Betting Bad

by Cathryn Fox

  “What’s wrong?” the girl asks as she takes a sip and puts her hand on my thigh. She shimmies in closer until her hot center is pressed against my crotch. She frowns, like she’s disappointed that I don’t have a hard on for her.

  “I have to go. Enjoy your drink.”

  A loud noise climbs out of her throat, and then she says, “Jerk.”

  “Yeah, I know,” I say and push through the crowd with a little more force this time. I walk past the guy making his play on Sara, and put my body between theirs. She smiles at me, and relief mingles with surprise when our eyes meet.

  “There you are?” I say, and bend down and press my lips to hers. It was only supposed to be a quick kiss, but the second I feel her lips on mine, I linger a moment longer, breathe in her sweet aroma and let it block all the other overpowering scents of the club. When I break the kiss, she seems a bit breathless. I inch back, take in her smudged lipstick and wipe my finger over my bottom lip.

  “What…what took you so long?” she asks breathlessly, so in sync with what I’m doing she doesn’t miss a beat. Nine years might have passed, but we can read each other today as well as we could back then.

  I angle my head in time to see a drunk college boy, dressed in a sweater, khakis and some kind of expensive-looking shoes, slip and grab the chair to right himself. The beer in his glass sloshes over the edge.

  “Who the fuck are you?” he slurs.

  Keep it together, dude.

  I turn toward him, and fold my arms over my chest. Since Sara isn’t prone to violence and does not need to see the guy I’ve become behind bars, I say, “I’m her boyfriend. Who are you?”

  His head rears back and he gives me the once over. “You?” He points to Sara. “Her boyfriend.”

  “Yeah, that’s right.” I turn my head slowly until my eyes on locked on Sara’s. “Isn’t that right, Sara?”

  “That’s right,” she says. “And we were just leaving.” She scoots out from behind the table and when she comes up to me, I cup her face, and plant another soft kiss on her mouth, simply because I want to this time. I break it, and stand back. That’s when I see the skintight, knee length little black dress she’s wearing. Shit, she looks gorgeous, and I can’t fucking stand the idea of any other man gawking at her.

  “What the fuck?” the guy says. “I never took you for the kind of girl who likes to go slumming.” I stiffen, and Sara puts her hand on my arm and gives it a squeeze. I nod, and relax. The guy is drunk, and really, Sara is slumming when she could do so much better than me.

  I point to the bar, toward Candy. “That’s Candy,” I say. “She likes rum and coke.”

  His head bobbles and he zeros in on a pissed off Candy, who is glaring at us. “Yeah?” he asks. “She ask about me, or something?”

  Or something…

  “You two will be perfect for each other.”

  He pats me on the back. “Hey, thanks man. You’re not so bad.”

  “Yeah.” I put my hand around Sara’s waist to guide her outside, but she hesitates. “What?” I ask.

  “Thanks for helping me out, but why are you here?”

  I look through the crowd. “Grabbing a drink with Lucas.” It doesn’t really answer her question, but she nods. “Saw you were in a bit of trouble and thought I’d help out.”

  She crinkles her nose. “This really isn’t my scene.”

  “Want to get out of here?”

  “I came here with Kaitlyn. I can’t just bail.” Dark lashes blink fast over darting eyes. “We look out for each other.”

  I turn back toward the crowd. “Let’s go get her.”

  Sara shakes her head. “No, she won’t want to leave.”

  “Are you saying you want to stay? If so, then we’ll stay.”

  “No, I don’t want to. I don’t really like it here.”

  I stand still and wait to see what it is she wants to do. She bites her lips and shifts from foot to foot. “Sara, we can’t just stand here and take up space. We either get a table and stay or we go. It’s your call. Either way, I’m not going anywhere without you.”

  “Let me go find her and see what she wants to do.”

  I hang back and watch Sara get lost in the crowd. My gaze slides to the drunk college boy and Candy, who seem to be hitting it off at the bar. I grab my phone and shoot a text off to my brother. I hate leaving him, after practically dragging him here, but I need to get Sara out of here. He’ll understand. Besides, he’s pretty busy with his harem. Sara finally comes back, breathless after fighting through the people. “She’s hooking up. So I’m good to go.”

