Eruption (The Hunted Series Book 3)

by Ivy Smoak

  "I get that."

  He sighed. "I'm friends with James. I wouldn't do anything to mess that up after it took so long for him to be cool with us hanging out. Besides, it's not like how it used to be between us. I still love you, but I'm not in love with you. Melissa doesn't seem to understand the difference."

  "Well I do."

  "Yeah, that's how you always felt about me." He laughed and looked back up at me.

  "Are you in love with her?"

  "I don't know. I mean..." he looked uncomfortable. "Honestly, it was just casual hookups. But it was a lot of them. And when she said she was moving here, I offered my place."

  "So she wants it to be more than casual?"

  "I thought so at first."

  "Well, what do you want?"

  He laughed. "I'm not good at relationships."

  I didn't say anything. His response didn't really answer my question. And usually if I stayed silent, he always confessed what he was hiding. Before this, I didn't think we had many secrets from each other at all.

  "It doesn't really matter now. She found an apartment. She's moving out at the end of the month."

  "That's plenty of time to change her mind."

  "I think I should have never slept with your best friend. What the hell was I thinking?"

  "I think it's great. Two of my best friends getting together? What could be better than that?" Even as I said it, I knew it wasn't true. Two of my best friends getting together meant that I could possibly lose both of them. They wouldn't need me anymore.

  He finished his beer and put it down on the coffee table. "Yeah, except..."

  The front door opening cut him off. Melissa walked in with a huge smile on her face. But as soon as she saw me, it instantly vanished. "Hey, guys. What are you two doing?"

  "Waiting for you," I said and smiled at her.

  Her eyes traveled down my body. "Penny, if you needed to borrow something to wear, all my clothes are here. You know that."

  "Yeah. Sorry. I didn't know when you'd be back and I didn't want to rifle through your stuff. Usually Tyler lets me borrow something comfy when we hang out anyway."

  "Mhm." She set her purse down on the kitchen counter. "Of course he does. Well, don't let me bother your guys' time. I'll just get out of your way." She made her way toward the bedroom.

  I stood up. "Melissa, I came over to hang out with both of you."

  "That's not really what it looks like."

  "I'm sorry I borrowed his clothes." Geez. "It's just what I'm used to doing. I won't do it anymore if it makes you uncomfortable."

  "Why would that make me uncomfortable? Borrowing someone's clothes who you slept with one time isn't weird at all. That's completely normal behavior."

  "We're friends."

  "I know that! I just don't want to have to come back to my apartment and see you wearing his clothes like you two just banged."

  I laughed. "You're being ridiculous."

  "I'm being ridiculous? Clearly there's something still going on between you two. You can't even stay out of his pants."

  "We're just friends," Tyler said. "Why won't you believe me?"

  "Because you're both lying. I should have never moved here." She went into the bedroom and slammed the door.

  I was already losing both of them. Neither one of them wanted to talk about these things with me.

  "What I was about to say before she came in was that she's super jealous of our relationship," Tyler said. "And it doesn't matter if I love her. I'm not going to choose between you two."

  "I should go talk to her."

  "Me talking to her sure doesn't help."

  I knocked on the bedroom door and slowly opened it. Melissa was tossing some of her clothes into boxes. I closed the door behind me. I had a feeling I didn't want Tyler to overhear our conversation. "Can we talk?"

  "About what?" She threw some more clothes into the box.

  "About you and Tyler."

  "There is no me and Tyler. Don't be weird."

  "He told me you guys were hooking up."

  She closed one of the lids on the boxes. "Of course he did. I forgot that you two don't have any secrets."

  "I didn't think you and I did either. Why didn't you tell me?"

  "You know the worst part?" she said, ignoring my question. "I have nowhere to go now. Because I'm mad at you too."

  "I don't understand why you're mad at me."

  She stood up and pointed at me. "You're wearing his clothes. What the fuck are you doing?"

  "I always..."

