

My ability to speak was torn from me. As if in slow motion, Ashlyn ran her finger through my come and lifted it to her lips. My half-erect cock shot back to life when her finger disappeared between her lips, and she sucked with a low moan for good measure.

“Now we are even,” she whispered, and gave me a wink.

Like hell, we were even.

This was just the beginning, and I’d fight until she realized that.

MUSIC FILLED MY APARTMENT, soothing the chaotic thoughts that had been circling through my head since I snuck out of Josh’s bed. I had awoken to warmth that could never be provided by a comforter, and my body ached in places I never knew could ache. I had taken a few moments to memorize his face and bask in his features before I gently snuck out of his bed and covered my naked body with the shirt he wore during our night. Rushing through his apartment, I quietly grabbed the bag that held my toiletries, found my dress and panties, then quickly left and disappeared back into mine.

I had fallen asleep with Josh plenty of times, but not after having mind-blowing sex that resulted in multiple orgasms, an aching body, and lips that felt so swollen that I was rocking an Angelina Jolie pout. Josh gave me everything last night. It was completely different than what we experienced before, but it felt so right . . . too right. It was like slipping into your favorite pair of heels and feeling like you could take on the world. Josh made me feel like that, and as long as he was there, I could actually envision myself doing everything I had dreamed about. It was a surreal feeling—confusing, yet strangely beautiful.

After showering in my newly-renovated bathroom and regretfully washing away his scent, I pulled his shirt back on and was offered comfort all over again. I was functioning on autopilot, because I couldn’t think of anything other than Josh. Once upon a time I wouldn’t have hesitated in giving myself to Josh Crawford. I would have given him everything and more; whatever he asked for would have been his. But now I felt like damaged goods, like my parents and Lachlan destroyed my sense of entitlement to a happily-ever-after. Being told I wasn’t worthy of love or being good enough to stick around for had finally seeped so deep inside me that the one thing I wanted most in life was the one thing I realized I’d never have.

Josh could have been it for me. He could have been my forever, but we never got that chance. I had been a one-night stand to him; merely a girl he had slept with in college.

After our night, he stepped into the friend role and I was left wondering why. It took me a good two years to get over the feeling of not being enough for him and, though I learned to hide it well, I still lived with that fear today. Josh was the kind of guy that needed options, who craved variety and spontaneity, and I was just one girl. Recently, though, he had been treating me like I was his prized possession. But how long would that last? I would continue to refuse him access to my heart, but there was no hope in denying him my body. Last night confirmed that.

I stood absentmindedly in my kitchen and busied myself making my famous scrambled eggs. It was weird being back in my apartment, but I couldn’t stay away forever. Even though I had music playing, it was still too quiet. Distraction by food was the safest bet. As I stirred the eggy mixture and added shredded cheese, images of Josh on his knees hit me. Fuck, that man had a magical tongue, and boy did my body love it. Last night had been incredible. I still couldn’t get past the fact that he had taken me to Rosie’s. For someone who swears he doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body, he certainly showed true romance last night. All inhibitions were lost, all my fears forgotten, and I got lost in Josh. Tension that had been simmering between us exploded in the best possible way, and I had the aches to prove it.

“You left.”

The wooden spoon flew out of my hand and egg mixture splashed onto the bench as Josh’s voice hit me. I twisted around quickly, to find him leaning against the entrance to my kitchen, arms crossed over his chest, and a scowl taking over his face.

“I got hungry.”

“You are the world’s worst liar,” he scoffed, and stepped into the room. With every step he took, the distance between us dissolved and my lungs seized. “I woke up ready to have a lazy morning with you, and my bed was empty.”

I wanted that too.

“Do you want some eggs?” I stuttered, completely changing the subject, and once again transforming into a babbling mess. He had an effect on me like nothing else. “I’m making scrambled eggs, the ones you like.”

His eyes softened and he nodded quickly. “If having eggs will make you talk, then yes, I’ll have some eggs.”

How did I know he’d say that? I turned my back to him and started frantically beating the egg mixture. The heat of his body beside me held my attention and hitched my breathing. I loved the smell of freshly-showered Josh, and it was beaming off him and circling my senses. He hauled himself up onto the bench, and sat so his thighs were right beside the bowl.

“Last night changed things, Ashy.”

I froze mid stir, and my gaze rose to meet his. His face was placid, but his eyes determined, and I knew it was a dangerous combination.

“I can still feel you,” I admitted softly, deciding to throw caution to the wind and give him what he wanted. “My body aches. I’m fantastically exhausted, and standing here with you so close confuses the fuck out of me.”

“You can still feel me? Christ.”

A chuckle rose from my chest. What did he expect? He ruined me. The egg mixture became my focus once again, and I began to furiously beat. I had never been this focused on making breakfast before. Shit, at this rate I’d be whipping them into meringues instead of scrambled eggs. But with Josh staring at me, and with images of his fucking me flooding my thoughts, I had no control.

Josh jumped off the bench as silence churned around us. Was he leaving? Was that it? My head dropped in defeat, and I cursed under my breath. Since when had I lost the ability to talk around him? I get into his bed, he fucks me into oblivion, and suddenly I lose the ability to speak? For the second time in a matter of minutes, I jumped. Pressing his firm body against my back and threading his arms around my waist, Josh once against consumed me with his head and familiar scent. Wooziness hit me. Could you get a sex hangover? Was that even possible? All the signs were pointing to that: woozy, dry mouth, thumping head, desperate to scoff my face with naughty food? Shit, I was, hands down, suffering from a sex hangover brought on by Josh effing Crawford. I was done for.