His bottom lip jutted out. “I’m sad to see you go.”
I lifted my eyes to the sky at his fake sorrow. “The people who have been walking by trying to get my room aren’t. They’re going to be pissed when they realize you’ve hijacked it instead.”
“I’m fine with that,” he said, unapologetic.
I laughed and grabbed my stuff, giving him a half hug. “Have fun with Alison.”
“Always,” he said, as I walked out the door.
On my way to The Grind, I started thinking more about Collin. I loved that he was spending time with Alison, and making her feel good about herself. The fact that I’d known him for years and had no clue about his regular dates with her also said a lot about who he was as a person. It’s rare to find someone who is kind for the sake of kindness, and not for the opportunity to be recognized for it.
I liked Collin a lot. The sex was great, and I loved him as a friend, but it had never gone beyond that. Maybe because I didn’t like relationships and hadn’t let it. Collin never pushed, and seemed fine with our arrangement, but I wondered if he ever wanted something more. We had chemistry, but I didn’t really have feelings for him. Then again, I didn’t have relationship-y feelings for most guys. The only one in recent years was Cade, and I still wasn’t convinced those feelings weren’t just hormones. As I thought about Collin though, I also remembered one of Master Z’s posts involving candy. It had mentioned suckers just like the one Collin had been licking. I hadn’t even considered that Collin might be the mysterious blogger, but it would make sense.
That line of thought was jarring. Truly, any guy on the planet could be Master Z, and it could just as easily be a girl pretending to be a guy. I had no idea. But now, literally everyone I knew was hitting my suspect list. Collin included. He certainly knew what he was doing, and could speak, or write, eloquently about it. He was also well-versed in topics surrounding Mistress A. We’d discussed her blog the other night.
Yes…I was keeping Collin on my potential Master Z list. Right at the top.
I pulled open the door to The Grind, the cold air following me inside, and searched the room as I started to take off my gloves. My eyes fell on Syd and I froze. She was sitting at a table with Jax…and Cade. She saw me and motioned me over, her eyes bright with conspiracy. Her movements caught the attention of Jax and Cade, who both turned in my direction. Jax smiled. Cade’s brows went up with the corners of his lips, his greeting more of a challenge than a hello—Thor help me, I liked it.
I muttered a string of swear words under my breath and made my way to the table.
“Hey,” I said, flashing my brightest smile and sitting in the one empty chair—next to Cade. “I didn’t know the guys were going to be here.” I gave Syd a look that said she should have warned me. She returned my look with one that said she knew I wouldn’t have come if she had—she was probably right. I had no doubt that she was playing matchmaker after our last conversation where she was convinced I needed to get to know Cade better. I stifled a groan.
“I had a break from work,” Jax said.
“And we needed coffee after our last class,” Syd said, gesturing to Cade.
“Were you debating today?” I asked.
Syd shook her head. “No, it was a lot of legal cases and reading. We both wanted to fall asleep at our desks.”
“That does sound pretty boring.” I looked to the counter to see how long the line was. It wasn’t bad, and after the Cade ambush, I needed a drink, preferably one with alcohol. “Speaking of coffee, I need one too. I’ll be right back.”
Cade stood. “I’ll get it. Skinny latte with a little sweetener, right?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Yeah, but how—”
“Syd told me.”
Of course she did. I shot her a glare.
“I can get it,” I said. Not wanting him to feel like he needed to buy my drink. We weren’t even on a date, and I could afford my own coffee.
“I’m already up,” he said, and was across the room before I could even get out of my chair to follow.
I scowled at Syd across the table.
“What?” she said, putting her hands up in front of her in a defensive position.
“Are you kidding me?” I hissed. “He knows my coffee order? What else have you told him? My preferred method of birth control?”
“Not yet.” Her tone was totally serious.
Jax started to laugh. “Not funny, Blue Eyes,” I said, pointing at him.
“It’s a little funny,” he said.
“It is,” Syd agreed.
