More than Roommates

by Jillian Quinn

  I let out a puff our air and allow Will to win this conversation. We have the same one so often I might as well let him feel better by doing this one thing for me. With my bargain shopper powers, I’m sure I can find a few things on the cheap.

  “Fine. If buying me clothes will make you happy, then I will go meet the girl from Boyds.”

  He smiles. So does Ethan, who removes his cell phone from his jeans pocket. Ethan types out a quick text message, and a few seconds later it dings.

  “Alanna can see you tomorrow after work,” Ethan tells me.

  “Okay, great. Thanks. Now, can we get the hell out of here? Clarke should be here any minute.”

  As if on cue, Clarke knocks once, before coming inside my apartment. “Is everyone decent?” She walks in with her eyes closed, opening one just enough to look at us.

  “Why wouldn’t we be?” Will asks her, pushing himself up from the couch.

  She flips her hair over her shoulder and snorts. “Never know with you living here. I’ve read enough about you to know I should knock before entering anywhere you live, hockey boy.”

  Will laughs. “And why is that?”

  She cocks an eyebrow at him. “Because you’re bad.”

  I narrow my eyes at Clarke. What is she doing? Ugh, she cannot like my brother. He’s…Well, he’s Will.

  My brother loves a challenge. In one swift motion, he moves past me, hovering over Clarke. He’s a lot taller than her five feet two inches. Even in heels, Clarke looks tiny in comparison to Will.

  Will studies Clarke’s face and glides his tongue across his bottom lip. Shit. He likes her.

  “I’d say you shouldn’t believe what you read in the papers, but at least they got that part right,” Will says, touching her shoulder.

  “Okay, enough of that,” I tell Will, pushing my hands onto my hips. “Can we make it to Scores without you hitting on my friend?”

  Will looks over his shoulder at me and then to Ethan. “Hey, I had to watch E hit on you. Deal with it, little sis.”

  Clarke flashes my brother a wicked smirk. “Not interested, anyway. Save your energy for someone else.”

  Oh, no. That has to be the worst thing she can say to Will. Now, he won’t give up until she’s screaming his name in the bedroom next to mine. At least Clarke has self-control, unlike me when it comes to Ethan.

  Ethan locks eyes with me, as he walks around the table to stand at Will’s side. Could he be any further away from me? Idiot.

  Choosing to ignore him, too, I check the time and realize our driver will be here any minute. “Time to go.”

  Will exits the apartment first, with Clarke behind him, leaving me with Ethan. We exchange an awkward moment, where we stare at each other, as I dig the keys from my purse.

  “You look beautiful,” Ethan says under his breath. His voice is so low I have to strain to hear him.

  I smile, the blush creeping down to my chest, his effect instantaneous. “Thank you,” I mouth, not wanting my brother to hear us.

  Will and Clarke are halfway downstairs, already arguing with each other over something stupid.

  Ethan touches my cheek with his calloused thumb, cupping my face in his hand. “I’m sorry.”

  That’s all he says before releasing his grip on me, though the hold he has over me stays with me, all the way to the strip club.

  19

  Ethan

  The look on Mia’s face when we walked into Scores was priceless. I knew it would be, which was why I took a picture with my cell phone without her noticing. Maybe one day I will show her. For now, it’s the picture attached to her number in my Contacts. I thought about making it my background picture, but Will would flip the fuck out if he were to see his sister on my screen.

  Mia bites her cheek, staring around the room. She avoids the girls shaking her their asses on the stage as if they do not exist. They are hard not to notice, especially with all the men surrounding them. Clarke doesn’t seem the slightest bit phased, where Mia keeps her eyes pointed in front of her and bites the corner of her lip.

  I hook my arm around Mia’s back and pull her closer to me. She stiffens from my touch but peeks up at me.

  “You okay?”

  She nods. “Yeah, I’m good. Why is everyone so worried about how I will react to being here? I’m not a total prude.”

  I dip down to whisper against the shell of her ear. “Oh, I know.”

  She sucks in a deep breath and blows it out. “You are the devil in expensive clothes.”

