Free Level Up by Cathy Yardley

Deprivation was likely to make anyone a little crazy. It'd be like those cartoons, where one starving character on a life raft started looking at the other passengers like they were roasted chickens. It wasn't personal.
    He suddenly heard the shower running, which was odd for three in the morning. He got up, making sure he wasn't just hearing things. He doubted it had simply started on its own. Then again, he doubted an axe murderer was stopping by just to shower.
    So it had to be Tessa, right? But why? She usually took showers in the morning before work, or just before bed.
    When he heard the thing shut off and the door open, he popped his head out.
    Tessa was shivering. "Shit, cold cold cold," she muttered, then turned and bumped into him the dark. She shrieked, jumping back and hitting the hallway wall.
    "Whoa! Whoa, it's okay. It's just me," he said, steadying her.
    "What the actual hell?" she barked, smacking him on the shoulder. She was breathing hard. "You scared me!"
    "Well, sorry," he said, turning the hall light on. She squinted, flinching back from the brightness. He noticed she was only wearing a towel, her hair falling in damp ringlets. "You don't normally take a shower at three o'clock in the morning."
    She was still frowning a little, but he saw guilt creep into her expression. "Did I wake you?"
    He thought about lying to get himself off the hook, but he shook his head. "I was having trouble sleeping. Thinking about the game," he hedged.
    "Yeah...me too," she said, looking away quickly and biting her lip. Then she glanced at him. "It's, um, going to be a lot of work, so I was stressing out. I thought maybe if I took a quick shower, I'd, you know, relax."
    The towel wasn't that big, he couldn't help but notice. He was doing a lot of noticing for that damned early. Her skin was flushed, a nice toasted almond, dewy and pink from the heat of the shower. Without her glasses, her brown eyes looked huge, her dark eyelashes damp and dotted with moisture. She bit that full lower lip again.
    His body tightened.
    "Did it help?" he croaked, then cleared his throat. "Relax you, I mean."
    She shrugged, then sighed. "Listen, I need to apologize."
    "For what? Getting me involved in this deadline?" He shrugged. "No worries. If it was a problem, I'd tell you.'
    "Not that." She shifted her weight from one hip to the other, her arms crossed. "At the restaurant. You know." She swallowed hard.
    "What, the kiss?" He let out a snort of laughter. Who apologized for kissing?
    "If a guy had done that to a girl, I'd have a real problem," she said. "It was...you didn't have any chance to consent. It's just not something I agree with."
    He blinked. She looked serious. "Trust me, I'm all for consent," he said, equally serious. "But it was just a kiss, Tess. And you were doing it to prove a point."
    "That's no excuse." She looked miserable. "Seriously. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you..."
    Now he was strangling, whether on laughter or something else entirely, he wasn't sure. "You mean, like when you're kids, and somebody hits you and then you get a free shot?"
    Now she looked surprised. "I wouldn't have put it that way..."
    Before he could really think about it, he leaned in and kissed her. Hard.
    He'd meant to just make it light, a quick buss and a "we're even," to take the charge off the situation. But frankly, he was running on a sleep deficit, he'd been thinking about her and that kiss for the past few hours, and as soon as his lips touched hers and he heard her little gasp of surprise, he smiled.
    And then she grabbed him in surprise, pressing her damp front against his bare chest.
    They stood there, frozen, their lips brushing lightly...then he pressed a bit harder, his mouth moving. Her mouth moved in concert, and a low, soft sound of pleasure rumbled from her throat.
    He really ought to pull away, he thought--just before his hands came up, stroking against her naked arms, weaving into the damp waves of her hair.
    She