“You,” I pointed at her, “don’t get to have an opinion. Freaking Judas,” I muttered, looking around the room like I was trying to make sense of a universe I didn’t recognize. “My best friend is a damn traitor.”
“No, your best friend is trying to help you.”
I made a face, still annoyed at Syd, but surprised with Cade as well. Frankly, I was shocked he’d taken the time to ask, let alone remember, my coffee order. It seemed like a trivial detail that would take most men months and a committed relationship to learn…if they even learned it then. He’d obtained the information before we’d even been out on one official date. It was flattering…and slightly unnerving. My past was full of men who’d only wanted to use me for sex. I wasn’t used to guys who remembered seemingly trivial details for me, or were genuinely kind. A lot of that was my own fault. There were plenty of nice guys out there who had wanted to be let in, but I hadn’t allowed them. I still wasn’t sure why Cade was different.
Cade came back and handed me my coffee. “They were fast.”
“Thanks,” I said as he held it out to me. I reached up, my fingers brushing his as I took the cup. The spark was there again, arcing between our hands. My eyes fluttered to his involuntarily. He was looking at me too. I held his gaze as I brought the cup to my lips and took a sip. It was like he’d taken a Brynn coffee ordering class. It was exactly how I liked it.
“How is it?” Cade asked.
I licked my lips to catch any errant foam or milk that might have escaped. “Sweet, but not too sweet. Perfect.”
Cade’s eyes darkened as he watched me, and I had the distinct impression that he wished he was licking my lips instead. So did I.
Syd’s voice jolted my attention away from Cade and his high levels of testosterone. “She likes her coffee like she likes her men,” she said, paraphrasing Airplane, an old movie we’d watched one night on cable. It had a lot of silly, quotable lines. “Hot.”
I gave Syd a look. “Funny. That’s not even the line.”
Syd lifted her own coffee in acknowledgment. “But it’s true.”
I did not want to get on the subject of how I liked my men with Cade sitting right there listening in. Though I was sure Syd would tell him almost anything he wanted to know in her bid to be the Easton University matchmaker. Supreme Court justice wasn’t a high enough goal for her, apparently. I switched subjects, “Are things slow at the garage today?” I asked Jax. He worked at Red’s Garage, a service station and mechanic shop across the street from The Grind. That was how he got to know Syd—because her ’69 Camaro constantly needed work. Old cars are a lot of maintenance.
“Yeah, it hasn’t been too busy. I’m off in a few hours.”
“Then you can go home and work on Syd’s car instead. Good hell, she was lucky to find you. You’re saving her a fortune in repair bills.”
His lips slid into a grin. “She pays me in other ways.” He winked, and Syd’s face flamed. Everyone except Syd laughed.
Now it was Syd’s turn to change the subject, “What were you working on today, Brynn?”
I took another sip of my coffee. “A paper about sexual deviance.”
Cade’s brow went up. “That’s an interesting subject.”
I smiled slowly. “Sex is always interesting.”
Cade eyed me from across the table. “I’ve always felt the definition of deviant is rather subjective,” Cade said. “It depends on the p
erson, and their preferences.”
I stared at him, wondering if he could read minds since that was almost my exact same opinion on the subject, and the argument I was putting forth in the paper.
“It’s true,” I agreed. “And sexual norms and ideas are culture based as well. Even talking about sex in some places can get you thrown in jail. But in others, sex is sold in window displays like clothes. A lot has changed in recent years. Ten years ago people weren’t as open to talking about sex as they are now, and things that were shocking, like nudity on primetime television, are now commonplace. Yet there are still states where blow jobs are illegal.”
Jax’s lips pulled back in distaste. “Remind me never to move to any of those places.”
Syd blushed again, and I felt a little satisfied at her embarrassment considering the position she’d put me in today with Cade.
“Me either,” Cade said. “Though I imagine they have a difficult time enforcing that one, especially if it’s done in a private location.”
