Page 60 of Scoring Lessons

“This. Isn’t. Funny.” She bit out the words with so much hostility, my skin broke out in goosebumps. I liked it when she was mean, even if it frustrated me sometimes.

What can I say? A sucker for punishment was practically my middle name.

“Who says I’m joking?” I brought the book to my eye level to continue reading. “This is a sex list.”

She tried to snag the book again, but my reflexes were quicker. “It’s not a sex list!” she practically screeched.

“Oral, edging, public sex, anal play, guided masturbation…” I started to list off the ones she’d highlighted. I had an inkling these were highlighted for good reason. Arousal tried to pool in my cock as I kept reading out loud, but I fought it off the best I could. This was an interesting list. A good one, too. I was equally turned on and curious as fuck as to why she decided to highlight them.

“Give it back.”

“Why do you have a sex list?” I asked, letting the curiosity get the best of me.

“Wesley, please.” Her plea was filled with so much desperation, my gaze landed on her in shock. She took advantage of my moment of weakness and managed to finally grab the book. She shut it with all the force she could muster—even though it was a flimsy paperback—and threw it on the bed. “Get out.”

“No.”

“Wesley.” She growled my name as she tilted her head back like she was sick of looking at me.

My lips tingled with the need to run up and down the side of her exposed neck. To drop a few, featherlight kisses and watch her squirm beneath me.

I shook my head, hoping it would erase the urge.

It didn’t.

“Are you embarrassed?” My tone was bemused. “Because you shouldn’t be.”

She shot me a burning glare that kept me in place.

Boy, was that the wrong thing to say.

“Oh, let’s see.” She crossed her arms and started tapping her foot against the carpeted floor impatiently. “My brother’s annoying best friend—who’s actively trying to teach me how to casually date—found a hockey romance book⁠—”

I raised my eyebrows in genuine surprise. “It’s a hockey romance?” Was that even a thing? Interesting. I was too distracted by the list to read anything else.

She pushed on like a freight train. “Not only did he find said book, but he also happened to read the list of things I want to do because I am a thirty-year-old woman who’s had mediocre sex at best for most of her life and is looking to rediscover herself.” She let out a short breath, her eyes settling on me with something that looked like a mix of anger and disbelief. “But go ahead and tell me how this isn’t embarrassing.”

I raised my hands in defeat. “To be fair, I wasn’t aware of any of this until you said it.”

Heat rushed to her cheeks. She let out a puff of air. “Does it even matter anymore? It’s not like this situation could get any worse.”

I tried to process her words the best I could, but staring at her was fucking distracting. Her blue-gray eyes were a darker shade tonight, like storm clouds gathering over a restless sea. My fingers itched to tame some of her wild strands escaping her messy bun. Her pajama shorts exposed her long, toned legs, resting high enough that I could see most of her tattoo on her upper thigh.

When my eyes landed on her face again, she looked like she wanted the Earth to swallow her whole.

I hated a lot of things when it came to Olivia—how she’d lost her fucking spark, and how I knew in my gut her shitty ex was to blame, even if she didn’t admit it. How she managed to be the only thing stuck in my head. But one thing I hated the most was how sometimes she thought there was something fundamentally wrong with her. She didn’t have to voice it out loud for me to know.

I knew all parts of her. Even the ones she thought I didn’t.

It was as frustrating as it was confusing, because she could bring hellfire when she wanted to, but here she was, actively trying to put herself back into a shell. To force herself to fit into a box that was too small for her true personality.

I fucking hated it with every fiber of my being. There were no words to explain the ball of anger that lit inside of me because of it.

My hands reached for her upper arms, gripping them in reassurance. “Trying to find yourself, especially through sex, is nothing to be embarrassed about.” I searched for her eyes with mine, quietly urging her to meet my stare. “It’s quite brave.”

“It’s not only sex,” she finally said after a few beats of suffocating tension. “It’s also a list of fun things to do, like dates and stuff.”

“Jack wasn’t much of an adventurer?” I asked softly. Even saying his name out loud made me want to punch a goddamn wall.