  I laugh at her comment. She has no idea.

  Clarke comes up on Mia’s right and yells, “Wanna come with? Will is buying me a lap dance.”

  Mia narrows her eyes at her. “Nah, I’ll pass. I have to do the thing, remember?”

  I crane my neck to listen to their conversation, hoping to find out more about this secret mission Mia’s on for her job.

  “You can have fun in the meantime,” Clarke says. “Have you ever had a lap dance? It’s fun.”

  Mia scrunches her nose at her friend. Her innocence is so adorable, same as it was when I was in high school.

  “Nope never had one,” Mia says. “Go with Will. I’m sure he will show you a good time. He probably knows this place like the back of his hand.”

  More like his cock.

  Clarke laughs as if thinking the same as me. “I’m sure he does.”

  We both do. Scores is like a right of passage for everyone on our team. Tyler Kane brought Will and me here our first year with the Flyers. Now that he’s married and attached to his wife’s side, the tradition has passed to Will, and by extension to me too.

  Will winks at Mia. “I promise to take good care of her. Don’t worry. Do whatever it is that you came here to do. We’ll have fun for you.”

  “See ya,” Mia says to Will and Clarke, before turning to me. “You, too. I have things to do.”

  Will shoots me a look that says, Stay with her. I nod in acknowledgment because I have no problem following Mia around for the night. I need time to apologize to her without Will around, wondering why I have something to be sorry about.

  Will waves to Mia and me and leads Clarke by the hand through the throng. She’s right up his alley, down for whatever and comfortable in a place like this. Hopefully, Clarke can keep Will entertained long enough for me to get Mia alone and out of his sight.

  “You don’t have to follow me around just because Will is afraid to leave me alone,” Mia says to me after they disappear into the crowd.

  I thread my fingers between hers and give her hand a good squeeze. “Someone has to look out for the lamb when all the wolves are around.”

  She tilts her head back and laughs. “Why do you call me that? It’s a stupid nickname, you know.”

  “No, it’s not.” I lead Mia over to a two-person table in the far corner, on the left side of the bar, and pull out a chair for her. “The first time I saw you, I admired you for your innocence. You weren’t tainted by life or the hard choices you had to make. There was something about you, something good and fragile. Back then, lamb was the first thing that came to my mind.”

  She sits, allowing me to scoot her chair into the table. “The name doesn’t make sense for who I am now. Maybe that’s how you saw me when I was a teenager, but I am nothing like that now.”

  “You will always be my little lamb,” I confess.

  “Whatever.” She hugs herself, pushing her tits up in the process. Once she realizes where my eyes have drifted, she snorts, as if annoyed with me. “The last time I checked, you owe me an apology. Where have you been for the past week?”

  “I stayed at the Ritz. I needed to get away for a little bit.”

  “Why do you think it’s okay to keep disappearing? One minute, you were kissing me on my living room floor, and the next morning you were gone. Has anyone ever told you that you are not good for a girl’s ego?”

  “I’m not good for you,” I admit. No matter how many years have passed, I have never felt worthy of Mia. “
A bastard like me doesn’t get a girl like you.”

  She uncrosses her arms and leans forward, pinning me down with her intense gaze. “Why don’t you let me make the decision instead of doing it for me? You and my brother think you know what is best for me. For once, I would like to have a choice.”

  I reach across the table to touch her hand, feeling her soft, delicate skin. “You know it’s not that simple, Mia.”

  “How about I go find Will right now? If he’s the reason you are a dick, then let’s get it out of the way. He should know the truth anyway.”

  “There’s not much to tell.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Well, I guess I must have imagined you licking my pussy last week.”

  I scan the room for Will and spot him entering a private room on the other side of the club, accompanied by Clarke and a few girls.

  “Oh, I see,” she says, irritated. “God forbid Will overhears us. I am tired of lying to my brother. Either you grow a pair and tell him or I will.”

  “I’ll make a deal with you,” I say, hoping she will be down with my plan. “Why don’t we see what happens between us before we tell Will? There’s no sense in ruining my friendship with him over a fling.”

