The wicked smile faded as she squeezed the front of her robe shut with her hands. “Thanks but I’ll be okay. I have a million things to do to get ready for my first day tomorrow. ” She started backing into her room with a wave.

The disappointment settled but the excitement of knowing he was that much closer to what his tightening crotch was anticipating was enough to keep him smiling. He waited until she disappeared behind her door to adjust himself in his pants and walked away. Damn, this was going to be harder than he thought.

There was an unexpected surprise when he arrived at Gio’s uncle’s house—his daughter—Rita. Since she lived up north, the possibility of her being at her dad’s house hadn’t even crossed his mind. He’d almost kept driving when he realized it was her car parked out front but Abel and Hector had just pulled up and saw him as they started out of Abel’s truck.

She came out to greet them and thanked them for coming over to help. She also explained she was staying until she had to go back when school started—in a week. Noah managed to not get caught alone with her the whole time even after she invited them in for a lunch she prepared.

It wasn’t until he excused himself thanking her for the lunch and started walking out that she followed him.

“Hey, Noah,” she called out behind him as he neared his bike.

He turned and smiled. The whole time he’d been there he’d kept any conversation with her very generic. They spoke of the weather and how her dad needed to get this flooding thing fixed permanently. She expressed her worry about her dad living alone earlier but now she smiled that evil little smile she reserved for just him. She was sexy as hell, he’d give her that. And she always made sure she wore tops that accentuated her two biggest assets like she did now.

Noah had never even bothered to hide the fact that he was checking her out. He knew it’s what she wanted, so he did so openly—until now. He didn’t want her getting any ideas.

“So is that it? Are you off the market now?”

Noah smiled. Good. She was making this easy for him. Gio had already teased him about walking in on him last night while he slept soundly with Roni in his arms. There was no hiding the fact that while they might not formally be a couple—yet—Noah had no intentions of hiding the fact there was definitely something going on between him and Roni.

“Yeah, something like that.”

She smiled coming closer as he hopped on his bike. “Well, which is it? Either you are or you’re not. You know me.” She ran her fingers over the bump on the side of his face. They’d already talked about last night’s incident during lunch. She kissed the lump then cozied up, her br**sts rubbing against his chest as she leaned close enough to kiss him. “I don’t mind sharing.”

Even though he didn’t know this for a fact, he was quite certain from Roni’s previous comments about the type of guys she wasn’t into, that she also wouldn’t be into sharing. And though he’d made it perfectly clear they’d “work out” something but would give her a little time to get used to the change before they got down to exact rules of how this arrangement would work exactly, one thing was for damn sure, he wasn’t sharing.

He wouldn’t beat around the bush. There was no way Rita would know the details about him and Roni anyway so he was about to tell her he was definitely off the market when Abel, Gio and Hector walked out the back door.

Gio’s eyebrows lifted but he said nothing. Hector of course was the first to comment with a smirk. “You two look cozy.”

“Don’t we?” Rita turned and smiled their way. “Oh, and that reminds me. I take pictures of us every year.” She then gave Noah a sly look. “Only this year I didn’t get a chance.” She pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket and handed it to Hector as they all reached Noah’s bike.

Just as fast as she’d moved the day after Thanksgiving in her car, she was straddled on the back of Noah’s bike with her arms and legs around his waist in an instant. “Take a picture of us,” she said her arms roamed his chest seductively, causing Noah’s breath to catch.

Hector the idiot took more than one picture. Noah had never met a girl that moved so fast. Before he knew it, she’d brought her legs down the side of his bike again but her hands were now down palms open between his thighs as if she were holding on for dear life. Of course, Hector snapped another picture.

Just as quickly as she climbed onto his bike she jumped off and took the phone from Hector. “So will you be around again this week?”

Crazy how just a year ago he’d gladly would’ve been back to see Rita every night until she left but today he shook his head. “Probably not. I got a lot going on. I’m fighting in two weeks. I need to train.”

“Oh that’s right. I’m coming down for Gio’s fight. Maybe I can make yours, too.”

Yeah that would be great. After a little more small talk Noah was finally out of there. Any thoughts of Rita were quickly squashed as the memory of kissing, holding and sucking Roni’s delicious skin came back to him. Funny how having Rita’s tits up against him and her legs firmly wrapped around his waist had done nothing but irritate him and here just the thought of kissing Roni again was making it uncomfortable to sit anymore.

CHAPTER 20

The night Noah returned from helping out Gio and his uncle they came to one compromise. Their friendship would remain just that, a friendship, except Noah negotiated a kiss goodnight… every night.