Playing Pretend Box Set

by Natasha L. Black

  “Oh this is rich,” Brandon seethed. “You dump me and find pretty boy here to fight your battles for you now?”

  “I said fuck off!” Drake said, his voice a quiet thunder. “I don’t give a fuck what happened between the two of you. It’s done and over now, and Hannah is mine!”

  He took a step forward as he spoke, his fist clenching. My heart leapt to my throat, not because I was afraid they were going to start swinging, but because he’d said I was his. It felt good.

  Brandon looked as though he was ready to fight, but he changed his mind as he glanced around the room. Of course, he would lose in one way or another, and he didn’t want to deal with that sort of public humiliation. Not there.

  “Take care of yourself, Hannah,” he said, turning from Drake to me. “I would hate for something bad to happen to you.”

  “Fuck off,” I muttered. He turned back to Drake for another brief moment, then he stalked into the crowd, leaving the two of us alone.

  “Are you alright?” Drake asked. “Man, I want to just slam my fist into his head again.”

  “I’m okay, now,” I said as I grabbed onto his arm. “Thank you so much.”

  “It’s what I’m here for,” he said. He picked up a glass of champagne and handed it to me, then grabbed another for himself. “Now let’s get back to the dinner.”

  He turned to head to the long tables lined on the far side of the room, and I followed, holding my head high. I didn’t know how many people had seen the interaction, and quite frankly, I didn’t care. I was happy with how things had worked out, and I hoped I’d never have to deal with my ex again.

  But, even more than that, I was relishing in the fact Drake said that I was his. It might be fake, and it definitely was temporary, but it felt damn good to hear the words come out of his mouth.

  And, just for tonight, I would pretend they were true.

  15

  Drake

  “Not much to choose from, huh?” Hannah said when we glanced over the dinner menu. There were three entrees listed, as well as a few sides. But it was all food that I didn’t particularly care to eat. Sure, I was fine with doing it while at this dinner, but nothing looked particularly appetizing.

  “Why is it that the more expensive the food is, the less appetizing it looks?” I asked.

  Hannah giggled and covered her mouth with her hand. “I don’t know,” she admitted.

  I grinned and looked back at the menu in front of me. “You want to get out of here?” she asked suddenly. I gave her a look of surprise.

  “I thought you had to stay for all the speeches and everything?” I asked.

  “Not really. I just had to make an appearance, and we did that,” she set the menu down. “I’m not that hungry after what just happened with Brandon anyway.”

  “Great,” I said, trying not to let the relief show through my voice. I rose from the table and she wrapped her hand around my bicep as we made our way toward the door. There was a sea of people in the center, and it was hard to walk in a straight line.

  But Hannah was clearly done socializing with these men and women, and I didn’t know any of them well enough to feel the need to stop and chat. I’d spoken with a couple of men from the fire department, and that was fine with me.

  We burst through the door into the cool night and I hailed a cab.

  “You’re clenching your jaw hard enough to break your teeth,” Hannah said. “Are you okay?”

  “Just pissed off by that jack wagon and how he treated you,” I said. “God, I hate that guy.”

  “Me too,” she said softly. “Thank you so much for what you did for me tonight. I can’t believe I was lucky enough to meet someone like you.”

  “I’m glad that I’m able to help. I can’t imagine what it must be like for you to have to do things like this,” I said. “I was such a fish out of water in there. I’m sure everyone could figure out the truth.”

  “What truth?” Hannah asked. “It’s not like they’d get to see a marriage certificate or something.”

  “I mean the fact that I don’t come from money. I didn’t fit in with any of them. I loved my country and I served it well, but I did it for the money. I did it to impress a girl because I didn’t have the money to give her the life she wanted, and I had to do anything that I could.”

  “I thought you looked like you fit in perfectly,” Hannah said.

  “Really?” I asked dryly.

  “Really. I saw you from across the room a couple of times, and I thought that you matched the attitude of the most elite in the room,” she said with a smile.

  “Arrogant snob?” I asked. “That was what I was going for.”

  Hannah laughed and the tension eased inside me for the moment. As always, she could bring me to a better place.

  “Not what I was thinking,” she said with a shrug. “I was thinking more elegant and confident.”

  “Not quite what I would use to describe most of the people there,” he said.

  “They aren’t all bad. It’s just those who think money is everything and want to make a show of how much they have that get on my nerves. You know, people like my parents and every other relative I’ve ever met. And their friends,” she added.

  “So pretty much everyone there,” I joked.

  “Alright, alright. Listen, now that we’re out of that hell hole my appetite is returning. You want to go get some real food?” she asked.

  I nodded. “Nothing about that menu sounded appetizing to me. I couldn’t even pronounce half the shit there.”

  “Don’t feel bad. Neither can I,” Hannah said. “And that was the stuff my parents fed me when I was a kid.”

  “I think they just shove a bunch of letters together so you sound ridiculous when you order on purpose,” I said. “Makes you think that you’re getting more food than you are when they do it that way.”

  Hannah laughed. “Pizza. Short and simple and plenty of food.”

  “Bingo,” I said. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all night.”

