Two Can Play (Alphachat.com #2)

by Victoria Ashley

  He sits stiffly, barely even looking at the comments for the rest of the session.

  After the camera cuts off, I get ready to throw the asshole out, but Karma grabs him by the balls and twists her hand, getting in his face, while she pulls him to his feet.

  “Don’t ever think you have the right to put my hands where the fuck you want them. I’m not like most women. Got it?”

  He nods his head and holds his hands up in defeat, his face turning red, the tighter she squeezes.

  I can’t help but laugh at the fact that I’m actually witnessing this right now. I couldn’t have imagined it any better than it went down. She handled herself in a way that will shut a man down at least for a second. The fact that she’s not afraid to stand up for herself like that turns me the fuck on, but unfortunately that’s not something I’ll be acting on.

  Hell, what doesn’t turn me on when it comes to her? Fuck . . . this is the woman of my dreams.

  “Now get the fuck out and don’t come back to my shop again, Jameson.”

  He releases a breath at the same time that she releases his balls. “Shit . . . I meant nothing by it,” he claims, out of breath. “I was only doing what the audience asked for. Didn’t think it’d piss you off.”

  Luca appears in the door, looking confused as he looks the three of us over. He looks ready to throw down if necessary. “Everything good in here?”

  Karma gives Jameson a push toward the door. “Just go. I can’t think right now.”

  “I’m sorry . . .” he starts.

  “Just go,” she says in frustration. “My second show and this shit happens.”

  My eyes stay on Jameson the whole way out the door. “Make sure he makes it to the door, brother.”

  “Damn . . . I’m gonna need to get filled in on this later.” He takes off out the door, after the idiot that I’d like to strangle for touching her.

  Being alone with Karma is tough; every part of my body aches to pull her into my arms, but I don’t.

  Maybe standing my ground with her will give her a reason to miss me. At least, I sure as hell hope so.

  She turns to face me, her blue eyes burning into mine. I can tell that’s she fighting her need for me just as badly as I am for her. Even her heavy breathing is giving her away.

  “I’ll have Rome come help you clean up. Next time, leave the door unlocked so we can get to you if we need to. Someone will be monitoring your show from now on to prevent this shit from happening.”

  I force myself to walk out the door, before my body gives into slamming her against the wall and fucking some damn sense into her.

  Shit . . . I hope she figures this shit out fast. My dick can’t take this rejection forever.

  I WANT TO KICK HIS ass and then let him fuck me like his eyes already were. Damn him for making this complicated.

  It takes me about thirty minutes to clean up my equipment and that is mainly because I’ve moved extremely slow thinking about Blaze. He doesn’t get to make me crazy like this and then just act like it’s an easy situation.

  It’s not. I’m not an easy person to be with and history has shown that. It broke me to walk out on him last time, but it’s something I had to do. It’s best for the both of us.

  I can’t do a relationship and that’s obviously what he wants.

  Rome steps through the door again and startles me when he speaks. “Do you need anything carried out? Or do you want to store it all here until next week?”

  I’ve set up a complete station here to keep from having to haul it each week.

  “I have a box to leave here if that’s ok.” I sound like a damn victim and that’s pissing me off. Yes, this situation is weird, but there’s no reason for me to feel like I do in this house. Coming in here tonight was weird and I almost called Lynx and cancelled.

  If Charlie hadn’t been in my ear to remind me of the cash flow, I would’ve probably worked something else out. In fact, that’s something I can talk to Lynx about in the future. Sending out live feed from the shop may need to be something I need to start doing, simply just to stay out of all of the guys’ way if nothing else.

  This house is always busy and I’m sure if they really think about it, they’ll see that it’s better that way. If one of the guys want any work done, they can come see me there.

  Rome leads me out the door and into the hallway that’s full of memories for me. Blaze’s room is next to Rome’s and I’m hit with an unsettled rush of emotions when we pass by his door.

