Miss Pen

Chapter Twenty-five

As amazing as it felt to have an incredibly attractive man pushing me up against the door, I needed to distance myself. There was no way I was going to be able to focus on my plans with that rough hair tickling my face and neck.

Stop making excuses! You know you want this.

I flipped around, flattening my back against the metal, and awkwardly patted Rhode’s chest – his well-defined, broad, and incredibly firm chest. His lips curved over his teeth as he brought his own hand up to cover mine, looking down at me from under thick, dark lashes.

“Is something the matter?” He feigned innocent. I took that pause as an opportunity to scoot from under him, dragging my hand down his torso, and itching to scrape my nails over the material covering it. But I refrained from doing so, filling my mind with thoughts that didn’t involve ripping his clothes off and running my tongue up the vein that traveled down his neck. His unshaven face and unkempt hair made him look more rugged in a way, and it was more than just distracting. “Stop thinking so much, Aubrey. Relax.”

“I am relaxed!” I laughed, frantically nodding and even trying to convince myself, but how could anyone stay calm with this man around? “I’m so relaxed that I could watch a movie right now.”

Really? Momentarily frowning, I realized how odd I sounded. I seriously needed to work on my comebacks. At least think of things that make sense.

“Yeah, a movie sounds good. You pick.”

He beamed, walking around me and toward the television remote that sat on the coffee table in the small living area. When I mentioned watching a movie, it was not an invitation for him to join me. Men were awful at picking up signs.

“Sure.” I returned the smile through clenched teeth. Before sitting with Rhode on the couch, I walked over to angle the large flat screen in his direction, grimacing at his reflection as he bent his arms behind his head and settled deeper into the cushions after fixing them. I’d expected him to do the classic move of putting his arm around me when I perched next to him, but he didn’t, remaining in the same position as I clicked through the TV channels.

“Oh! Stop right there, I’ve always wanted to see this movie.”

Puzzled by his excitement, I turned my head to look at Rhode, raising an eyebrow and pausing on Friends with Benefits. “Okay.” I mumbled, not willing to complain since I would’ve at least been able to ogle Justin Timberlake, knowing he would’ve been doing the same to Mila Kunis. Hell, even I did the same when I first saw the movie. It wasn’t my fault she had nice eyes.

I’d been expecting it to be awkward since we were pretty much like the characters in the movie – minus the near constant amount of times they hooked up – but it wasn’t, and we watched in a comfortable silence, neither of us having the urge of attacking the other. I did stiffen a little when Rhode took his arms from behind his head and rested them on the back of the couch, but he made no move to touch me, so I relaxed.   

He was quiet for a while until the scene about Jamie having a bony ass came up. “Huh, I’ve never noticed that before.”

“What’s that?” 

“Mila Kunis has one of the flattest asses I’ve ever seen.”

“Really? Even I’ve noticed that. I’m assuming that since you’ve never paid attention to one of the hottest female celebrity’s butts, does this mean that you’re a boob man?” Hey, I was curious, and it was just harmless banter… for now.

“I don’t have a preference.” He shrugged, taking his eyes off the screen to give me a mischievous smile. “But just know that if you’re ever going to order me chicken from somewhere, my favorite parts are breasts and thighs.” I gave him a flat look, watching as he focused his attention back to the movie but not before his lips turned up at the corners. Well, that answered my question. “What about you?”