I didn’t know what to say, so I shrugged. “Okay.”

“It could be what the other person was doing.” He raised his eyebrows, speaking carefully. “Or not doing…Or not doing properly.”

“I don’t know.” As much as I liked the idea of throwing Luke under the bus, I was pretty sure there was something wrong with me. I drew in a breath and held it until my lungs felt like they were going to explode. “It’s just really hard to get me off.”

“I’m up for the challenge.” He grinned. “Literally.”

A sad half laugh escaped from the back of my throat. He was too smooth for my own good. Even when I felt like hiding under a rock permanently.

“I mean, I can…” I fumbled, searching my brain for a way to explain without delving into uncomfortable details. “I’m sorry. This is hard to talk about without bringing Luke into it.” Luke would sulk afterward if I didn’t have an orgasm—as if that was going to somehow help it along. Though the fact that I faked it so often had some disturbing implications. Either Luke never noticed or, worse still, he knew and didn’t care.

“It’s okay,” Chase said. “You can talk about him.”

“He would complain because only certain positions would do it for me, or I took too long. Sometimes it was easier to let him think I had.” And now I’d shared the most intimate details of my former relationship with Chase, things even Zara and Noelle weren’t privy to. Great.

“He did what?” His brows snapped together. “What kind of sorry excuse for an athlete is he? Fucking dick.” His jaw ticked, and he exhaled heavily, shaking his head. “Sorry. It just pisses me off to know you were treated like that.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I think it’s a me problem.” It had to be when it was that elusive and difficult to reach. There were maybe two things that worked—some of the time—and that was it. Even then, it was about as reliable as a rain dance.

“Not even a little.” He smoothed my hair away from my face.

I sucked in a shaky breath. “Agree to disagree.”

“Not on this one. Morrison is a fucking idiot. Full stop. It’s the eleventh commandment.”

This time, I laughed for real. He leaned in, brushing his lips against mine. The tension in my body loosened as I returned the kiss, lips opening against his. He pushed inside my mouth, but it was tender, gentle. As we pulled apart, he wrapped his hands around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

“You’re not a means to an end, James.”

The urge to cry returned, and I swallowed hard, nodding wordlessly.

Chase tipped forward, his lips grazing along the curve of my neck, which was a welcome distraction.