“Why not?

“Because I don’t know where they are.” I felt myself frown at those words.

What started out as innocent flirting had just that quickly become a sad truth. I was a shattered girl and I had no idea where my pieces were or how to put myself back together if I did find them.

“I bet I could find your pieces.” He leaned in and bathed my cheek with heated breath.

I didn’t miss his hidden meaning, but I chose to ignore it. “Good luck. I’ve been trying to find them for years.”

I shrugged off my shiver and started to deal the cards again.

“Challenge accepted,” he said as he leaned back in his chair and took a swig from his beer.

His dark-brown eyes never left my face and a part of me was afraid he’d secretly already found a few pieces of me. The room around us suddenly felt too hot and too small.

How did he do that? How did he evaporate all the cold air surrounding me with just a look? Did he know what he was doing with those eyes and those lips that were starting to drive me wild, but scared the shit out of me at the same time? I wanted to run away from him, yet being close to him somehow made everything feel okay. He was driving me insane and not in good way. I’d never felt so torn over my emotions before.

Physically, I wanted everything his eyes and lips promised. I wanted to feel his skin against mine, his fingertips, his mouth, but mentally, I wanted to hop on the next plane to anywhere far away and never look back. I couldn’t understand or handle the thoughts my body sent to my brain. I was turned on by them, yet sickened by them. I was freaking Jekyll and Hyde with boobs and girl parts.

“I didn’t issue any challenge. I was just making a statement.” I swallowed hard.

“Yes, you did. You just begged me to find you. Consider it done.”

Eleven

Zeke

I was getting laid tonight. End of story. It had been too long, and if I didn’t bust a nut in the near future, people were going to start getting randomly punched in the face. I was due for some serious stress relief and I didn’t think putting my fist through the face of some random dude was going to do the trick. I needed female attention and I wanted that female to be the snowflake princess.

As I flirted with Patience, I knew I wanted her. She’d been driving me fucking crazy with those tiny gym shorts. There was even a point when she shifted her legs and I got a glimpse of purple panties. I’d never loved the color purple so much in my life. I went home that night and dreamt of being wrapped in purple warmth and woke up with a throbbing hard on.

Usually, I steered clear of girls like her since there was always a chance of an inexperienced female sprouting feelings, but something told me she wasn’t a virgin. A virgin wouldn’t switch her hips the way she did when she walked across the gym.

She said she never had a boyfriend. I wasn’t sure how that was even possible with a girl like her. If I were prone to relationships, Patience would be right up my alley. Thankfully, I wasn’t, but some guys were. Maybe she wasn’t the boyfriend type. Maybe she was high maintenance and no dude would dare try. Either way, it didn’t matter to me. I could no longer take being around her and not tasting her. I wasn’t accustomed to spending so much time with a girl and not getting at least a taste.

I felt confident that I could get what I wanted. She was flirting with me and I’d seen the way she looked at me. I knew that look. I’d probably given her the same look. She wanted me just as badly as I wanted her. I also enjoyed the fact that she didn’t jerk away from me every time I touched her anymore. That had to be a good sign, but still, I had to move slow and ease her into it.

I didn’t usually work at all to get with a girl, but I wanted to do this right. Also, I was thinking Patience was the kind of girl I could remain friends with afterward. I’d never had a friend with benefits before since I was a hit-it-and-quit-it kind of dude, but I really liked her... as a friend, of course. I hoped things didn’t get weird afterward and we’d just fall into the friend role.

After a few beers and eight hands of rummy, it was getting late and I knew if I wanted some alone time with Patience before taking her home, I needed to snap to it. She picked up the cards and stuffed them back in the box. I kept my eyes on her the entire time, and I could tell from the pink blush that ran up her neck and landed on her cheeks that she knew I was watching her. I leaned in and breathed her in.

“I want to be alone with you,” I said honestly.

Honesty was the best policy when it came to women. Sometimes they didn’t like what you had to say, but they could never say you didn’t warn them.