  "Yeah, you always borrow his sweatpants and watch Shark Tank together because that's your thing." She made quote marks with her fingers when she said thing. "And there's no room for me when you're around because he's always going to put you first. God, I never should have slept with him."

  "There is absolutely nothing going on between Tyler and me. I'm marrying James in less than two weeks. I don't know what other proof you need."

  She looked down at my pants.

  "Jesus, Melissa." I pulled them off and tossed them at her. "Tyler and I are friends. I thought we were too. Can you just talk to me for two seconds before throwing a fit?"

  She burst into tears.

  "Melissa." I went over to her and put my arms around her.

  "He's never going to love me like he loved you," she sobbed into my shoulder.

  "That isn't true."

  "Of course it is. He was obsessed with you for years. He's just settling for me. I don't want to be someone's second choice."

  I ran my hand up and down her back. "You're not. He wanted you to move in with him. He looks forward to coming home to you. And he definitely doesn't want you to move out."

  She pulled back from me. "Did he say that?"

  "Yes."

  "When he talks about you it just makes me so mad. It's always Penny this or Penny that. I know you guys are friends. I know you guys talk and hang out all the time. I just...I don't know how to deal with it, knowing that you've been more than friends in the past." She sighed and sat down on the edge of Tyler's bed. The only time I had even been in here was when I had helped him move in. I wasn't interested in sharing a bed with Tyler. I never thought about him like that. He really was just a friend. And I didn't want to be what stood in the way of Tyler and Melissa being happy. I had already done that enough to Tyler. Maybe I should just step back. What it came down to was that Melissa never believed that boys and girls could just be friends. It didn't matter that I had proof with Mason, Matt, and Rob; she'd never understand.

  "If you want, I'll give you both some space to figure this thing out. I don't want to be the reason why you guys break up."

  "We can't break up. We're not even officially dating."

  "You know what I mean. I came over tonight to talk to you guys about this. I didn't want to be kept in the dark. But I realize why you didn't want to talk about it." I grabbed a pair of yoga pants out of the box that Melissa had been packing and pulled them on. "I shouldn't have butted in. But I missed you. I thought when you moved here we'd be hanging out all the time."

  "I know. I'm sorry." She was looking down at her lap instead of at me. "I just need some time."

  I didn't want her to be mad at me. I wanted to be able to say that she could have as much time as she needed. But I couldn't help but think that my wedding was in less than two weeks and I needed her. "I hope that you two can work it out."

  She didn't say anything as I left the room. I closed the door behind me. I didn't even want to make eye contact with Tyler. Melissa had been yelling. He had already heard the whole conversation.

  "I'm just going to go. You should probably go talk to her."

  "Penny." He stood up and walked toward me. "You don't have to go."

  "I think maybe you do have to choose," I whispered. I didn't want Melissa to overhear me. "At least for awhile. If you want to be with her, then she has to come first. You have to tell her how you really feel."

  "I feel like she's a lot for me to
handle." He gave me a small smile.

  "Yeah, she is. And I'm pretty sure you knew that going into it."

  He sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "I'm sorry about all this."

  "There's nothing to apologize about. I hope that you two can work it out," I said, repeating the same thing I had said to Melissa. I grabbed my shoes off the ground and left as quickly as I could. When I closed the door behind me, it felt so final. Melissa and Tyler were the last parts of my old life I was holding onto. I didn't want to lose them too. But it wasn't my choice.

  Chapter 16

  Tuesday

  I wasn't sure when James would be back. He had probably thought I'd be spending most of the evening at Tyler and Melissa's. I flipped through the channels until I found a rerun of New Girl. The T.V. seemed to echo in the empty apartment. Melissa and I always used to watch this show together. I pulled a blanket onto my lap and tried to focus on the T.V. instead of my nagging thoughts. In the show, Winston was currently pulling a prank that was much too small. I had just gotten into the episode when the door to the apartment opened.