  “Set it all there and I’ll move it to one of the closets for you. Lynx said something about making one of our extra rooms yours soon, so it won’t be long and you’ll be able to just lock up and leave. This week we have a few guys coming in for interviews and he wanted to use the room you’re in for that.”

  My eyes take in all the crazy furniture in his room and it’s hard to even hear what he just said. I couldn’t even tell you what half of this shit does, but I’d like to know.

  He’s talking, but I’m just looking in awe and it frustrates me that my first thought is that I wish Blaze had some of these for us to play on. “Did you need to see Blaze before you leave?” Rome’s voice pulls me from my thoughts and reminds me that I need to get out of here if I truly want to make a point with him.

  “No, I’ve got to get to the shop.”

  I’m not ready for a relationship. My life is too complicated and I’ve learned that men can’t really handle my career. They start off thinking it’s badass to have me as a girlfriend, then when my hours pull me from them and keep me out late, they begin to raise hell. Not to mention all the insinuations about my late nights that I’ve had to deal with in the past.

  I refuse to explain myself and have to defend my actions every single day of my life. So it’s best that I just keep it the way it is. I’m done with all of that.

  Piercing and tattooing for a living isn’t something everyone can handle, but it’s my life and it’s what I love doing. Even though Blaze seems to be the perfect person to understand a difficult career to accept, he’s proven his over jealous ass can’t really deal with all the hazards my job can have.

  I make it down the stairs and almost out the door when Lynx walks in with Rebel, his girlfriend, stopping me as soon as they see me.

  “How did tonight go?” Lynx questions with a sexy grin, while gripping Rebel’s waist as if he can’t get her close enough.

  I dread telling him, but decide it’s best if it comes from me.

  “My client over stepped and Blaze kicked in the door and pretty much threatened to kill him. So yeah . . .”

  Lynx’s laughter startles me. That’s the last thing I expected. He full on laughs for a few seconds before he replies.

  “That fucking explains it.” He looks at Rebel before she smiles and nods as if they both figured as much.

  “Explains what?” I’m confused and this doesn’t happen often.

  “Why all the emails are asking for Blaze to be next week’s session. They want to see the two of you interacting again.”

  I don’t know how to respond to this news. Callers must’ve seen and heard more than I had hoped. Blaze is a favorite in the house and it’s normal for them to want to see him, but I’m not sure that’s something I can do.

  “I’m already selling those calls,” Lynx adds,

  “People are pre-ordering the fuck out of them. I had Rebel set you up for it because I remember Blaze volunteering for that. Here’s your pay for tonight’s show.” He holds his hand out and laughs at the surprised look that has probably consumed my face right now.

  I look down at all the zeros and any resistance I had planned to voice, has now been stopped by how much more money this check is than last week’s.

  Holy. Fucking. Shit.

  “Wow. I expected this show to be slower since it wasn’t one of your guys.” I’m shocked at this check. Completely shocked. To make that in one night is insanity. Never in my wildest dreams, would I ever think I’d make this much in such
a short time. I can hardly breathe right now while the numbers sink in.

  “Last week built up the anticipation for this one and apparently you managed to do it again. Our reports do show that they want our guys in the room though, so we’ll need to work something out with that. Other than that, don’t doubt it . . . just be proud of it and embrace it. You’re alphachat.com famous right now. Run with it.”

  The noise of a back door slamming forces me to say my goodbyes and get out of here before Blaze makes it all uncomfortable again.

  Next week will be bad enough, but for that kind of money, I’ll swallow my tongue and push my emotions back through the live feed. It should be easy hiding my feelings, it’s what I’m great at.

  I can hear voices around the pool, but it’s the opposite way from where my car is, so I stay clear and walk fast, hoping I’m not noticed. I glance around the trucks and see that Blaze’s truck is gone. I feel relief and an odd sadness falls all over me. He’s doing exactly what I asked, by giving me space, so I don’t know why that disappoints me.

