by Piper Rayne
* * *
If someone would’ve asked me what to expect from this bachelor/bachelorette trip, I never would’ve said that Evan would let loose. But she’s been drinking wine all night, dancing around and laughing. Hell, she and Frankie have been attached at the fucking hip.
And since my friends know that our relationship is fake, I have no reason to touch Evan. There’s no handholding or short kisses. I can’t put my arm around her shoulders or feel her thigh pressed to mine as we sit on the couch.
Right now she’s on the floor with Frankie, painting each other’s nails, and I’m at the table with the guys because they want to play poker. I can’t concentrate on the game.
“Andrews,” Knox calls me out for my lingering stare at Evan.
Jax groans. “This is painful. It’s like we’re witnessing a sleepover and they’re about to strip down to their underwear and have a pillow fight.”
“I think you’re hoping for it.” Dylan throws a peanut at Jax to get his attention back on the game.
“I haven’t gotten laid in weeks,” Jax grumbles.
Just then, all the girls coo and squeal as though they are at a sleepover.
“That’s the great thing about being in a relationship,” Adrian says before popping a few peanuts into his mouth. “Regular sex.”
Dylan and Ethan nod and smile.
Knox and Jax raise their eyebrows.
“You also have to spend all your non-sex time talking about feelings, watching chick flicks, and fetching anything she wants.” Knox sighs, but he’s not fooling me. Back when Leilani was around, he was all in. I know he’s still bitter that she wasn’t.
“Andrews has the shit end of that stick right now,” Ethan says.
I glance up from my cards to see all their eyes on me. “What?”
“You have to do all of the other shit with none of the benefits,” Ethan says, upping the bet by tossing chips into the pot.
“He went to see that new chick flick with Evan the other night,” Knox says.
Jax narrows his eyes. “Why? I thought it was just an act for the parents?”
I shrug. “We have to be believable. Our parents, or at least our dads, are on to us. I wouldn’t put it past them to follow us, so we have to act like a real couple.”
“Except there’s no fucking,” Knox says.
They all shake their heads at me in disappointment.
“You guys should make a pact,” Jax says.
“Definitely. I mean, if it’s all truly an act, then why not just have a friends-with-benefits situation?” Knox asks.
It’s not like the thought hasn’t crossed my mind. Especially after I kissed her. We have a chemistry that doesn’t seem to want to disappear. If anything, it just keeps growing. Like right now, I wish I could walk over there and kiss her, but I can’t. Not without raising a few eyebrows.
“I don’t think she’s the type,” I say.
The conversation shifts to football, but my mind won’t stop circling back to what Evan would say if I propositioned her with the idea of being friends with benefits.
I know she feels the tension between us. When I place a chaste kiss on her lips for the sake of our act, she rarely pulls away first and we always share a look after that reads to me like maybe she wishes I’d kissed her like I did that night in the store. But screwing one another exclusively until this is over would be like dropping a kid in a toy store and telling them they can have anything they want only to take all the toys away a few weeks later. Sometimes it’s better not to know what you’re missing.
But damn, it would be so satisfying to finally get her out of my system. Maybe just once. We could have sex one time then go back to being friends.
A peanut hits my forehead. I glance up and all the guys are looking at me.
“Bet’s to you,” Knox says. “And just go pull her aside and convince her.”
I shake my head and fold my hand because I haven’t been paying enough attention to decide whether to bet or not anyway.
“I’m sure she’s just as horny as you,” Jax says.
“Hey, guys”—Blanca comes over to the table—“we need to figure out the sleeping arrangements.”
“Obviously the couples are together. And I think Frankie and Evan are rooming together,” Ethan says, eyeing me.
My movements stop. How did I not think of this? We don’t have to share a room because these people know the truth.
“So I’m thinking Jax, Knox, and Seth rock, paper, scissors to figure out who gets the single and who’s sharing a bed,” Blanca says.
“Fuck that. I’ll take the couch,” Jax says.
“Why don’t we just do Evan and Seth, then Jax and Frankie, and I’ll stay in the single,” Knox says, wiggling his eyebrows as though his plan is brilliant.
I’m totally game to go along with it.
“I’m not sleeping in the same bed as a horny toad,” Frankie says.
“Are you actually calling me a horny toad?” Jax asks, pointing at himself.
We all laugh.
“I’m pretty sure I can sleep next to you and not put one hand on you,” Jax says.
“Ha! Never.”
“Let’s put a wager on it.” Jax stands.
We all share looks as though we’re wondering what the hell is going on. I lean back and don’t argue because I want to stay with Evan, as messed up as it is.
“Winner gets the next five walk-ins.” Frankie puts out her hand.
“Ten,” Jax says as though he’s positive he’s going to be successful. That makes one person.
Sierra raises her hand. “What if neither of you cross the line? And how will we be privy to the information about what happens?”
Jax laughs. “Oh believe me, if we fuck, you’ll hear Frankie screaming my name.”
“Oh, Jax, if we screw, you’ll be the one swearing up a storm because you’ll have no idea how to handle a real woman.”