“The cop would probably give them both a high five, or pretend they didn’t see it even if it was in public,” Jax rationalized.
I laughed. “Some people don’t like to have sex in private though.” I leaned against the back of my chair and crossed my legs. “My perspective is that as long as you’re doing something that can get you off with a willing partner, there’s nothing wrong with it, but there will always be a subset of the population somewhere who considers any given sexual act to be aberrant. The fact remains that we’re all a little deviant in one way or another.”
Cade’s eyes darkened and my stomach immediately clenched, desire pooling. I wanted to know what was running through his head to make him look at me like that, and what the hell was going on with my hormones to make me respond so quickly to a simple expression. “I agree completely,” he said.
His voice lingered and the air became electric again. I had the sudden realization that the exhibitionism we’d just been discussing was happening right at our table. I mean, our clothes were still on, but the electric feeling cascading between us was one I could only compare to sex with an exceptional partner—except the feeling with Cade exceeded that, by about a thousand volts. The chemistry was palpable, and I’d be surprised if everyone else in the area didn’t notice it as well.
Syd coughed, confirming that she was indeed aware of the connection, and breaking the spell between Cade and I. “I thought you’d be working today,” she said to me, her brows pressed together in confusion. “Did you switch your schedule around?”
This was a conversation I’d been wanting to have with Syd, but not one I wanted to have with Syd and an audience. Normally I would have been at work, but I’d quit my part-time job doing office work for a local psychologist a few weeks ago. Mistress A was a full-time job in and of itself. I’d meant the blog to be a fun little resource for people to read when they had time, but it had turned into something much bigger. Responding to emails, blog comments, posting on social media, scheduling interviews, etc. all took up far more time than I thought it would when I’d started the blogging endeavor. That coupled with school, left me no time to get anything else done.
I’d read about earning money from blogs, and put ads on my site soon after I started Mistress A. When the blog gained popularity, my ads started paying me. A lot. Like, I was making enough to cover all of my expenses and then some. If my readership stayed like this, or kept increasing, I’d easily have enough money to pay off my student loans, and do pretty much anything else I could ever want. I couldn’t tell all of that to Syd without admitting to being Mistress A, and I couldn’t do that…yet. So I needed another explanation.
“I quit my job a couple of weeks ago.”
Her jaw dropped and she practically yelled, “You what?” Syd didn’t like being left out of the loop, so I knew this would upset her. “Why? And why am I just hearing about this now?”
I shrugged it off like it was no big deal. “I’ve been so busy with school that telling you slipped my mind.” School, and the blog…and Cade, as much as I didn’t want to admit it. But I didn’t need to go into detail. “That’s why I quit. I needed more time to get stuff done.”
“But…” she sputtered, her eyes going from me, to Jax and Cade, and back to me again. She decided to press forward with her question despite our audience. “Are you okay with that? Can you afford to quit?”
I nodded tentatively, wishing we were having this conversation in private. Jax I didn’t care about, Syd would likely tell him everything I said anyway, and I knew that…that’s how couples worked. Even if you were best friends with someone, their friendship with their partner should always come first, and they should share things and confide in each other. I was fine with that as long as I trusted both parties, and in this situation, I did. But I didn’t know Cade well enough to confide in him. I came up with a cover I hoped would hold. It was true, it just wasn’t the whole truth. “I have some money saved up.”
I absolutely had some extra cash, so I wasn’t lying; but the fact I’d been getting it from the secret blog I wrote was information I neglected to offer.
Syd was watching me with far too much interest. “Enough to make it through the rest of the year without an income?”
I tilted my head to the side. “I have student loans as well.” Also not a lie.
“You’ve had student loans before and still needed a job.”
Damn Syd and her stupid cross-examination. I scrambled for a plausible explanation. “I knew grad school would take up more of my time, so I’ve been saving for a while.” That seemed open-ended enough. Syd was skeptical about everything though, and had a bullshit meter as good as mine.
She narrowed her eyes, and I had no doubt we’d be revisiting this conversation later.