  I dip my head, take in her big brown eyes. Her hair is long and loose tonight, her face full of make-up. She barely wore make-up when we were together. I know we’ve changed a lot over the years, in so many ways, but I don’t get the sense that this is the Sara she’s become.

  “How did you get here?” I ask

  “Kaitlyn drove.”

  “Is she okay to drive?”

  “Yeah, she lives around the corner and barely drinks anyway.”

  “Okay.” I capture her hand and I’m about to turn when something catches my eye. I still, and stare toward the long hall leading to the bathroom. I could have sworn I just saw Caleb. Must be my imagination. What would a douchebag professor be doing hanging at a club where his students party? That has to be a conflict of interest, right, going against school policy? Forgetting about him, we make our way out into the cool night and Sara shivers.

  I look her over and frown when I realize she’s in nothing but that short dress. “Where’s your coat?

  “Kaitlyn’s car. We didn’t want to coat check them. Takes too long.”

  I glance around the full parking lot, even though I have no idea which car is Kaitlyn’s. “Can you get it?”

  “Her car is locked. I’ll get it tomorrow.”

  “I’m on my bike, Sara, you’ll freeze.”

  “Okay, I’ll go get the keys.” She makes a move to go, but I stop her. “Here. Wear this. I don’t want you going back in there.” Especially if my mind wasn’t playing tricks, and Caleb is on the prowl. I shrug out of my leather coat and put it around her.

  She tries to shrug out of it. “I can’t take this. You’ll freeze.”

  I tug it back over her shoulders, bend forward, and zip it up until it’s around her neck. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Ty—”

  “I’ll be fine, Sara.” I guide her to my bike, grab my spare helmet and put it on her head. My fingers brush her warm skin as I clasp it. I take in her tight skirt. “Um, how are we going to do this?”

  “Not easily,” she says, and I laugh, but it turns to a garbled moan when she inches her skirt up to get her leg over the bike. How the fuck am I supposed to ride with her body exposed like that—pressing in to me?

  Motherfucker.

  “Yeah, okay, that will work,” I say, hoping she can’t hear the want in my voice, but this is Sara and I doubt I can get anything by her. I just hope it doesn’t scare her off. I tug on my own helmet and throw my leg over the seat and nearly bite off my fucking tongue when she shimmies close, the heat of her sex seeping under my skin and aiming straight for my cock. I clear my throat. “You good back there?”

  Her thighs squeeze around my hips and my cock grows another inch. Great. Just fucking great.

  “I’m good.” I’m about to start the bike when she puts her mouth near my ear and says, “Thank you for what you did in there, Tyler. The guy just wouldn’t take no for an answer. I was about to introduce his groin to my knee when you came along. Saved me the trouble.”

  I put my hand on her thigh and give it a squeeze. “I know you can take care of yourself, Sara,” I say. “I was just in the right place at the right time, and thought we could end it without a scene.”

  “I’ve taken self defense lessons,” she says, almost indignantly.

  “Good.” I feel a measure of relief to know she can defend herself against unwanted touches as I back out of the parking
spot, and ease into traffic. She hangs on quietly as I drive, the bitter wind biting at my flesh. Her hands come around my body, close over my chest and bring warmth with them. I touch her hand with mine, hold it for a moment, then put it back on the handle bars. I make my way to her place, but I’m not quite ready for this night to end. I drive past it, and she taps my shoulder. I ignore it for a moment, the take the corner until we’re in the parking lot of Lou’s. I shut the bike of, and she taps my shoulder again.

  “What are we doing here?”

  I slide from the seat and help her off, then set the kickstand. “I thought we’d hang out, have a game of pool. Grab a beer. You got all dressed up to go out tonight, and I hate to see you just go back to your apartment.” I pull my helmet off, then reach for hers. Beneath the glare of the parking light, our eyes meet, and the worry on her face is like a gut punch. “Just like old times,” I say and when she frowns, I instantly regret it. Who wants to remember what we can never have again? I sure as fuck don’t. “Just friends, Sara. I thought you might enjoy a game and a drink without some drunk college boy drooling all over you.”