  My car is at the far end of all of the vehicles parked. And it’s during my walk that I notice how clear the sky is. The stars are bright in the dark sky and for a second I just stop and take in the overwhelming beauty above me. Seems like it’s been forever since I’ve had a moment to just stop and enjoy something so simple.

  It only takes me a second to snap out of it when I hear a rumble of laughter coming from the pool again. I take off down the long driveway and get through the gates before I finally take a deep breath, trying to calm my insides.

  I’m driving down the narrow road in deep thought when I notice a truck on the side of the road.

  When I get closer, I see that it’s Blaze’s and I try to decide if I should stop or not. My instincts get the best of me and I drive by slowly, with the window down just to check on him.

  He’s laid out across the hood of his truck, his back against the windshield, and his hand in his pants. I notice his phone in his other hand just as I hear a female voice begin begging him for more.

  “Pull it out, Blaze. Stroke it for me.” He turns to look at me before he responds.

  “Looks like you’ll have to get me on the next call, Sweetheart. Our call ends in ten seconds.”

  “Thank you for taking me on a short date under the stars. It meant a lot.”

  His phone goes dark and he slides down the hood of his truck, instantly walking over to my open passenger window.

  “You gonna beg me to pull it out too?”

  My laugh could’ve been insulting if he wasn’t purposely rubbing himself in front of me. He’s always playful and so hard to stay away from.

  That is until he gets all emotional on me.

  “I was afraid you had broken down on the side of the road and stopped to see if you needed a ride.”

  “Oh I could use a ride, but you know that’s every day.” He never misses an opportunity to be dirty.

  And fuck my life if I don’t truly want to give him that ride.

  He looks at me for a few seconds, before he opens my car door and reaches for my hand. “Sit with me for a few seconds. You looked stressed as fuck and I don’t like that.”

  I breathe in his familiar scent as he leans over me to put my car into park. “I can’t just leave my car sitting in the middle of the road.”

  “Yeah, you can. People will drive around.”

  I don’t even get to resist him, because he pulls me out of the driver’s seat and guides me over to the back of his truck, pulling the tailgate down.

  He effortlessly picks me up and sets me down, before he jumps up beside me and places his hands behind his head for support as he lies back.

  “Blaze . . .” I look back at him, hesitant on whether or not I should jump down and run now or see what he’s trying to do. “What are we doing? I need some rest before I have to get back to the shop.”

  Blaze sits up and grips my shoulders, pushing me back, until he’s leaning over me, his face close to mine. “We’re taking a few minutes out of our crazy as shit lives and enjoying a moment together. I’m not asking for anything, but for you to just let your guard down for two minutes and relax.”

  My eyes meet his, just before he turns away and lies back down, looking up at the sky.

  Releasing a breath, I lie back, joining him.

  Even lost in the damn stars, all I can think about is crawling on top of Blaze’s insanely sexy body and taking him for a ride. I’d love for him to make me scream under the stars, but that isn’t going to happen. .

  I notice him look over at me every few minutes, but surprisingly, he doesn’t make a move like I expected.

  “It’s so clear tonight and looks massive.” My mind is finally calm and just taking in the moment. He doesn’t respond, but slides his arm under my head and half way pulls me closer to him. It’s almost a compromise to what I want, close but not too close.

  We lie here in silence, enjoying the peace and quiet for what seems like twenty minutes or longer, before Blaze’s phone goes off.

  I sit up quickly, knowing that I need to take off, before I can even find out who’s on the other end of that call.

  “I need to go, Blaze.”

  He watches me as I jump down to my feet and walk over to get into my car. I’m just glad this isn’t a heavily traveled road and my car wasn’t in the way. Looking at how it truly is in the middle makes me feel guilty.

  I take one last look back at Blaze before I put it in drive. He’s holding his phone out, but doesn’t seem in a hurry to answer it as I drive off, leaving him sitting there by himself.

  Shit . . . why does that sight make my heart ache?

