I could relate to her in ways she’d never know. But I could never fully tell her that without disclosing my past, and I could never do that without losing her for good. And even though I wasn’t sure how long this would last between us, I certainly didn’t want to ensure that it would be over before it truly began.
“So what are you trying to say, Tasha? Are you pushing me away or doing what you can to prevent that from happening?”
“The second one.” For the first time, I picked up on a hint of uncertainty. It was only brief, though. As quickly as it came on, she shook it off and smiled. “I really don’t want to mess this up, Jacoby. I mean, I don’t know what will come of it, but I at least want to find that out before ruining anything.”
“And what makes you think you’re going to ruin anything between us?”
“That’s just it…I have no idea. But I worry that taking things all the way would or could do just that.”
Tasha Lewis had a way of pulling me in, unlike anyone else I’d ever met. “It’s okay, Tasha. I get it. And if it makes you feel any better, I’m totally okay with waiting, too. I’ll even sleep on the couch if it means you’ll stay.”
She twisted her lips to the side and hummed to herself. “I don’t want to put you out like that. I would feel horrible making you sleep on the couch.”
“At least I’ll know you’re safe.”
Her shoulders dropped with her heavy sigh. “Okay, fine…but I’ll sleep out here.”
“Nope. You take the bed. I swear, Tasha, I’m not bothered with taking the couch. I fall asleep out here more times than I actually make it to the room.”
“Whatever,” she complained with a sexy groan. “You win.”
Most people probably wouldn’t have called that a win, but I had to agree with her. She would be staying at my place, sleeping in my bed, wearing my shirt. It didn’t matter where I slept, as long as she was here.
“One more game and then bed?” I asked, hoping to get a little more time with her before calling it a night. And to my surprise, she agreed.
For the first time in my life, I felt lucky. Not only had I won the bet with her and made her rub my feet—if that’s what you wanted to call it—but I’d gotten her to agree to stay in my bed for the night. And if that wasn’t enough, less than an hour after turning the lights out, she’d asked me to join her in my room.
We’d kept to our agreement—we didn’t take things all the way.
But that didn’t mean we didn’t hold each other all night.
And I had to admit…it was the best night of my life.
15
Tasha
This was no ordinary walk of shame—it was a stride of pride.
Although, it would’ve been a lot more comfortable if I had shoes. At least Jacoby let me wear a pair of his boxer shorts home so I didn’t have to trek through the yard with my bum hanging out.
All I could think about was taking out these contacts that were glued to my eyeballs as I walked through the patio door—which I had inadvertently left unlocked on my way out last night. I had my dress balled up in one arm while I closed the glass door behind me, but that all changed when I glanced up. The dress went flying, landing on the intruder who stood in front of me in the living room. With it draped over his face, I saw my opportunity and took it.
In my head, I was throwing punches and wielding roundhouse kicks like in Mortal Kombat. But in reality, I likely looked more like someone doing the doggy paddle in the pool while I continuously slapped the trespasser. Lucky for him, it didn’t last long. He quickly yanked the dress off his head, revealing himself to me.
“Ty?” I was shocked to see him in the house. “What in the world are you doing here?”
“The real question should be…where in the world were you?”
Unable to speak for a moment while my brain tried to formulate a believable lie, I decided to distract him with all the attitude I could muster. I cocked one hip to the side and crossed my arms over my chest, staring daggers into him. All the while, the only thing I could come up with was, “You scared the crap out of me. You’re lucky I didn’t hurt you.”
He chuckled, apparently finding the idea of being hurt by me funny. But unfortunately, he didn’t seem thrown off by my assertive stance. Once again, he asked, “Where were you, Tasha?”
“Next door.” I figured short, unclear answers would prolong this interrogation long enough to come up with something he’d believe without getting me in any trouble. After all, I did just walk in holding the dress I’d worn last night.
“What were you doing over there?”
“Talking to Jessa.”
“Who’s Jessa?”
“The woman who lives next door.” There was an understood duh at the end of that.
“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you were there.”
“I just told you…to talk to Jessa.” He really had no idea who he was messing with. I could do this all day and not get tired.
He huffed and scratched his forehead, as if exhausted by me already. “That’s not what I mean, Tasha, and you know it. Why were you next door talking to Jessa—and don’t say because it’s where she lives. What did you need to talk to her about, and why did you come home carrying a dress?”
I glanced at the pile of yellow fabric on the floor, and suddenly, it came to me. “I spilled something on it last night, so I went over there to see if she had any of that stain stuff for