Everyone laughs as Jax and Frankie shake on the deal. Now I’m all kinds of turned on, and my vision shifts to Evan, who’s just as flushed as Jax is. Her heavy-lidded gaze moves to me. Maybe she would agree to the idea of friends with benefits.
What’s the worst that can happen? She says no. It’s worth the rejection to try.
Slowly the couples say good night and head to bed. Knox says he’s exhausted and disappears into the room with the single bed.
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” I offer.
Evan shakes her head, but she’s quiet now that her sidekick Frankie went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. “No. It’s fine. I think I’m gonna go to bed. Maybe read a little bit before.”
“I’ll go too.”
Jax sits in front of the television, watching the Fast and the Furious whatever number—there are too many and I can’t keep up. We say good night, and he raises his beer bottle at us. After Evan heads down the hall, Jax waggles his eyebrows at me. I flip him off.
“You guys aren’t going to bed, are you?” Frankie whines as she comes out of the bathroom in a pair of boxers and a tight tank top. Good luck to Jax.
“Yeah, the wine made me tired,” Evan says, yawning.
“Okay, have a good night,” she singsongs and bites her lip, watching us like a creep until I shut the door.
Once we’re behind the closed door, Evan goes to her suitcase.
“What was that about?” I ask.
Evan looks at me from over her shoulder. “What?”
“Frankie acting like we’re playing seven minutes in heaven.” I sit on the bed, tugging off my sweatshirt.
“Oh, I don’t know.” But there’s a hitch in her voice.
“I think you do.”
She turns and scoffs, holding her pajamas. “Why would I?”
“Because you two were like best friends today.”
She shrugs. “She was just thinking—or was saying, I guess… I mean, it’s a horrible idea.”
And my mind blows up because maybe for once I was right. Evan wouldn’t mind
exploring a sexual side of our agreement.
“What was she saying?” I lean back on the mattress, holding myself up with my elbows.
Evan looks hard and long at me. “You already know!” she accuses.
I shake my head, a grin on my face.
“You do so. If you could see your smug face right now.” She heads to the bathroom. “I’m going to change.”
“We’re still discussing this.”
She peeks around the corner without her pajamas in her arms. “What are we discussing? Was that your plan to get Frankie to put the thought in my head?”
“Hell no. The guys said something to me about it tonight. I had no idea Frankie was as brilliant as she is.”
“Seth,” she says with that tone to suggest whatever I’m thinking isn’t going to work.
“Let’s think about this rationally, okay?”
She stares at me blankly, apparently waiting for me to plead my case.
“First of all—I’m horny, okay? All the teases of touching you, kissing you, and being near you but never going further is leaving me with blue balls most nights.”
A beautiful pink blush rushes up her neck and into her cheeks.
“It’s like I’m fifteen and dating. I need more but…”
“Do you want to see other people? I mean, I was thinking earlier and maybe we should just be honest with our parents. They still haven’t come around and said we can do the Food Channel thing and—”
“What the hell are you talking about? We’re seeing this damn thing through. And I don’t wanna fuck anyone else. I only wanna fuck you.” The words rush out before my brain processes the meaning of the words. “I meant that kiss, Evan. That kiss was so unreal, and it’s all I’ve been able to think about since. Do you know how hard it is for me not to slide my fingers under your shirt when I put my arm around you? Or for my hand to stop idling on your thigh? It’s a struggle not to let my hand drift between your thighs when we’re seated beside each other and see if you’re wet and wanting like I am.”
“God, Seth,” she says, a whimper falling out of her. “You make it all sound so…”
“What?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know.”
“Do you not feel the same way? Do you not think about how it could be? At night, don’t you lie awake and wonder how I fuck?” She exhales a deep breath and closes her eyes, so I climb off the bed and stalk across the room to her. “Do you imagine whether I would be slow or fast? How much I’d stretch and fill you, and the orgasm that would shatter you from the inside out as I drilled in and out of your wet pussy?”
I run my thumb along her bottom lip, and her eyes slowly open with a hooded gaze. “But…”
I shake my head. “I’m only going to ask this once. I want you, Evan, and if you want me too, then I’m going to ask you to kiss me. We’re doing this crazy thing already. Why not have even more fun while we’re doing it? Meet me halfway and I promise you, you won’t regret it.”
I press my body flush to hers and wait. Her soft curves meet my hard chest and my erection pushes against her stomach. Her eyes shift up to me, and for a moment, I feel like I was wrong. Maybe I misunderstood her body language. Then she rises on her tiptoes, her arms slide around my neck, and her lips press to mine.
And it’s game on.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Evan
* * *
Someone else has taken control of my body. That’s the only reason I would set myself up for heartbreak as I press my lips to Seth’s.
A moan slips from my lips the minute he coaxes my mouth open with his tongue. His hands slip around my waist, fingers moving under my shirt until he touches bare skin. He groans as if he was telling the truth, that he’s wanted to feel me all these weeks we’ve been playing pretend.
His lips are hot and firm as his tongue swirls and strokes my acquiescence out of me. I step closer, clinging to his body because this kiss is so much more than the one we shared at the store and that one was a lot.