  “I love how you assume our relationship won’t work before things even begin.”

  “I don’t do relationships, Mia. When was the last time you saw me with a girlfriend?”

  She bites her lip, mulling it over. “Never, I guess. I had assumed you kept that part of your life hidden from me on purpose.”

  “No, because there wasn’t anything for me to hide. To date, you are the longest relationship I have ever had, and we are not even together.”

  “If you say so.” She looks away from me, but not for long. As soon as a cocktail waitress wearing nothing but a gold thong strolls over to our table, Mia turns to look at me, as if embarrassed for the girl.

  I give the pretty brunette our drink order, ignoring all of her advances. She only wants the money, so I drop a twenty on her tray. The girl rewards me with a smile that reaches up to her green eyes and a gentle shake of her fake tits.

  Less than a minute after she leaves another girl with smaller breasts and reddish brown hair comes up from behind Mia, touching her on the shoulder as she looks over at me. Mia jumps up from her chair as if struck by lightning. Her reaction causes both the stripper and me to laugh. Strippers love giving attention to the women, and unlike other girls I’ve come here with, Mia wants nothing to do with it. She came here for business, nothing more.

  Once Mia settles back into her chair, the girl says something to Mia that I have trouble hearing over the loud music. Mia shakes her head a few times before she smiles, a real one this time. A few minutes pass, where they have a private conversation, whispering shit to each other. What the hell could Mia possibly have to say to a stripper?

  The drink girl places two Heineken’s in front of me and hands Mia an apple martini. Mia takes it from her and sucks down half the liquid in one gulp, and then holds her index finger up to indicate she would like another drink.

  I pull my wallet out of my pocket and give the waitress my credit card. “Start a tab for us.” I tilt my head to Mia, who is still engaged in conversation with the redheaded stripper. “And another martini for my girl.”

  She smiles and walks away with my credit card, and I am left wondering why I called Mia my girl. I guess she will be after she accepts my offer. If she still wants to give us a shot.

  “Hey, E.” Mia props her elbow up on the table and looks over at me. “Roxie is going to show me how to give a lap dance. Do you want to be my test subject?”

  I try not to laugh. Instead, the corner of my mouth curls up into a smirk. “Yeah, actually, I do. Not out here, though.”

  “Duh, silly. I wouldn’t even consider it in front of other people.”

  I look up at the girl. “Just us, okay?”

  “That will cost you,” she says.

  “Money is not a problem.”

  She grins. “Good. I have just the place for us. What’s your name, cutie?”

  At least she doesn’t recognize me.

  “Ethan,” I tell her.

  “Well, Ethan, I’m Roxie. I’m gonna take good care of your girl, and she’s gonna take real good care of you.” She says the last part with a wink.

  “I’m counting on it.”

  My cock gets hard just thinking about Mia grinding on it. Fuck, yes, I want to be her subject. I would pay any amount of money for this experience. Just seeing Mia out of her shell and her comfort zone is worth every penny—no matter the cost.

  After we order another round of drinks, Mia gets up from her chair, spilling some of her martini on her hand. I push myself up from the chair and grab her hand to lick the sweet juice from her skin. She tastes like apple and vodka mixed with the scent of her perfume.

  What was I thinking? Will could have seen me do that. Idiot. I tell myself that I don’t care anymore and that I don’t need Will’s approval. But I do. Having his consent with Mia is important to me. So, why do I keep fucking things up? Instead of confessing, I lie right to his face and sneak off with his sister.

  Mia’s body trembles from my touch, my effect on her instantaneous. She responds so well to me, and I love it. My little lamb is about to dance for me, something I never thought I would see from Mia. I wonder if this has anything to do with her work assignment. Do I care? Nope, not at all.

  We follow behind the stripper to the opposite side of the bar, down a long hallway, and into a private room mirrored from ceiling to floor. Luckily, Will and Clarke are off by themselves. Mia would never have agreed to do this otherwise. Tonight, I have Mia all to myself, apart from the stripper who is eye fucking us both.