  We quickly decided on a pizzeria not far from the club where we’d met, and I gave the driver the new address. Within a few minutes we were on the sidewalk heading inside, looking as out of place once again as I’d felt when we were at the gala.

  Only this time, Hannah and I were the two who looked like the rich snobs. She was wearing a tight, bright red cocktail dress that hugged all her curves. It was barely long enough to cover her ass, and her black, strappy high heels only made the outfit sexier.

  It was shiny, sparkling under the lights in the dark pizzeria. For my own part, dressed in a tux and shining oxfords I matched her elegance, but didn’t look anything like the other guys who were all dressed in their jeans and t-shirts.

  I would have given anything to change clothes with any of them. But I was glad Hannah was still dressed up. She possessed an elegance in anything, but there was a whole new side to her that came out when she wore dresses like the one she was currently donning.

  We ordered a pepperoni pizza and a pitcher of beer, then took a seat in a corner booth near the back of the room. We’d attracted more than one stare on our way to the back, but it was fine with me. I liked the atmosphere better in the pizzeria, and though I knew I didn’t look like I belonged, I felt like I did.

  “I’m glad we decided to do this,” Hannah said when the waiter brought our food and set it on the table in front of us. “This feels so much better than that other thing.”

  “I agree,” I said. “Now watch me annihilate this.”

  She laughed. “Hold on there, I’m going to hold my own, just you wait.”

  She picked up a slice and took a large bite. It was funny to see her dressed as she was eating like that, and I felt my heart skip a beat once more. Hannah was able to adapt to any environment much better than I ever could. She went from looking like she should be walking the red carpet among celebrities to sitting with me in a pizzeria as though we were a couple of college kids just blowing off the week.
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br />   Our conversation quickly became light and fluid, as it always was when we were alone, and neither one of us had to maintain the uptight politeness we felt pressured to have when we were at the gala.

  “What was the point of that thing, anyway?” I asked after a few minutes. “The senator didn’t even talk about the forces or the work in the city. It just seemed like it was a big shout out to your dad and anyone else who cared to give them money.”

  “That’s pretty much all it is,” she said with a shake of her head. “They love to get together and pat each other on the back for what they do with their money. Then they get more money and talk about that. They try to act like they just love the city and all the people who are in it, but the fact of the matter is that they love attention, and the attention they get from acting like they care.”

  “Sounds boring,” I said with a shrug. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t complain if I had enough money that I didn’t have to worry about anything, but it seems like a really shallow way to live.”

  “It is. That’s why I didn’t want to have anything to do with it. Or my parents,” Hannah agreed. “I want to spend my life actually making a difference for the people. The kids. I mean, there is a lot of good my parents and all those other snobs could do if they were to try, but they view the rest of the world as beneath them.”

  “That’s shitty,” I said. “If I had the money, I would love to be able to fund what you do and help out how I could.”

  “Well, you’re helping me with what you are doing,” she said with a smile. Hannah reached over and touched my hand, sending a thrill through my entire body. “Think of it this way. Since you are helping me get rid of my ex, you are making it possible for me to move on with my life, so I can get my degree and help kids. So, in a roundabout way, you are really helping the kids yourself.”

  “That’s a stretch, but I’m glad to know that I get to help you,” I said. “Really.”

  “Me too,” she took another bite of pizza and my heart almost burst with feelings for her. I tried to ignore them, but they came on so fast and hard it was difficult for me to think of anything but how I felt. I wanted to tell her but bit my tongue.

  I was helping her get rid of her ex. That was it. It didn’t matter how I felt about her besides that, because it wasn’t going to last. In fact, since we’d just seen her ex and told him that we were married and he had to get out of her life, my job might be coming to a close quickly.

  I pushed the thought out of my brain, choosing only to focus on what we were doing right now. It didn’t matter what the future held. Right now, I had Hannah with me, and I could pretend there was more to us than just a business arrangement.

  It might not be healthy, and I knew it was going to eventually come back to bit me in the ass, but I was okay with that for now.

  For tonight, I was going to pretend.

  16

  Hannah

  “I had a good time tonight,” I said when we were back in my living room. “Thanks again for going with me.”

  “I wish I could say the same,” Drake replied. I gave him a look and he smirked. “Alright, I had a good time when we got to the pizzeria.”

  “That’s what I thought,” I said with a laugh. “I really do appreciate it.”

  “I’m glad I can do it. Really,” he said.

  We lingered for a moment. It really had been a lot of fun getting pizza together, and I didn’t want to tell him goodnight now. But it was well past midnight, and we both had to be getting to bed. It might be a Saturday night, but I did have to get up and get to the campus library early in the morning since I had a study group meeting where we were going to break down the chapters we needed to know for our upcoming exams.

  Finally, I worked up the energy to bid him goodnight, but just as I was about to speak, he stepped forward and pressed his lips to mine. It was unexpected and out of the blue, just as it had been when I first kissed him. I let out a slight gasp as our lips met, but I immediately started kissing him back.