His lips venture down my jaw, scattering across to my ear. “Jesus, Evan, you’re so damn…” He doesn’t finish, as though that would take too much effort and he can only concentrate on having me in his arms. “I promise you won’t regret this.”
I have my doubts about that, but in this moment, having his full attention on me, I don’t care. An ache forms between my thighs and my breasts grow heavy the longer I taste him and feel him pressed against me. His hands venture up my back, unhooking my bra with ease.
I feel him through every inch of my body when his fingers graze my skin as though he’s an expert on what I want and need. He grabs the hem of my shirt and we break apart to get rid of the thin fabric barrier. My bra goes next and with it, all the confidence I’d been feeling thus far. Now I’m standing before him, bare from the waist up and vulnerable. But his words set me at ease right away.
“Your tits are perfect.” He molds his hands to my breasts, his thumbs running across my peaked nipples.
I sigh, arching my back. He bends down, pushing my right tit up, and his mouth covers the rounded flesh, his tongue swirling over my nipple. I step back from the overwhelming sensation of his mouth, and his hands and my back hit the dresser.
His mouth pops off my breast. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good.” I nod rapidly.
He chuckles and his hands push up both my breasts, his mouth sliding from one nipple to the other. He stops much too soon for my liking, but when his fingers fiddle with the button of my jeans and zipper, I have no arguments except that he’s wearing far too many clothes.
“You too.” I pull the hem of his T-shirt over his head. Now both of our hands are in a frenzy, racing to see who can get the other’s pants off first.
When mine falls to the floor, he looks at me with a devilish grin. “I win.”
“I think we both win.” His pants fall next, and I place his hand over my wet satin panties. “I think you’ve been wondering how wet I am.”
His finger runs the length of my core, over the paper-thin fabric. “Damn, if I’d known you were this soaked, I might’ve nailed you on your parents’ dining room table.”
“That would have proven we’re in love.”
“Or that I’m a horny bastard,” he says, circling us so the backs of my knees hit the bed and I fall onto the plush mattress. He bites his lip, staring at me. “Take them off,” he says in a husky and authoritative tone.
I grab the edges of my panties and slide them down my legs before tossing the flimsy fabric to the floor.
He takes off his socks one at a time and crawls up the bed. I elbow my way up toward the headboard as he stalks me. “Believe me, you want to stay still because I’m about to rock your world.”
I roll my eyes at him, but from the first swipe of his tongue along my slit, I’m transported into the best wet dream of my life. His finger teases my entrance while his teeth, tongue, and sucking mouth accost my clit. I writhe under him, but he grabs my hips to keep me in place. He devours me with my legs spread wide for him.
“Watch me,” he whispers.
I use all my energy to open my eyes and watch the tip of his tongue stroke my slit up to my clit, which he sucks. It’s been so long for me that I don’t last.
“I’m gonna come.” I wiggle under his hold, but he grips me harder to keep me in place, forcing me where he wants me.
“Watch me, Evan.”
It’s nearly impossible to watch him because his face is so expressive. Like he’s tasting ice cream for the first time and he wants to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. His groans drive me to my impending orgasm much faster than I ever have before from having a man between my legs.
I clench his hair, needing something to hold on to as he devours me.
“Harder,” he says, breaking away from my core before diving back in.
I tug on his hair and another satisfied groan escapes him. He takes one hand off my hip and plunges his fingers into me, setting off a chain reactio
n. My hips fly up off the bed, my hands locked in his long strands while my climax catapults me into the stratosphere.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.”
He chuckles and slowly licks me and twirls his tongue until I fall back to the mattress and expel the longest breath of my life.
Before I know it, he’s off me and searching his bag.
I prop up on both elbows, my eyes not fully widening yet. “Did you come up here planning this?”
He shakes his head. “Nope. But a Boy Scout is always prepared.”
“You forget that I know you were kicked out of Cub Scouts.”
He laughs as he kneels in front of me, tearing open the condom wrapper and rolling the latex down his engorged shaft. I admire his long length and wide girth.
“Like what you see?” His arrogant smirk says how proud of his dick he is.
“Yes, because if I had to judge based on when we were six, I’m not sure we’d be here.”
He falls on me, tickling, and I squirm to get out of his hold. “I think you should kiss it and tell him you didn’t mean any offense.”
“Um. No.”
His fingers continue to tickle me until I’m squealing for him to stop. But then the tip of his dick pierces my opening and things grow serious between us again.
Seth bites his lip and stares at me. “Still good with this?” He circles his hips and I moan, another jolt of arousal flowing through my body.
“You did promise me an orgasm that would shatter me inside and out.”
“Such a smartass.” His lips fall to mine and his tongue slides into my mouth as if we’ve done this a million times as he slowly fills me inch by inch.
With Seth, I feel a familiarity I’ve never experienced with anyone else. A comfortableness that’s new to me.
He eases in and out of me in a leisurely yet torturous pace. I wrap my legs around him, and he groans from the reward of being deeper inside me. Tearing his mouth from mine, he nuzzles my neck. The soft sounds of his breath in my ear grow heavier and heavier as though it’s a struggle to maintain control. My body tightens and throbs around him in preparation for my climax until I have no control and scream his name.