I just can’t.

Her eyes hold mine as our breaths become one. Our chests touch with every pull of air, her breath as warm on my lips as mine is on hers, I’m sure. Her face is completely flushed and beautiful. I want to say it’s the beer that has me drunk, but it can’t be. I’m drunk off the way she looks and tastes.

I’m drunk from Avery.

“You taste like beer.” Her voice is hoarse, sounding every bit like dirty sex.

“You taste like heaven,” I breathe and she grins.

Her eyes darken, no longer the light turquoise but now a deep teal almost, as her lips come to rest against mine. “You don’t need the lines to sleep with me, Jace.”

My heart stops. Fucking stops. Again, I love women, been with a few here and there, but never, never in my whole fucking nineteen years has someone so blatantly said that. I’m not Jude or Jayden; I don’t have it like they do. I usually have to work for it because I’m the third Sinclair women see, but not this time. They are nowhere in sight. I’m all Avery sees, and if her words didn’t make it clear what she wants, her eyes and the heat of her body are loud and clear.

And who am I to turn down this gorgeous angel?

I can guarantee one thing: I might be big, might have been thrown against the boards a few times, and I might look at little on the dumb side, but I’m not stupid.

“Is that right?” I ask, my eyes searching hers. She isn’t drunk, I know this, but I want to give her the out if she wants it. I pray she doesn’t, but just in case. I don’t want to be a dick—fucking hell, I sound like Jayden. It’s like they’re on my shoulders, Jude on one and Jayden on the other, talking to me.

Jude: Fuck her. Don’t be a dumbass.

Jayden: Are you sure she isn’t drunk? She seems like a good girl, not a ho.

Jude: Who cares? Use a condom and have fun!

Jayden: Yeah, use a condom, but make sure she is down for it.

As I shake my head, her brows come together once more. “Yup, all you have to do is ask.”

“Ask?” My brow rises. “You want me to ask to take you to bed?”

She shrugs, laughter in her eyes. “It’s a little gentleman-like.”

“I’m no gentleman, baby.”

“So classy and a gentleman are two different things?”

I’m breathless, kind of unsure what to say, but then words are falling from my lips without thinking. “Sorta. I can be classy but not a gentleman. That usually involves being gentle. Not in my vocab.”

Her breath is hot against my mouth as her lips curve. “I don’t want you to be gentle at all.”

Yup. I’m dead.

I blink because, really, what do you say to that? But shit, I’m in trouble because I’m speechless. I’ve met hos—I can spot one a mile away—but Avery doesn’t give off that vibe. She seems like a good girl, someone with her shit together, not some ho at a party wanting to score.

I’m totally confused.

But I won’t let that ruin this. I may never get this chance again. So, swallowing hard, I whisper, “My room is downstairs.”

“Lead the way.”

Did I just say that?

Crap.

I did.

I just couldn’t control it. He makes me think the dirtiest things. Things I haven’t thought in a very long time. But I’m thinking them now, and I want them with him. So, yeah, I said it. And damn it, I want it.

Threading his fingers with mine, he looks deep into my eyes one last time and then he is off the wall, heading down the hall toward some stairs. I hadn’t realized the house was so big, and when we go into a hall, I notice no one is in here. It’s dark, sort of creepy, and maybe I should stop him? I don’t even know him. Crap. I’m no ho. I’m not about that life. I can’t be.

But then he is looking back at me with those dark green eyes, the want so apparent, the need for me coming off him in waves, and I know I want this.

I may not be one for the ho life, but I want to be the bedmate of Jace Sinclair.

At least for tonight.

But something deep inside me whispers, That may not be enough.

Yes, it will be. I can’t get involved with someone like him. He is going one way and I’m going the other. I know this, but I also know I can’t walk away from this without a piece of him. I may never have this chance again, and I refuse to have any regret in my life. Life is too precious, too quick, and can be taken away in the blink of an eye. I refuse to do anything but what I want.

And I want Jace.

Now.

The walk to his room is silent; the only thing I hear is the music above us and my heart in my ears. I should be freaked out that we are basically in the dungeon of the Bullies’ house, but to my surprise, I feel safe. I feel like nothing bad can happen to me when he is around. How does that happen? I’ve known this dude, no joke, maybe a total of an hour, and I’m about to sleep with him.

Oh, the look on my mother’s face if she knew…

But it feels right.

It just does. I don’t understand why and I refuse to look into it.

When he stops at his door, he looks back at me and I expect him to say something. Probably along the lines that this is my chance to back out. But he doesn’t and I’m glad. I’m worried I might have taken my out and run like a scared little girl. But I’m no little girl, hidden behind three older brothers who run my life. No, I’m Avery. I’m strong; I can do this. I can be the woman I want to be, and that woman is about to sleep with Jace Sinclair.

Before he opens the door, he pulls me to him, kissing me hard on the lips. I swear no one has ever kissed me like this. Not only are his lips thick and consuming but they have such promise in them. Not sure what the promise is for—a good time, dirty things to come, hell, I don’t know—but I want that promise. I want him and I can’t get over the way he looks at me. I know that’s what is drawing me to him. I may feel differently afterward, but right now, I’m going to enjoy being the center of his world.

After tearing his mouth from mine and leaving me gasping for breath, his eyes burn into mine, searching. I can only blink up at him, unable to understand why he is looking at me like that. He is so stunning, so beautiful, and I feel unbelievably gorgeous under his gaze. How could I think this was anything but right? Oh shit, what the hell is happening?

A grin curves his lips. “I don’t know what’s happening.”