Free Denying The Bad Boy (Tattooed and Pierced #2) by Jenika Snow Page B

His hair was damp
and the strands were spiky around his head, but that wasn’t what caught her
attention. A nasty bruise marred his cheek, and there looked to be a gash right
above his right eye.
    “You weren’t waiting too long, were you?”
    She shook her head, his words kind of going right
through her as she stared at his wounds. “God, are you okay?” On instinct she
reached out to him, but he took a step back. Mary was immediately embarrassed
for doing something like that, so she took a step back herself.
    “Yeah, I’m good.” She wanted to ask what had
happened, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Besides, Alex
did have a reputation for getting into fights. Mary looked up at him again, and
even though someone had gotten in a few hits, she had no doubts the other guy
probably looked worse. He was close, far too close for her comfort because a
rush of heat filled her. The scent of soap and a light undertone of cologne
filled her nose, and she actually felt herself leaning toward him.
    “Whoa, you okay?” It was only when he placed his big
hand on her shoulder to steady her, or maybe it was to keep her away, that she
realized what she was doing.
    Oh my
God. Heat rushed up her neck and covered her face. There was no doubt in her mind
that she looked like a tomato, but whether Alex saw that or not was a mystery
since his expression remained stoic. “Um.” She cleared
her throat and quickly looked toward the living room. Adam and a few other guys
sat around the big screen TV watching a football game. “No, it’s fine.”
    When she looked back at Alex he was watching her
with a strange expression, and a tick under his cheek jumped. She looked to her
right, into the kitchen, but it seemed there was some kind of card game going
on with several more guys. Was this how it was all the time? She had only been
here a few times in the late evening to help Adam, but it had never been like
this. It seemed chaotic and crowded, and as if to prove her point the guys in
the living room started roaring out at something that happened in the game, and
the ones in the kitchen were swearing and talking about “eating out pussy” and
“fucking chicks in the ass”.
    “Maybe tutoring on a Friday night wasn’t the best
plan.” Mary wasn’t a prude by any means, even with her upbringing. She meant it
as a joke, but when she caught his eyes, saw something flash behind them, she
suddenly felt far too dizzy. What was it about this guy that made her feel so
on edge? Had it just been too long since she was with someone, touched by
someone, or had sex? Lord, it had been
far too long since she had any kind of sexual interaction with someone, not
since the last time she slept with Lance. Just thinking about her ex put her in
a sour mood, but then again it was welcome because anything was better than
this arousal she had for a guy she could never give herself to.
    “Sorry about them.” He didn’t look embarrassed, but
then she supposed there probably wasn’t much, if anything, that rattled Alex.
“It’s like this most days.” He looked around and then suddenly seemed uncomfortable. Huh, I guess the Great Alex Sheppard can
be shaken . “I hate to say this because it’s going to sound like some kind
of lame pickup line, but it is kind of crowded down here. Can we do this in my
room?”
    Her face instantly heated again at his words,
because even if he didn’t mean them in the way she was thinking, Mary couldn’t
help but imagine what they could be doing in his room instead of studying. Her
silence must have made him think she was uncomfortable with the idea when in
reality she was picturing all kinds of very dirty things. “There really isn’t
anywhere else in the house, and I didn’t think these assholes would take up
both rooms where we could have studied.”
    He glanced down, and she couldn’t help but smile.
She should have told him hell no to his suggestion, because heaven help her it had to be bad