  Neither of us spoke. There was nothing to say. The heat grew quickly between us. Drake was running his hands all over my body, and I moaned and gasped as he did so. His touch was electric, sending shivers of excitement down my spine and waves of energy throughout my entire body.

  I wanted to know what he was going to do next, I yearned for it. At the same time, I threw my body at him with the same hunger. The same need to touch him and explore every part of his being. I couldn’t get enough of him, running my hands up and down his arms, pulling him closer to me.

  We were backing up as we kissed, pushing my bedroom door open and making our way to my bed. I couldn’t see where I was going, but I didn’t have to. I knew my room well enough.

  I fell backwards onto the mattress, Drake on top of me. I feverishly unbuttoned the front of his shirt as he pulled off his tie, then together we freed him from his white undershirt. Next, I turned my attention to his pants, unbuckling the belt and yanking it free before pushing them to the ground.

  He was already hard, his dick pushing against his white boxers, ready for me. The sight of it made me even wetter than before, and I slipped out of my panties. Drake was almost on top of me again, grabbing at my dress when I pushed his shoulders, spinning us both around so he was beneath me on the bed.

  I didn’t need to take my dress off. I didn’t have the time. I just had to have him inside me. He’d removed his boxers, and I now ran my hand over the shaft of his thick cock. Drake closed his eyes and shuddered with the pleasure of my touch. He needed me.

  But I needed him more.

  I eased myself down on top of his dick, sheathing him entirely, taking his full length inside me. I gasped again at the feeling of him stretching me wide open. My pussy was tight, but it was very wet, and he glided in and out of me easily as I rocked my hips back and forth.

  It was dark in my room, but there was always a pale gleam from the lights outside the window. They were largely blocked by the drawn shades, but I could still see his pale outline in the darkness. I ran my hand over his tight pecs, feeling him more than I had last time.

  He put his hands on my hips, helping me as I rocked back and forth. His cock slid in and out of me, going as deep as possible, then coming nearly entirely out before sliding in again. I moaned, moving my hands from his pecs to my tits, grabbing myself over my dress.

  I rode him for a few moments, letting the tension build deep inside me. I was about to come when he put his hands under my ass, pulling me off him and switching places with me, pinning me to the bed as he took control.

  His eyes were locked in mine in the darkness, and I smiled, though I knew it was hard for either of us to see. He was thrusting into me now, moving with the same need as I had. Harder and faster, pushing me closer and closer to coming. I gasped, letting my breathing building with the intensity of the moment.

  Fast, shallow breaths escaped my lips as I clutched the blankets, letting the pleasure run through every part of my being. “Oh God, Drake, I’m going to come!”

  He took my hands, holding them above my head on the pillows and thrusting into me harder now, sending me over the edge. The waves of climax came crashing down on me, causing my body to shake with the intensity of the pleasure, running through me like an electrical current.

  As the final waves subsides, he let go of my hands, freeing me to run my nails down his back. He ran his hand beneath me, stopping when it was on my lower back and lifting me higher. My dress had risen up to my hips, exposing me entirely.

  I spread my legs, lifting myself with his encouragement, trying to take him deeper than before. Taking every bit of him.

  “I’m close,” he whispered.

  “Come for me Drake,” I said. “Please, fill me up.”

  He pushed into me twice more before I felt the jump of his cock deep inside my pussy, then the pulsing as he filled me with his cum. He moaned, letting himself relax over me as he filled me, his rock-hard cock still inside.

  I smil
ed up at him before kissing him suddenly, letting him start to grow soft. Drake smiled too, I could see the outline in the darkness before he pulled himself out of me and laid on his back, his head on the pillows next to mine.

  “You’re incredible,” I said. I ran my hand over his broad chest before laying my head on his pec. “Really, you do things to me I didn’t know anyone could do.”

  “You do, too,” he gasped. He was still catching his breath, but I smiled. I liked the compliment, and I tried to take it merely at face value. I didn’t want to think about what he could possibly mean by it. I just wanted to be caught up in the moment, living in the moment.

  It was all we had, after all.

  Without a word, I kissed his chest above my hand, then I got comfortable, lying against him. He put an arm around me and held me close, and I smiled. If I dared let myself, I could get very used to being with him just like this.

  The next morning, I woke to the indent on the pillow where Drake had been, but he was gone. His clothes were picked up off the floor, and my dress was rumpled from me sleeping in it. Once again, I was sure I would get a wave of guilt for sleeping with him, but nothing came.

  In fact, all I could think about was the fact that I had to get up and get going. I was already late for meeting the group at the library, and I had to shower and change before I could go.

  I shimmied out of the dress, letting it fall to the floor before throwing it in a heap on the bed. I’d take care of it later. I grabbed my things and darted into the bathroom but gave up on the thought of taking a shower before I left. Drake’s cologne was still lingering on my skin, and I liked it.

  I sprayed dry shampoo into my locks and worked it through with my fingers, then I grabbed my bookbag and darted out the door. It would be easy to get coffee and a bagel on my way to the library. I didn’t want to bother Drake. It had been a late night for both of us, and I wanted to show him how much I appreciated what he’d done by letting him sleep in.