Page 69 of Making the Save

“That’s not your fault,” I said, and tried to leave it at that. But he was pulling his shorts on and clearly beating himself up. Muttering to himself about being too big. Too rough.

“Wyatt,” I breathed. “I was a virgin.”

Was. Well, at least I did that part right. Iwasa virgin. Mission accomplished in the most Sydney Malloy way.

“A what now?”

“You heard me.”

Oh, the poor man. He was really having a tough time understanding the concept.

“But you’re…”

“Twenty-five? Yes.”

“And…”

“A rumored slut. I know. The irony is not lost on me.”

He pulled me up by my arms. “I would never say that about you. Not ever. And no one gets to in front of me. Not even you.”

Oh, God, he really was sweet and I’d messed this up so bad. I tried to pull away but he wasn’t having it. “I was going to say the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And sexy. Like, the hottest woman I’ve ever touched.”

“Well, that’s nice?”

He grabbed my hand and tried to pull me away from the couch. “Come on.”

“Where?”

“We’re going to take a shower, I’m going to clean you up and then we’re going to talk.”

“Pass,” I said stubbornly. “Hey, I know. Let’s get dressed and pretend this never happened.”

“Not gonna happen.”

He gave me his angry giant face and there was no way to escape him. I pulled the baggy t-shirt over my body and walked down the hallway into the bathroom and he shut the door quietly behind us.

The shower wasn’t much. Just a standing square with a curtain.

“You’re not going to fit in there with me,” I said.

“You let me worry about where I fit or not.”

I laughed, unable to help myself. I caught his eye, but he was not smiling. “That wasn’t a joke?”

“Too soon, Tink.”

He turned it on, waited for the water to warm up, then pulled the curtain aside. “Get in.”

“You’re awfully bossy,” I protested.

“Syd,” he growled.

I pulled off my t-shirt and stepped in. The warm water felt good, not as good as the hot springs, but I put my head under the excellent shower head and closed my eyes.

He stepped in with me and shut the curtain behind us. It was very crowded and since I was trying not to touch him, it was even worse. And his erection was still…prominent.

“Ignore it,” he said.