  "Hey, baby," James said. He tossed his keys on the kitchen counter and draped his suit jacket over the back of one of the chairs.

  "Hey," I looked over my shoulder and smiled at him as he walked toward me. "Did you have a good night?"

  He laid down on the couch and put his head on my lap. "Yeah. What are we watching?" Instead of looking at the T.V., he was looking up at me.

  I ran my fingers through his hair. "New Girl." James was horrible at watching T.V. It was like he didn't have the attention span for it. Which was strange because he could focus on other things for hours or even days. I knew he hadn't watched much T.V. growing up, so maybe he just never got used to it. Even though I wanted to see Winston's reaction to his prank going horribly wrong, I grabbed the remote to turn it off.

  "No, I want to watch," James said and turned his face toward the T.V.

  I looked over my shoulder toward the door. He hadn't brought any bags in or anything. He had said he had errands to run. Where had he been if he didn't bring anything back with him? "What were you up to tonight?"

  "I just had some errands to run." He kept his eyes glued to the T.V. When the show went to commercial, he turned back toward me. "Was I right about Tyler and Melissa?"

  "Yeah." I sighed. "Melissa wants me to stay away for awhile so they can figure things out."

  "Why?"

  "She's uncomfortable with my friendship with Tyler. It's stupid."

  "Were you wearing this?" He lifted up the bottom of Tyler's old shirt.

  "Yes." I shrugged my shoulders. That was the exact thing that had bothered Melissa.

  He laughed. "You two do have a weird relationship."

  "We do not."

  "I'm not complaining. But I can see how it might make her uncomfortable."

  I frowned. "Does it make you uncomfortable?"

  "I'm confident in our relationship. Melissa and Tyler just started dating, so she's not confident in their relationship yet. Just different circumstances."

  "But does it make you uncomfortable?"

  "It used to. But I trust you. And I trust him. Besides, you do look good in baggy t-shirts." He pushed the fabric up my torso and kissed my hipbone.

  I laughed.

  "Although, you look even better with no shirt at all." He pushed the t-shirt up even farther, kissing the bottom of my ribcage.

  "Except we agreed to no funny business until the wedding."

  "About that. I was thinking...mouth stuff doesn't really count as sex, does it?"

  I laughed. "Yes, it does."

  "Are you sure?" He kissed me right above the waistline of my pants. "I've been waiting to taste you all day."

  I gulped.

  "There's nothing I want more right now than to feel your tight pussy come around my tongue." He pulled down slightly on the waistband of my pants. His warm breath sent chills through my body.

  Fuck. He knew how horny I got when he talked like that. I felt my hips rise without my brain's permission.

  He kissed my hipbone again. "Let me give you what you want. Just say yes, baby."

  I laughed and wiggled away from him. "Mouth stuff is against the rules and you know it. You're not going to win this one, James."

  He lowered his eyebrows. "What about hand stuff then? Everyone does that." His palm slipped between my thighs, gently massaging me through my pants.

  I half groaned half laughed. "Everyone does that? What do you even mean by that?"

  He laughed. "Come on. We both knew we'd cheat a little."

  "You mean, like this?" I put my hand on his cock that was pressing against his suit pants.

  He locked eyes with me, daring me to take it further.

  I moved my hand from his base to his tip and watched him staring intently back at me. There was fire in his eyes. I could get him to give into me. I just needed to give him an extra push. "You know you want me on my knees with my lips around your cock. I want you to come in my mouth." I moved off the couch and kneeled in front of him, trailing my hands up his thighs.

  His Adam's apple rose and fell.

  "I want to swallow every ounce." I reached for the button of his pants. "How about you say yes?"

  He grabbed my hand and raised his left eyebrow. "The only thing I'm saying yes to is a cold shower." He got up off the couch and stretched. "You're welcome to join me if you're ready to throw in the towel. Trust me, the reward will be well worth the defeat." His eyes on me made my whole body feel warm. I didn't doubt that he'd be overly generous if I admitted defeat. But I wanted to be the one that made him cave.

