With my raging hard on, I headed for the door and retreated to my room alone.• • •The following day, we did not speak of her little peep show or the sex party we’d inadvertently attended. The vibe was back to platonic as we shopped for her boots. Thank fuck.

She didn’t need to know I’d spent the better part of an hour after I returned to my room last night whacking off to thoughts of her body, which morphed into fantasies of fucking her on those air mattresses in the penthouse suite. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d jerked off so much.

I’d slept with a few women since Zoe, but all of those experiences had been gratuitous and forced. I hadn’t been genuinely turned on in ages. Too bad it happened with a woman who was more interested in fucking with me than fucking me. Maybe I should’ve been thankful that Maddie and I had already set boundaries between us, because things would have gotten complicated real fast without them.

But if things were clear, why was I still overthinking everything when I was supposed to be helping her look for ugly cowboy boots?

Maddie lifted her foot. “What do you think?”

We’d been in the boot shop for the better part of an hour. Every pair she selected featured a mish-mash of bright colors.

“Those are pretty hideous.”

“This is what I’m going for, though. Bright and colorful.”

“You mean tacky?”

“You’re no fun, Hooker.” She winked.

I got the sudden urge to smack her ass.

Good job putting last night out of your mind, Matteo. Milo. Whatever the fuck your name is.

Several minutes later, when she came back from the register, she carried two large boxes.

Standing up from the bench where I’d been ruminating, I said, “Couldn’t decide, eh? You opted for two obnoxious pairs?”

She grinned. “Sure did! But not both for me. One pair for me, one pair for you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What did you do?”

“Put on your new boots, brother.” Maddie opened the box, showcasing men’s boots that were completely covered in American-flag print.

I shook my head and chuckled. “I guess we have our souvenirs from Santa Fe.”• • •“Do you have a lot of friends?”

I glanced over at Maddie in the passenger seat before returning my eyes to the road. “That question came out of the blue.”

She smiled. “I was just thinking of the things I would miss if I packed up and left Connecticut. I’ve become good friends with a woman there. She’s also a photographer. Her name is Felicity. I’d really miss her.”

We’d been on the road for seven hours already today. Our next stop was New Orleans. It was about a sixteen-hour trip, but we planned to do ten today and the rest tomorrow morning. I knew from experience that road trips were conducive to deep thinking. There was nothing but you and your thoughts for hours on end. So it didn’t surprise me Maddie was contemplating life during our drive.

“I have a few friends in Seattle. I go out with a group of teachers for happy hour every once in a while. And I play two-on-two basketball with these guys at the gym every other Tuesday night.”

Maddie nodded. “I had a few good friends when I was little. But every time we would move, I’d be so upset about losing them. After a while, I figured out that if I didn’t get too close to anyone, it was easier when my parents picked up and left.”

I frowned. “That sucks. Though, to be honest, I think I’ve been sort of doing the same thing the last couple of years. I had a lot of friends in high school and college, mostly because I played sports. But things have changed since I moved to Seattle. I chalked it up to relocating. Though looking back now, I’m not so sure that’s all it was. I’ve pretty much kept to myself since Zoe.”

Maddie sighed. “Yeah.” After that, she went quiet for a long time again, staring out the car window, seemingly deep in thought. When she broke her silence, she said, “Can I ask you something personal?”

I chuckled. “You mean all the shit we’ve talked about over the last six days wasn’t personal?”

She smiled. “I guess it was. But I don’t want to be too prying.”

“How about this? Nothing is off limits from here on out. Everything is on the table for the rest of our trip. You have a question, just ask it, and I’ll do my best to answer.”

Her face lit up. It was so freaking adorable. “Okay! And same here. I’m an open book.”

“Sounds good. Now that we’ve settled that, what was your question?”

“Oh yeah…” She bit her lower lip. “Do you…ever have trouble…you know, getting excited?”

My brows jumped. “Are you asking me if I have difficulty getting an erection?”