“Hey.” I take a step to close the distance between us and lift her chin. When her dark eyes meet mine, they’re full of worry. “I know you don’t like having to do this. I might not totally understand it, but I know you well enough to know you wouldn’t lie to your family if you didn’t think it was necessary. You’re handling this in the best way you know how.”

“Thank you, Carter. You’re a good friend.” She scans my face before her gaze settles on my mouth.

“I think I should kiss you right now.” The words are out before I think about it. I want her, and fuck, if I won’t do just about anything to see the hunger in her eyes from Saturday night.

“Yeah?”

I wonder if she knows she leans into me, that her lips part and her pupils dilate. The sight is enough to make me dumb with lust. “Yeah.”

“But we’re alone. And we have rules.”

“But we need to look natural this weekend, right? I think we should practice.”

“Oh.” She swallows. “Okay.”

I barely have to move to touch my mouth to hers, but when I do, she parts her lips and moans. I suck on her bottom lip, and the hand she has tangled in my hair tugs lightly. Lust surges down my spine.

“How’s that?” I’m breathless from a simple kiss. Damn.

“Not bad,” she answers, equally breathless.

I pull back and tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll see you tomorrow, eyebrow.”

She draws in a shaky breath. “Tomorrow.” She walks me to the door and opens it, smiling softly.

I stop on her porch and turn back to her. “One more question.”

“Shoot.”

“Top or bottom?”

She blinks. “What?” When I flash her my most lascivious grin, she rolls her eyes. “Goodnight, Carter.” Then she shuts the door.

Teagan

“Welcome, welcome!” Mom says, grinning widely as she greets Carter and me at the doors to the Hayhurst mansion. Tall, lithe, and exuding class, my mom is as beautiful today as she was when I was a little girl. She has honey-brown hair that she wears in an asymmetrical bob and blue eyes that brighten when she takes in Carter. “I’m LouAnn, Teagan’s mom. I’m so happy to meet the local hero!”

Beside me, Carter stiffens, but he takes her offered hand and shakes it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am. Teagan’s told me a lot about you.”

“I wish I could say the same,” Mom says, flashing me a glare. “But my daughter’s been keeping your relationship a secret.”

“We didn’t know if it would go anywhere,” I say. I’m sure I’m going to have to repeat the words a hundred times this weekend. I love my mom, but she takes the whole Catholic mom guilt-trip cliché to the next level.

“She wasn’t sure,” Carter says, grinning at my mother in a way I’m sure will melt the ice-queen thing she’s got going on. “I’ve been biding my time until she was willing to give me a chance.”