“No.”
I leaned forward. “Take. It. Back.”
“No.”
“You asked for it.” I lunged for him, but he was already on his way into the kitchen. “Are you running away from a girl, Reed?”
“I’m running away from a crazy girl!”
“This is your last warning.”
“Or what? You’re going to keep chasing me?” He laughed.
“No. It’s going to be a lot worse.”
“Crazy.”
I reached into the pantry behind me and pulled out a bag of flour. “You deserve this.” I took a handful of the flour and aimed it at him. It barely got the back of his shirt.
“Oh, we’re playing dirty, huh?” He grabbed the bag from me and proceeded to pour half of it over my head. The only positive side was that some of it got on him in the process.
“Reed!”
“Yes?”
That’s when I went for the sauce. It wasn’t a small jar.
“You’re not going to throw pizza sauce on me.”
“Oh, I’m not?”
“Nope. You don’t have it in you.”
“I don’t?” I took a step toward him and tried to get him with it, but of course, I slipped on some sauce that spilled on the floor, and I ended up wearing half the jar before he caught me in his arms.
He pushed me back against the counter. “You are such trouble.”
“Am I trouble, or am I crazy?”
“Both, but right now, mostly trouble.” He wiped flour and sauce off my cheek.
“I bet I look pretty hot right now, huh?”
“Actually you do.” He leaned over me. “Very hot.” The last words were whispered against my ear before his lips began to descend to my neck.
I moaned. “You actually look pretty hot, too.”
“Do I?” His lips hovered just above mine.
“Yeah.”
He teased me, brushing his lips against mine before pulling away.
“No fair.”
“I’m not kissing you until you admit that commercial was emotional.”
“No.” I wet my lips. I wanted to kiss him so much, but I hated admitting defeat.
“No? That’s too bad. I was looking forward to kissing you.”
He ran a finger over my bottom lip. “Are you sure about your answer?”
I squeezed my eyes shut. This was stupid. His macho ego wasn’t going to give up. “It’s an emotional commercial.”
“I’m glad you finally admit it.” His lips brushed against mine again. I was about to complain when he sped it up. My hands tangled in his hair as his arms wrapped around my waist. I slipped my hands under his t-shirt as his hands did the same to mine. He got my shirt off first, but I tugged on his to move him close to me again. “Take off your shirt.”
“First you attack me with food, and now you’re ordering me to remove my clothing?”
“I’m your girlfriend. I’m allowed to want you shirtless.”
“At least you’re not telling me I have the ‘roid look anymore.” He pulled his shirt over his head.
“Nope, just the Reed look.” I ran my hands over his chest. A little bit of the flour from his shirt had gotten on him. It was nothing compared to the sauce that had seeped through my shirt onto my skin. He kissed my chest between my br**sts and continued down to my stomach. “Tomato basil? At least you picked a good sauce.” Something about the way his mouth felt on me drove me wild. I reached out, unbuckling his belt. “I know this is going to violate at least ten health codes, but I’m not waiting until we get home.”
“Hopefully, we won’t get busted this time. At least we’re not outside.”
I laughed against his mouth as I leaned up to kiss him. He stepped out of his pants, kicking them to the side. He unbuttoned my jeans, sliding them over my hips with exaggerated slowness. “I love undressing you.”
“Then finish.”
“I love this bossy thing. It works for you.” He slipped off my panties and dropped his boxers before lifting me up and placing me on the counter. “This is going to violate a lot more than ten codes, but I don’t care.” He pulled on my legs to position me on the very edge of the counter. A small smile spread across his lips.
I bit his shoulder to stop myself from crying out as he moved inside me. I could have been flying, it felt so good. Confident I wouldn’t scream, I leaned my head back to let his mouth move to my neck. I raked my nails down his back.
“Reed!” So much for keeping quiet.
“Juliet.” Right as I thought he was about to reach his release, he sped up, as caught up in ecstasy as I was. He pushed me over the edge again just as he shuddered. Breathless, I leaned forward into him. I’d never experienced anything like it.
“Oh my god.” My heart beat a mile a minute.
“Yeah, this bossy thing definitely works.”
“Maybe it’s the sauce,” I managed to choke out after my breathing returned to normal.
“If that’s true, then I’m taking a case home.” He leaned his forehead against mine.
That’s when we heard the bell on the counter. We hadn’t locked the front door. Did we actually have a customer?
We hurriedly got dressed. My t-shirt was completely soaked with sauce, so I had to take one of the extras—the smallest size was large. I looked like I was wearing a clown shirt.
“Are you guys decent?” Danny called back. At least it wasn’t a customer.
“Why wouldn’t we be?”
Danny laughed. “Dude, I heard you guys as soon as I walked in.”
I buried my face in my hands. “It was still worth it.”
Reed kissed the back of my neck. “Completely worth it.”
I took another minute to compose myself before joining the guys out at the counter.
***
“Hey, what are you doing back here?” Reed kissed me. I’d only left his house a few hours earlier.
“I forgot my phone in your room.” I’d noticed it after my first class when I went to call Cara. We were supposed to meet for lunch.
“Oh, go on up. I can join you if you want.” He wriggled an eyebrow.
I put a hand on his chest. “Not a chance. I have another class soon.”
He laughed. “Fine, I’ll take a rain check until tonight.”
“Only if you’re good,” I said over my shoulder as I started up the stairs.
It took me a minute to find my phone. I knew where I’d left it on his desk, but it was buried under some papers. I had no idea how he found anything in that mess.