  Roxie touches Mia on the shoulder, sliding her fingers down to her forearm. “Do you want to watch me first or get right to it?”

  Mia smiles, refocusing her gaze on me. “What do you want, E?”

  “You,” I growl.

  Mia’s eyes flicker with acknowledgment. She sticks out her tongue just enough to slide it along her bottom lip.

  “Okay, then.” Roxie comes up from behind Mia and places her hands on her narrow hips. She helps Mia sway back and forth to the song, the rock music pumping through the speakers. “A good lap dance is all about the tease. By the time you’re through, he should be begging you to sit on his face.”

  Mia blushes at Roxie’s words but keeps moving along with her to the beat. Roxie tightens her grip on Mia, pushing Mia’s skirt down just enough to reveal the string of her hot pink thong. All I can think about is ripping it off her with my teeth, my cock growing harder with each seductive stare and gentle sway of Mia’s hips.

  I get lost in the dance, trying to forget about Will and the fact he’s only down the hall from us as I practically nut over his sister. But I don’t care, not even a little bit. Not right now. Not when Mia has me under her fucking spell.

  I lift my hand from my thigh and beckon Mia with my index finger, before patting my knee. She does as I instruct, with Roxie still holding onto her from behind, her breasts pressed into Mia’s back. This is a side to Mia I never thought I would see, and it makes me want her even more. My innocent little lamb is a woman now, all grown up and giving me the worst case of blue balls.

  With some instruction from Roxie, Mia leans forward to place her palms on my thighs, with her ass up in the air and her eyes pointed at me. She continues to dance for me, following each of Roxie’s orders. Mia moves as if she has done this a thousand times. I salivate with each thrust, the sight of her letting go so intoxicating.

  After torturing me for far too long, Roxie tells Mia to get on the long leather bench with me. She straddles me, slowly moving her hands up my chest and to my shoulders. Roxie sits next to us, with her hand on Mia’s back and the other on her ass, coaching the movements from her body. I can’t believe Mia is going along with this. Will would fucking murder me if he had any idea I was paying a stripper to teach Mia the art of givin
g a lap dance.

  Rocking her hips, Mia stares into my eyes, careful not to rub her pussy on my leg, as per her instruction from Roxie. She’s supposed to tease me, make me want to flip her over and fuck her right here on this bench. Mission accomplished.

  I reach into my pocket, pull out a few hundred dollar bills, and hand them to Roxie. “Can you give us a minute?”

  She takes the money with a bright smile. “Yeah, I think I can do that. I’ll be back in thirty.” Her gaze falls to Mia, and she moves closer to her. The ends of Roxie’s hair cover the top of her breasts, her pretty pink nipples popping out and touching Mia’s arm. “Think you can handle him without me?”

  Mia laughs. “Yeah, I think so. Thanks, Roxie.”

  She smiles in answer, and then exits the room, closing the door behind her.

  I slide my hands up the backs of Mia’s thighs, feeling her silky skin, as I trace my way up to her firm ass to squeeze it. She yelps and falls forward, this time threading her arms around my neck. With our lips almost touching, she lets out a deep breath, the scent of her apple martini’s filling my nostrils.

  Mia sits back so that we are staring into each other’s eyes and moves her hands lower. She hops off me to push my legs apart with her hands. Her lips part, as if she wants to say something. I reach out and pull down her bottom lip with my index finger. Red-hot heat buzzes between us, the electricity from our contact setting my skin on fire.

  I grab my rock hard cock over my jeans, and she glances down for a second, before sticking out her tongue to lick my finger. Mia grabs my wrist, pushes my finger into her mouth, and sucks hard.

  “Fuck, Mia.” I tilt my head back against the top of the bench and suck in a deep breath. “I wish that was my cock you were sucking.”

  She releases her grip on me, my hand dropping to her waist. “You would like that, huh? I’m still waiting for that apology you owe me.” A smirk touches her lips.

  “I fucked up. I shouldn’t have left without saying anything to you. You should know by now that I am an asshole. Relationships are not my thing, but fuck if I don’t want you more than anything I have ever wanted in my life.”