  She goes quiet for a moment, looks down at her feet, like the gravel holds all the answers in the universe. Okay, she doesn’t want to be here with me, even as friends, and I don’t blame her. I need to take her home. I open my mouth, but close it when she lifts her head.

  “Okay, a game of pool and a beer.”

  I guide her inside and a few heads lift, give a nod and then go back to doing whatever it was they were doing. None of the regulars are surprised to see me. I’ve been stopping in for a drink every night since I’ve gotten home and we’ve gotten the small talk out of the way. A few brows did lift when they see who I’m with, though. We walk to the back, and grab one of the free pool tables. Penny, an old friend from high school, steps up to us, tray in hand.

  “What can I get for you tonight, Tyler?” she asks. The music is lower so we don’t have to scream to be heard.

  “Hey Penny, you remember Sara.” I gesture with a nod to Sara, who is looking over the pool cues.

  Penny turns toward her, and her eyes widen. “Sara, I didn’t realize that was you.” Her gaze rakes over Sara’s face, then takes in her too tight mid-thigh black dress. “You look…different.”

  “Hair and make-up. New dress,” Sara says, shifting from foot to foot, a familiar habit.

  Penny clucks her tongue. “You look super hot.”

  Sara’s gaze cuts to me, a light pink color crawling up her neck as she reaches for a pool cue. “Thanks, and you always look nice, Penny.”

  “Aw, you’re too sweet.”

  “We’ll have two beers,” I say.

  Penny disappears with her tray and I step up to Sara. My chest presses against her back, and her quiver goes right through me. I touch her shoulder lightly, run my finger down her arm, and it takes every fucking ounce of strength I have to keep my lips off her. I promised her friendship only, and I won’t do anything to break it.

  “You okay?” I ask.

  Her knuckles turn white as she clutches the stick. “I’m fine,” she says but I can read her well enough to know she’s not. Fuck, man, I’m not going to keep her here for my own selfish reasons. Yeah, I didn’t want to take her home when she’d gotten all dressed up for a night out. While that was partly true, I also wanted to spend more time with her.

  “Look, if you want to get out of here—”

  She turns to face me, and shrugs out of the oversized coat. “Let’s have one game and a beer. It’s not that often I get dressed up and go out. I shouldn’t waste that.”

  I set the balls, and we flip a coin to see who breaks first. Sara wins and cracks the balls and sinks two high balls.

  “Nice.” I grin at her. “I’m impressed.”

  “You should be.”

  “Been practicing?”

  “No, but it’s like riding a bike.” She walks around the table and I scrub my chin working to keep my eyes off her ass, and the way her dress hugs it so nicely. Penny comes back with our drinks and I take a huge gulp, but it does nothing to douse the heat building inside me.

  Sara takes a sip, sets it on the side of the pool table, and bends forward to take a shot. I nearly bite my fucking tongue off. She glances at me.

  “You okay?”

  I lift my glass. “Yeah, fine,” I say and take another drink. For a second, I wonder if she’s fucking with me on purpose, but maybe that’s just wishful thinking. She takes the shot and misses and I push off the wall. She backs up as I make my way around the table and when I glance over my shoulder at her, I find her staring at my ass. Her gaze lifts slowly, and heat moves into her cheeks. She might not be trying to tease me, but I see the need backlighting her eyes, feel it in her body. I take my shot and sink the ball.

  “Nice. I’m impressed.”

  “You should be,” I say.

  She grins, like she’s really enjoying herself, and it’s so fucking adorable, I have to fight the urge to go claim that mouth of hers. We each take a few more shots, and by this time, I’m winning.

  “We should have put down a bet.” I wink and add, “I might have if I didn’t think you were hustling me.”

  She arches a brow, her mood a bit playful, and I fucking love seeing this side of her. “You think I’m hustling you?”

  Not really, but I say, “Maybe a little.”