“I need to get back to work,” Jax said, standing and picking up his coffee cup. He leaned down and gave Syd a thorough kiss. Her inhale after he was done was rattled, and they both looked completely in love. I held back a sigh. I’d had a lot of kisses in my life, but none that had left me breathless. Syd got it every day, multiple times. I didn’t like relationships, but some aspects were extremely appealing. The long kisses and lingering looks were both high on my envy list.
I moved my gaze away, trying not to stare, and ended up looking right at Cade, who was also looking at me. It seemed he’d noticed me noticing Jax and Syd, and clearly, he’d noticed them as well. It was hard not to. Everyone at our table was thinking of kissing, but only two of them had actually been engaged in the act. My eyes went over Cade—not a hair out of place, mouth parted slightly, and shoulders broad enough that I was certain every lawyer-y suit he owned must need massive amounts of tailoring, if not a special cut—and I seriously considered adding two more people to the kissing participant list.
“I’ll see you later,” Jax said to Syd. The words came out like a promise of exciting things to come. I envied that too. “Have a good day, Brynn and Cade.”
“You too,” Cade said.
“Bye,” I said, and watched Jax walk out the door.
Syd was watching him too, and looked positively smitten. “You’re adorable,” I said.
She blushed. “He’s good to me.”
“I’m glad you got rid of your ridiculous ‘no dating until I’m a Supreme Court justice’ rule,” I said.
“That was a rule?” Cade asked, eyes wide with curiosity.
“For a while,” Syd confirmed. “I didn’t want dating to get in the way of law school.”
“Then he told her he was better in bed than a werewolf, and she saw him without his shirt,” I said, over the rim of the coffee cup I was holding. “The Supreme Court took a backseat.”
Cade laughed. “If anything, he’ll help you get there faster,” he said to Syd. “A supportive, loving partner can make all the difference.”
“I agree,” Syd said, pulling a cookie from her bag and unwrapping it. “And I’m glad I changed my mind too. Now we just need to get Brynn to change hers
.”
“Not happening,” I said, shaking my head.
Cade looked at me with confusion. “You date, right?”
“Yeah. Date,” I said. “But I don’t do relationships.”
He raised his brows, waiting for me to expand. I didn’t feel the need to. Syd did it for me. She’s dependable like that. “Brynn thinks relationships are messy.”
Cade shifted his head to the side in concession. “Some are,” he said. “But life is messy. Experiences are messy. There’s no point to life if you’re not living it.”
“I’m living,” I defended, “just not dating the same guy repeatedly.” I gave him a mischievous grin. “I get more experiences that way.”
“What about Collin,” Cade asked. “You seemed to have a history with him.”
I shrugged. “Hook ups. Nothing more. We’ve never been monogamous. But we’re friends. Friends with benefits can work, as long as no one catches feelings.”
Cade watched me closely, an analysis happening behind his eyes. I recognized the look because it’s one I gave people when I was trying to figure out what was screwed up in their tiny little brains, and how I could help them. I didn’t appreciate the look being turned on me.
“Go out with me,” Cade said. It wasn’t a question, more of a command. I didn’t do commands well…at least, not outside of the bedroom…sometimes not inside it either.
Now it was my turn to look at him like he was crazy. What in the…where did that come from? “I’m sorry, what?”
“On a date. You and me.”
I shifted my eyes to Syd to confirm this was really happening. She was suppressing a smile. I’d just told Cade I didn’t date. So…why was he asking me out on a date? Did he think I’d be an easy lay? I mean, it was Cade, and he’d been on my to-do list for a while so I couldn’t say I wouldn’t be, but why? What were his motivations? He didn’t seem like the type to use a girl. He definitely seemed like the “settle down, want more, it probably involves rings and suburbs” type. So not the kind of guy I spent time with. Their expectations were far too high. “I told you, I don’t date.”
Chasing Brynn (A Tempting Novel Book 2) Page 7