  I sighed and sat back down on the couch. "Go take your shower, James." I grabbed the remote and tried to focus on my show.

  He laughed and walked out of the living room. He took off his shirt as he walked up the stairs and I almost moaned at the sight of his muscular back. I was in trouble.

  ***

  "The cake tasting is Thursday. And I have a dress fitting on Saturday. Besides that, it's only last minute stuff." My head was on James' bare chest and I was savoring the rise and fall of it beneath my cheek. There was an intimacy about this too. I liked being close to him and talking to him. I had never felt so comfortable around anyone in my life. We just fit so perfectly together.

  He absentmindedly ran his fingers through my hair. "What kind of dress did you get?"

  I laughed and moved some of my weight to my hand so I could look up at him. "I can't tell you that."

  He crossed his hands behind his head and smiled. "Not even a hint?"

  "Don't you want to be surprised?" I asked.

  "I'll tell you what I'm wearing."

  I laughed again. "I already know you're wearing a tux."

  He raised his eyebrow. "Maybe not." His grin was contagious.

  "What else would you wear?"

  "Tell me yours and I'll tell you mine."

  I leaned over him and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "I don't think so. Besides, you could wear meggings and a turtleneck and I'd still marry you."

  He laughed. "What the hell are meggings?"

  "You know, like leggings for men."

  "I didn't know they made leggings for men. Sounds like a good birthday gift." He pressed his lips together to prevent himself from laughing again.

  His birthday was next month and he knew I always struggled to think of something to get him. "You know, if you don't give me any other hints about what to get you, I might be forced to buy you a pair."

  He laughed. "How about I cash in an early birthday gift right now?"

  "James, all you have to do is say you cave."

  "My beautiful soon-to-be-wife is ridiculously stubborn."

  "I'm stubborn? What about you?"

  He shrugged. "Only 10 days, 18 hours, and 15 minutes to go. But who's counting?"

  I smiled. I loved that he was counting down the time to our wedding. "You really think you can resist me that long?"

  "No.
Or else I would have just agreed to wait. But I'm giving it to the end of the week, tops. I should be able to get you to beg me by then." He looked so nonchalant. Like it was a given that I was going to lose.

  "We'll see about that." I had just gotten the perfect idea on how to get him to cave. "Goodnight, Professor Hunter."

  His throat made a low groaning noise.

  I kissed his cheek and rolled onto my side. In a second his arms were wrapped securely around me. When I was little, I couldn't fall asleep without hugging my teddy bear. Every night, James fell asleep with his arms around me. He was my new safety net. I drifted to sleep knowing that I was his equivalent.

  Chapter 17

  Thursday

  "Did you ask him yet?" Sierra said when she returned to her desk with a cup of coffee.

  I looked up from my computer screen. Earlier this morning I had texted Melissa about hanging out tomorrow night, but I still hadn't heard back. Every day her silence weighed on me more and more. It was getting hard not to think about it. "I'm sorry, Sierra, I keep forgetting. We've been so busy with..."

  "Ask him during lunch today."

  "Yeah, okay, thanks for reminding me." For the past few days my fellow interns had been nagging me nonstop about meeting up with James and me after work one day this week. And the more they asked me about it, the less I wanted to ask James. It was pretty clear that they didn't care about getting to know me. They just wanted to meet him. But I couldn't really blame them. Who wouldn't want to spend time with James? "What day are you guys all free?"

  "I could do tonight," Tavon said and put his hands behind his head. Sometimes he leaned back so far in his chair that it seemed like it was going to tip over.

  "Tonight would be great!" Sierra said. "But I'm free pretty much every night." She laughed awkwardly after saying it, which just made me feel bad. She was new to the city. I should be helping her out, not avoiding her. What did it matter if she had a crush on James? Every single girl in New York probably had a crush on James.

  "We have a cake tasting after work tonight, but maybe tomorrow..."