The Rules by Delaney Diamond

was going over there.
    By the count of two, Terri was headed in their direction with the same eye-catching strut, but came to an abrupt halt when she saw him. Her eyes stretched wide. They both stared at each other from only a few feet away. Everyone and everything in the entire building receded from Gavin’s consciousness while he focused on the vision before him.
    Straightening her shoulders, Terri marched forward and came to stand at the table. “Hi, Gavin.”
    “Terri.”
    One would think much longer than a week and two days had passed since he last saw her— the reaction to her presence was so visceral. His heart thumped in his chest. His loins ached with the memory of her touch. And his hands itched with the need to touch her.
    “We need to talk,” Gavin said.
    “Maybe we can talk after—”
    “Nah, we need to talk now.”
    He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her away.
    “What do you think you’re doing?” Terri demanded.
    Gavin surveyed the audience and the two bars, searching for Devin. When he spotted his friend near the door, he headed in that direction, pulling Terri with him.
    “Do you mind telling me what this is about?” she hissed between her teeth.
    Gavin didn’t bother answering the question. She knew exactly what ‘this’ was about.
    “Devin, mind if I use your office for a minute?”
    Devin glanced at Terri, who glared at Gavin, her lips compressed into a flat line. “Sure, no problem.” He held up a key on the chain. “This one.”
    “Thanks.”
    Gavin took the keys and they walked to the back of the club, down a dimly lit hallway where the sound of the music had diminished considerably. He shoved the key inside the lock and let Terri precede him inside the small office. The décor comprised of wood panel walls, a messy desk and leather chair, two old file cabinets, and a navy futon against the wall.
    Terri swung around, anger flashing in her eyes. “Why did you have to bring me back here, Gavin?”
    “I want an explanation.”
    “For what?”
    “For why you won’t accept my calls.” He tossed the keys onto the futon.
    “Do you understand the concept of one night?” Terri asked sardonically.
    Gavin gritted his teeth through a chuckle and shook his head. “You get a kick out of making men grovel for your attention, don’t you?”
    “That is untrue. I’m not some heartless bitch,” Terri spat back. “I made it very clear to you from the beginning that there was not going to be anything else between us after the date. But for some reason, you can’t get that through your head. The problem for you, Gavin, is that you think you’re so damn irresistible. Even though I told you the parameters of our night together, you can’t accept them. Whose fault is that? Yours or mine?”
    “So I’m in this alone, is that it? Whatever I feel is completely on my end and you don’t think about me or want me, correct?”
    Hesitation. Her eyes flickered with uncertainty. “Correct.”
    “Bull.” Sensing weakness, Gavin closed in, and Terri backed up toward the desk. “You expect me to believe that you don’t think about me? After I fucked you so good you not only screamed my name, you had tears in your eyes?”
    “That doesn’t change—”
    “Tell me something, Terri.” He continued to back her up until she hit the edge of the desk and grasped onto it. He stood over her, not touching but so close he heard the sharp inhale and exhale of her breaths. He saw the rapid rise and fall of her breasts and smelled the fragrance of roses and lavender that stayed in his skin after their night together, intermingled with her own personal scent that was one hundred percent Terri and two hundred percent aphrodisiac. “Are you wet right now? Because I’m so hard I could jackhammer through concrete. And that’s your fault.”
    Gavin waited, never losing eye contact. Terri’s throat worked a hard swallow and when she parted her lips, he knew the answer before she gave it. He knew because