Modern Girl's Guide to Friends With Benefits by Gina Drayer Read Free Book Online

mess.
    "That ass caught me off guard," he said and pulled out of her grasp. "It's just a split lip. I'll live."
    Megan pulled off his jacket and found a half-dozen red spots peppering his right shoulder and back.
    "And this?" she asked, inspecting his arm.
    "There was some broken glass where I fell. They're small cuts. I'll be fine, Meg."
    "No way. I want to see myself. Take off the shirt and I'll get a washcloth."
    "You're overreacting," he said, but unbuttoned the shirt all the same. "I'll just jump into the shower. You should probably get out of those wet clothes too."
    Megan rolled her eyes, ignoring him. She was in a mood, and he was just going to have to deal. She grabbed a washcloth and a bowl of soapy water from the kitchen and pointed to the sofa. "Sit and let me look, then you can do whatever you want."
    "Yes, Mother," he said.
    She started washing the blood off his arm. His shirt looked like a prop straight out of an episode of "CSI," but the cuts were all shallow. She moved on to his face. His cheek was already turning a lovely shade of purple. The lip itself was swollen and angry looking.
    "Are you still going to get in fistfights defending my honor when we're eighty?" she asked, tracking the cloth along his jaw.
    "I don't know," he said, tucking a rebellious curl behind her ear. "Are you still going to be stirring up shit when you're eighty?
    He was looking down at her, just inches away, and Megan had the sudden urge to kiss him. She took a deep breath and shrugged. "If I'm going to be a mess, I might as well be a hot mess."
    "I don't think you're a mess, Meg."
    "You don't realize how easy you guys have it. Men get away with all kinds of crap. I mean, look at Jan," she said, laughing. Had she really been flirting with a guy named Jan? God, she was a hot mess. She shook off the thought and went back to cleaning the blood off his neck. "Women are constantly being judged. You can't come on too strong or you get jerks like Jan thinking they can take what they want. If you're too shy, guys either think you're being coy or you're not interested. There's no winning."
    "You don't know what you're talking about. It's just as hard for guys. I get called a chauvinist because I insisted on holding the door open and paying for a meal. But if I don't, then I'm an asshole."
    "Oh, cry me a river. You don't have any problems with the women. Me, on the other hand, I can't seem to win lately. I'm just going to give up on dating."
    "You? I've never known you to give up on anything. You're not a quitter."
    Megan rinsed out the washcloth and brushed it across his strong jaw, the conversation she'd had that morning front and center in her mind. He was right; she wasn't one to give up. Why not go for it?
    "Dating is overrated. But you know as well as I do, you don't need to be dating to have sex," she said, testing the waters.
    "Just because picking up a guy in a bar worked out for your friend Julia doesn't mean that that's the best way to find your soul mate."
    "Screw soul mate. I'm just looking for a physical reward. I'm not talking about trolling the bars every night." Megan took a deep breath. Maybe he was right and she'd had too much to drink because she was about to cross a line that had been off limits for years. "I was thinking about something closer to home. A hookup buddy. You know, friends with benefits."
    Peter swallowed hard and looked down at her. He licked his lips, and she thought he might just kiss her. She swore his dark eyes got darker with desire in those seconds. But he looked away, and the moment passed. "You know that never works out," he said on an exhausted exhale.
    "Sure, when you try it out with someone who's not really your friend. People get attached and feelings get mixed up. But say you try it with someone you've got a solid friendship with? Someone you can depend on to stay within the rules of a sex-only relationship. Someone you can depend on to be honest and completely open." She put the washcloth down