The Strings Attached

Chapter 26 - Loni

Loni

After the game, I shower in the locker room, and then I take another when everyone is gone. Am I stalling? Probably. Jace left the game as soon as it ended. I'm thinking he went back to his apartment to get things set up.

Oh, fuck. I hope he's not setting up candles and dousing the bed in rose petals. If he does, I might fall in love.

That's why I can't do romance. In the past, I have always been the person to fall head over heels in love with any guy that paid me a little bit of attention. But that only made me get taken advantage of. Exhibit A: Eric.

Maybe I crave the love and attention because my parents never really paid me any mind. Yeah, they were great and they loved me. But they were never around. I was basically living every teenager's dream life. No parents around. No rules to be enforced. I could go out whenever I wanted. Stay out as late as I desired. Though it sounds great, I got myself into pretty fucked up situations.

So I guess I just wanted someone to care about me. I let that happen multiple times. I opened up my heart and it got crushed, beaten, and broken apart. I refuse to let that happen to me again.

I can't let it happen with Jace either. Yeah, he's hot, caring, protective. But he's a guy, with a penis, he can't be trusted.

I didn't bother stopping at home to take a shower because if I stepped foot in my apartment, I would have never gotten out. 

This is what I want. I want to have sex with Jace. Meaningless, no strings attached, sex.

That's my mantra as I walk up to his apartment. I tap my fist against the door lightly, but when I make contact with it, there's a spark that ignites between my legs. A shirtless Jace flashes behind my eyes. And now I'm pounding my fist against the door.

My breath chokes back in my throat when the door flies open and Jace is standing in front of me.

"Hey," he says nonchalantly.

How is he so calm about this? And why am I freaking out? It's casual sex. I should be level-headed right now.

I clear my throat, crossing my arms over my chest. "Are we doing this? Or are you just going to stand there all night?" I guess bitchiness is my only way to keep my composure.

"Come on in." He steps out of the way and I saunter inside.

For some reason, I can't go any further than the living room. Maybe the bedroom is too stringy. Fucking in his bed, a place where he sleeps, where he dreams, where he's probably slept with multiple other women.

Fuck, that doesn't matter Loni. He's slept with other people. Big whoop. That just means he must be a master of his craft and this is going to be the best no strings attached sex ever.

But still, I can't force myself into his bedroom.

"My room is the second door on the right," he whispers into my ear.

I spin to face him, placing my hands on his chest but drop them when I realized I'm touching him. "Let's do it out here."

"Out here?"

"Yeah," I flop down on the black leather couch. "Right here." I pat the cushion next to me. My hand is shaking, I pull it back into my lap. 

Relax.

He cocks his head with a smirk, running his tongue over his white teeth. With a shrug, he sits down next to me. He leans into me until his lips brush mine. And though his lips feel amazing, I can't fucking relax.

My eyes are wide open and my body is as stiff as a plank of wood. His tongue slides across my lower lip and I want to open my mouth, I want to kiss him back, but I can't. My body won't let me.