  “Yeah, what would you have bet, Ty?” she asks, and grabs the chalk.

  “You really want to know?” Unable to help myself, I step up to her, brush the back of my hand over her warm cheek. Do I dare tell her what I would have laid on the table?

  “Yes, I really want to know,” she whispered.

  “I would have laid it all on the line, Sara. Winner takes all.”

  “Define all.”

  “You, in my bed.”

  She inches back and if I could kick my own ass I would. I shouldn’t have said it. What the fuck was I thinking? “Sara, I’m sorry—”

  “I want to go.”

  I nod and put my cue back on the rack. “I’ll take you home.”

  “It’s just around the corner, I’ll walk.”

  I shake my head and drive my hands into my pockets. “No way, Sara. Not happening.”

  “I need the fresh air.”

  “Then I’ll walk with you.”

  She puts her hand on my chest, and my heart crashes as she blinks thick lashes up at me. “You can’t be seen walking into my place with me, Tyler.” She glances around. “We actually shouldn’t even have been seen here together. If my father ever found out, he’d kick you off his field, and I can’t even imagine what he’d do to me. I can’t put him through any more. Plus, I work at a bank…” She lets her words fall off. No need to say what were both already thinking. I’m a goddamn criminal.

  I step back from her. “I understand.”

  “So you agree you won’t walk with me back to my place?”

  I grit my teeth. “I won’t.” But that doesn’t mean I won’t follow.

  Her chin shoots up, like she’s challenging me. “But you’re going to follow, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah.”

  A small laugh escapes her throat as she puts her cue away, and turns back to me. “Honesty. It’s a great trait, Tyler.” She cocks her head to the side, and silence falls as her gaze rakes over my face, a slow careful assessment. I can almost hear the wheels spinning as she studies me. What is going through her mind? “Okay, just so you know, once I’m inside, the security door will lock behind me, but that shouldn’t be an issue for you, right?”

  My heart goes into my throat as my gaze searches hers. Is she saying what I think she’s saying? “Sara—”

  She puts her hand back on my chest, the same hand that touched me so greedily last night, and my heart pounds against her palm as heaviness settles over us. “I can’t fight it, Tyler. I just can’t.” She looks broken, shattered, her expression hollow and haunted, and so help me God, there is nothing in the world I want more th
an to be the guy to put her back together again. “But what I can do is try to get you out of my system. We both need this. This is the only way I know how. But before we go down this road, we need to establish some ground rules.”

  I nod, but I’m not entirely sure what I’m agreeing to. Not that it matters, if it’s what Sara wants, then it’s what Sara gets.

  8

  Sara

  It was his steely determination that did me in, the way he stood next to me, intimidated by no one, as he peacefully sent the drunk college boy packing. Everything in the way he so easily read my body language at the club, and had came to my rescue without causing a scene, washed away every reason I had for keeping my distance.

  Truthfully, I shouldn’t be with him. I’m smart enough to know that. But despite it all, despite everything he put us all through, I can’t resist him. Not then. Not now. I’m helpless to my need as everything about him strips me bare and undermines my willpower to walk away and never look back. We can’t have a committed relationship, and now, all I can hope for is that after enough sex and time I’ll get him out of my system once and for all. It’s a gamble, a foolish one at that, but I have no choice but to take the risk, because we can’t keep going on like this. It’s insanity at best.

  In the distance, I hear his boots breaking the quiet of the night, save for the squealing tires and cop sirens a few blocks away. My stomach clenches, and tingles race down my spine. Arousal and need swamp me and I pick up my pace. I cut across the dimly lit street, duck between two parked cars, and make my way to my building. I climb the steps and steal a glance over my shoulder. In the dark corner, masked by shadows, I spot Tyler. My protector in the night. The same guy who completely destroyed me by breaking every promise he’d ever made to me.

  I fish my keys from my purse, enter my building and hurry to my apartment. I let myself in, and set the lock, my heart racing a million miles an hour. Will Tyler break into my building and come for me, or will he be the sensible one and realize the huge mistake we’re making?