50 Shades Of Claire Bear (Andrew's POV)

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

Oh my God.

She's touching me. She's touching me, and I haven't squealed or drooled or, better yet, put up my pup tent. I have to hand it to myself for not having an immediate erection at something as simple as her touching my shoulder. If her mouth stays next to my ear any longer though, there's no telling how quickly I could scare her off.

"Do you want to play?" I ask, struggling to keep my voice from shaking.

She finally steps away from me and retrieves a pole from the wall. "As a matter of fact, yes, I would love to play some pool."

"You're probably a lot better than Maurice," I say, smirking up at him.

He squints his eyes at me. It's not the first time I've been on the receiving end of one of his glares. "Shut up, Andrews. Anyone's better than you."

I make a face. "Claire bear here couldn't beat me if her life depended on it."

That's a complete and total lie, though. I'm not the best at pool on a normal day. Thanks to her curled hair and slight V-neck top, I'll be absolute shit. Her perfume doesn't help my concentration, either.

Maurice pulls me out of my trance as he lines up this shot. As expected, he misses the goal by an inch. "Told you," I tell Claire.

"Whose team am I on?" she asks.

Please, please, be mine.

"Well, Josh is on my team," I say, pointing to my cousin, "Maurice and Vance are on a team."

She sighs. "That didn't answer my question."

"Whose team do you want to be on?"

Mine, mine, mine, I beg.

She peruses her options and finally stares at me. "I guess I'll be on your team. You're the only person I know here."

My heart skips a beat. I'm genuinely surprised and grateful and just dumbfounded out of my damn mind that she chose me. If only she'd continue choosing me for everything. I swallow my excitement and wink at her instead. "Aww, Claire bear, you chose me."

She playfully wrinkles her nose. God, why does she have to be so pretty? "Please, you were my last resort."

I gently slap her shoulder. "I know you like me." Please, please, like me.

"I know you're wrong."

She shoves me off, but I want her close to me. I grab her arm and, stupidly, put her in a headlock. It's the only thing I can think to do. I know she doesn't consent to any other physical touching and I want more than anything to respect her boundaries. I'll take a headlock if that's all I can get.

"Andrew—" she coughs out and I loosen my grip on her. The last thing I want to do is hurt her. "Let go of me!"

"What do you say?"

She finally stops struggling and makes eye contact with me. I try not to disintegrate right then and there. Her eyes are so beautiful. "Just let me go," she begs.

I set her free, even though it hurts to do so. "You don't know how to have fun, Claire bear."

"You're right, I don't," she says, crossing her arms. That action pushes her boobs up a little. Jesus Christ.

Kyle walks up next to me, seemingly hearing the entire conversation. I hope he doesn't blow my cover. "Claire here doesn't know how to have fun because she's an intelligent virgin." He looks at me, but I'm too awestruck to look back. "Andrew, you are neither of those things. Well, you're smart, but not Claire smart."