Lust

Looks like word wouldn’t have to.

Beth was standing in the hall outside the locker room, facing the door, so Adam got a good look at her face as he walked out-the tentative smile when she saw him, twisted into a grimace of disgust a moment later as Kaia emerged, the front of her shirt still soaking wet from when she’d pressed herself up against Adam’s bare and dripping chest.

“See you later, Adam!” Kaia said pleasantly, as the couple stared at each other in silence. She smiled sweetly at Beth, then turned back to him. “Thanks so much for your help in there.” And she strode away down the hall.

Adam stopped in the doorway, as if half considering a retreat back into the locker room. Maybe if he went inside, came out again, the world would give him a do-over, and he and Beth could start afresh.

Unfortunately, Beth didn’t look like she was much in the mood for fresh starts. She stood a few feet away, pressed against the brick wall as if she needed it for support. Her hands were clasped in front of her, in a loose and relaxed pose betrayed by the tension in her frozen face. She wore a light gray, short-sleeved sweater that he’d never seen before. It was the soft color of mist, the same gray that flecked her clear blue eyes. Her eyes, he noticed, were glassy, unshed tears pooling at the lids. She looked very angry-and very beautiful.

“Beth,” he finally said. “Uh, what are you doing here?”

“I came to find you,” she said mechanically, staring off in the direction Kaia had gone. “I was going to apologize. One of the guys told me you were still in there. So I waited.”

Thanks a lot, guys, Adam thought. That was some team loyalty for you.

“I’m glad you did,” he said hesitantly, taking a step toward her and gently grasping her hand. “I wanted to talk to you, too.”

The contact seemed to shake her out of her state of shock-she whipped her hand away.

“I said I was going to apologize,” she corrected him. “Past tense. That was before I… interrupted you.” She looked away. “I guess you weren’t expecting to see me here.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know what it means.” She swiped a hand quickly across her eyes and finally met his gaze. Her lower lip was trembling-and she looked at him as if he were a mysteriously familiar stranger, someone she’d once known, long ago. “God, Adam, in public? In the locker room? What were you thinking? Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

“You don’t even know what you’re talking about!” he protested. The best defense, after all, was a good offense. Not that he had anything to be defensive about. He hadn’t done anything-was it his fault that Kaia kept chasing after him? Wasn’t the point that he kept turning her away? Didn’t that, in fact, make him a better boyfriend? What more did she want from him?

“What do you think happened in there?” he snapped, losing his patience. “You think I threw her down and did her? Right there on the floor in front of half the swim team? Do you even want to know what really happened? Maybe you’d rather just assume the worst.” He heard the words coming out as if someone else had spoken them-surely it hadn’t been him. Surely he wouldn’t say something so hurtful to someone he loved. Surely he wasn’t that kind of guy.

“What’s the point in asking if you’re just going to lie to me?” Beth asked, furiously blinking back tears.“! see the way you look at her-I know you think she can give you what you want. Fine-go get it.” She whirled around, as if to leave, but he grabbed her arm and tugged her back around. She wasn’t walking away, not this time. All of this, the constant fights over nothing, the tears, the silent treatment, it had to end. They had to actually deal with this-which meant she was, for once, going to have to stick around.

“I’m so sick of you making everything about sex,” he spit out, totally exasperated. How many times could they have the same conversation?

“Me? What about you? You-”

“No, you,” he argued. “This is not about sex, or Kaia, and you know it.” And he tried to force the image of her clinging to his wet body, of her lips on his, of her arms wrapped around him, out of his head. “This is about you. About you not trusting me. Not trusting us.”

Beth’s face softened, and for a moment Adam thought he’d gotten through to her. Then she shook her head.

“No. No!” She flung his arm off and pushed him away. “You can’t turn this around on me-this is about you acting like a jerk.This is about you skulking around in a boys’ locker room with another girl. This is about you wanting-” Her voice broke. “Wanting what you can’t have and acting like its all my fault.”

“Beth…”

“Of course I don’t trust us,” she said dully, sounding suddenly exhausted. “Right now, us sucks.”

She walked away-and this time, he let her go.

“Thanks for the heartfelt apology!” he called after her, punching the wall in frustration. The stinging pain in his knuckles only made him angrier.

This was his reward for doing the right thing? For resisting temptation? He might as well have thrown Kaia down on the locker room floor, torn her clothes off, satisfied his every pornographic desire- why the hell not, if that’s what Beth was going to believe either way?

He’d been there for her, he’d thrown himself into this relationship, he’d done everything he could for her-and she couldn’t even be bothered to ask him for the truth. She couldn’t be bothered to stick around for a damn conversation.

And you know what?

Good riddance.

Chapter 11

She’d never known a knee could be so sexy.

But there it was. Under the table. An inch away.

She could feel his leg there next to hers, could imagine moving hers over just a bit, just an inch, pressing their legs together. And that’s not all she could imagine. He was so close-she could just slip her foot out of her shoe, slide her toes up his calf, trace a gentle design across his skin. She could reach out, take his hand in hers beneath the table, massage his fingertips and then press him against her body, so hungry for his touch…

“Harper? What are you thinking about?”

Adam’s warm voice startled her out of her frozen reverie. And thank God for small favors-if she didn’t stop obsessing over her stupid fantasies, she might miss the chance to turn them into reality. And that’s what this was- her chance.

“Harper?” he repeated, sounding concerned. “What’s up?”

“Nothing-don’t worry about it,” she assured him.

“Are you sure?”

“No, I’m fine, it’s nothing,” she said again. “Besides, I’m supposed to be cheering you up. What are you thinking about? As if I have to ask…” Beth, of course. It was always Beth. Whether they were in the gazing-into-each-others-eyes-there s-only-two-of-us-in-the-whole-world mode, or in the I-may-never-speak-to- you-again mode (as, happily, they were tonight), Harper knew that the Blond One was never far from his thoughts.

But Adam just laughed. “No, I’m not thinking about her, Harper, I swear-I’m just enjoying the music. Thanks again for dragging me out tonight.”

It had been a brilliant idea-after all, who knew how long Beth would be stupid enough to stay away sulking, leaving Adam on the open market? Opportunities like this didn’t come along very often and didn’t last for very long- so Harper was planning to take full advantage of this one while she had it. Seize the day, right? She looked around at the grungy bar, the local band that was-just barely-cranking out something that bore a distant relation to music, and sighed. If only she didn’t have to seize the day in such seedy surroundings. Though she had to admit, what with the darkness, the haze of smoke, the music (sort of), the place had possibilities…

Of course, a true friend probably wouldn’t take advantage of Adam’s postfight