  My mind isn’t clear the entire drive back to my house. I try to sort out the chaos I’m feeling about Blaze, but the drive is too short to get anything accomplished.

  Right now I can’t get over the pull I have to go back to him, if only he’d keep things simple and easy.

  I park in my driveway since I’ll only be here a few seconds before I run to the shop. I need to load a few more things to take up there since my schedule was cleared for the Alpha House tonight.

  It doesn’t take me long to grab the things I need and before I get a chance to lock up, I see my ex, Ryan. My hands are full and I try to act normal when I see him even though he makes my insides erupt with hatred and regret.

  The things this man has done to me in the past are most of the reason I can’t let anyone near me today. His jealousy and insane logic were like a constant struggle and it got violent in the end. I knew I had to escape him before he managed to trap me further.

  Opening this shop was my out. And I took it instantly, even though he just knew it would never work and there was no way I could survive without him.

  I can now walk proudly knowing I’ve only just begun and my shop is already more successful than the trash hole he has.

  “Ryan. What are you doing?” I keep walking to my car and he tries to stand in front of me along the way.

  “I want to see you.”

  Crap. He’s drunk. I can tell by his slur the second he opens his mouth.

  “You’ve seen me. Now go.” I try to make it seem like he isn’t scaring me, but the reality of it is, when he drinks I can’t predict what he’ll do. This is when things get bad.

  “No. I want to see you wrapped around my cock while I sink so deep into you that you’ll remember where you belong.”

  He has no idea that he can’t even reach that deep. There’s not a depth inside me that believes I belong to this man.

  “Your dick can’t reach that far, Ryan. Go home.” I manage to drop my things in the backseat of my car and close the door before he begins to move forward on me.

  Walking fast, I hope to get back inside and grab the bag I take everywhere with me because it’s where I have my gun. He’s too fast and stops me just before I get inside.

  His touch disgusts me and his eyes show just how bad he’s fucked up. I can’t believe that I let my gua
rd down and I’m now stuck here with him with no protection.

  My mind was focused on Blaze instead of everything around me.

  He leans against me; luckily it’s just his chest that I feel against me. There’s not an erection bulging into my thigh as if this were Blaze. At least if it were Blaze, I’d know I was safe from the bad kind of pain.

  Ryan runs his hand up my body and tries to cup my face. I’m not sure what fucked up thing he’s trying to prove here, because the only thing he’s proving is how right I was to stay away from him.

  “This is mine and you’re keeping it from me. I miss your face. Your lips. Your tits.” His fingers touch each thing he says and the stench of his breath forces me to hold my breath as he does.

  I hope this doesn’t get worse than it has to. “Ryan, I told you to leave me alone. I’ll call the police to get you hauled the fuck off.”

  He tightens his grip on my wrist and moves his mouth over mine.

  “Not even the fucking police will keep you from me if I want to see you.” His threat pulls me straight back into the past and I know this night is about to get bad.

  I need him to leave and fuck my life, if I could just turn back time I never would’ve left Blaze’s arms.

  SITTING HERE WITH MY HANDS in my hair, I watch Karma’s taillights as she takes off down the road, fucking running from me once again.

  My phone buzzes from my lap, letting me know that I have a caller waiting, but the last thing on my mind right now is jerking off for someone other than Karma.

  That’s exactly why I ignored it the first time it went off in hopes that Karma would stick around.

  “Shit,” I say, once I realize what I’m about to do. I should leave her alone, but the thought of her out this late at night just won’t let me.

  I jump down and slam the tailgate of my truck closed, before jumping inside and taking off after her.

  She’s a few minutes ahead of me by now, but I head toward her house anyway, hoping that I’ll catch her in enough time to at least make sure that she got inside safely.

  My heartbeat pounds in my ears, my adrenaline pumping, the moment I pull up behind her car to see her ex dickhead pinning her against the house, running one of his hands down her cheek.