Beguiling (Tempting #2) by Alex Lucian

my life, that’s the problem.”
    Grant stayed quiet, giving me a narrow-eyed look. Not one of judgement, just consideration. It lodged under my skin like a hot burr, because now he was going to try and figure me out.
    “And you know what else? You and everyone else who thinks I’m just some dumb fucking jock can kiss my ass. I don’t need to prove shit to you.”
    “What’s her name?” he asked quietly, not even remotely joking.
    I slammed the rest of my beer, setting the glass down on the table so hard that I was shocked it didn’t crack. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
    When I stood from my seat and pulled my wallet out, he held up his hands in concession. “Look, I know you,” he paused when I gave him a long look, “it may not seem like it, but I do know you. And you’re one of the most easy-going guys I know. So if you’re getting this defensive when it’s not even football season then it considerably narrows the field of why.”
    Even though I was listening, I pulled my wallet out and fished some cash from inside of it. I was just about to toss it on the table when he grabbed my forearm.
    “You want to go? Then go. I don’t give a flying fuck if you want to spend forty bucks to take a cab home, but if there’s something serious going on, you can talk to me about it. Whether it's about a girl or not. But women are pretty reasonable, Leo, if you're just honest with them and don’t play any fucking games, you’ll have a lot better luck.”
    “Thanks for the advice, big brother. You’re always there when I need you the most.” I didn’t even attempt to keep the bite out of my voice when I tossed the twenty on the table.
    It did in fact cost me about forty bucks to get back home, and after I’d tipped the driver, I was sure he was ready to be rid of me. My mood was foul, an inky thing hanging over me, and shock of the fucking century, Scarlet was yet again the cause of it.
    How was it even possible that she didn’t feel what I had felt?
    Even if I wanted to, I couldn't erase the way she’d tasted, the way she’d moved under me, the way she’d looked after that first explosion. The unpracticed way she did everything just fucking undid me, and it undid me in a way that I’d never experienced before.
    And that much was obvious in what a prick I felt like. I wanted to lash out at everyone who encountered me, because what? Scarlet was drunk and didn’t remember boinking me?
    I wasn’t this guy. I was the guy who everyone counted on to smile and make a joke and ease the tension. That was my role, for as long as I could remember it. As I stood in my driveway after the cab squealed down the street, I couldn’t help but wonder if that’s why it had been so good with Scarlet, because I wasn’t trying to play the Leo that people expected.
    I had just been me.
    My eyes snapped over to her house, and through the front windows, I could see a light on toward the back of the house. Not giving myself any time to second guess the decision, I jogged across the street.
    Instead of going around to the back slider like I’d done before, I walked up the front porch and rang the doorbell. There was no answer, and no porch lights turning on in response, so I rapped my knuckle against the dark wood.
    “Scarlet?” I called out, not too loudly, but enough that she’d know it was me if she was listening by the door. Behind the three or four inches of wood separating us, there was a muffled sound. I knocked again. “Come on, please? Are you going to make me beg for all the neighbors to see?”
    It was impossible not to smile when that immediately made the deadbolt turn with a fast click. By the time I walked through the opened door, Scarlet was already marching back toward the kitchen, tight little ass twitching underneath her gray yoga pants with the fast movements of her legs. Almost immediately, I felt my blood pressure go down, which was mildly concerning. If Scarlet Jennings was my