Destroy You (Destroy #3) by K. D. Carrillo Read Free Book Online Page A

quipped.
    “Whatever this is, I’m pretty sure I’ve never done it.”
    “That makes two of us. So did you decide what time you wanted me to come?”
    I chuckled. “There are a couple of ways I can answer that, but I’m trying to behave myself. Now…I want you now. I mean…I’d like you to come now. Shit, just head over here as soon as you can.”
    She laughed; at least my awkwardness amused her. “This is going to be a very strange friendship. I’ll be there shortly,” she said and hung up.
    I paced the length of my living room in front of the window that overlooked the street. Fifteen minutes later, I watched her parallel park in front of the bar and walk around the building. When I heard her climbing the metal staircase to my outside entrance, I rushed to the door, opened it, and stood in the entrance before she reached the top.
    When she was right next to me, she slowly looked up at me and smiled. In that second I knew she owned me. I was no longer confused about where my head was when it came to Toni. I wanted to be with her in whatever way I could. If all she would offer me was her friendship, I’d take it, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t try to blur the lines a little.
    “Come in. Let me give you the tour,” I said and placed my hand on her lower back before guiding her inside. Her body brushed lightly against mine, and her breath caught. Our eyes met, and I noticed her pupils were dilated. Toni claimed to be interested only in having a friendship with me, but her body was saying something else.
    “It’s a short tour. This is my living room.” I gestured to the room we entered and shrugged. “I’ve got typical bachelor-pad furniture.” The room consisted of a futon, a wall-mounted flat-screen television, and a thrift-store coffee table and entertainment center.
    Toni placed her hand on my bicep and turned me to look at her. “It’s nice, Trent, and really clean. I kinda expected empty takeout containers and laundry piled in the corner.”
    I bit my lip to hold back a laugh. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do next. Usually, after I’d spent this much time alone with a woman, one or both of us would already be naked. We stood awkwardly in the living room, each of us waiting for the other to break the silence.
    “Ready to go to the store?” I asked.
    She sighed and twirled a lock of her hair. “Is this strange for you, too?”
    I rubbed my hand across the top of my head for a second. “Only because I really want to touch you, and I know that’s against the rules. I’m fighting against all of my instincts with you, and it’s killing my game.”
    Toni took a couple of steps until our chests were pressed together. She wrapped her arms around my waist, and I put my arms around her and held her tight against me. She tilted her head back so she could look at my face. “Let’s not put any rules on us, and as far as your game ...just don’t try to play me.”
    “I like the sound of that. Let’s go get a movie.”
     
    ***
     
    The trip to the store only took around an hour. I wanted to make us dinner, but I also wanted to take advantage of our no-rules movie night and ended up suggesting Chinese takeout so my hands could be free if she seemed receptive to more than a friendly movie night. Choosing a movie was more difficult since Toni kept suggesting action movies that would not entice her to hide her face in my chest, and I countered with horror movies that would. Eventually, we settled on a drama. It was kind of cheating on my part, because I’d overheard Melody telling one of the waitresses how hot the movie got her after she saw it.
    Back inside my apartment, Toni set out the takeout on my coffee table while I popped the disc into my Blu-ray player. I sat down next to her, and we ate in companionable silence during the first twenty or so minutes of the movie. When Toni pushed away her container, I paused it and cleared the leftovers away.
    Toni sat stiffly at the end of the futon