by Linda Kage
“Hey, fucktard, what’re you doing hanging out in here?” Gamble’s voice made me jump right before his palm slapped me across the back of the head.
“Hey, fuck you, man,” I muttered, dodging my face to the side, in case he went after me again. “I’m eating my lunch, what does it look like I’m doing?”
Gam slumped into a matching chair across from me and instantly groaned, throwing his head back as if in the throes of ecstasy. “Damn, these things are comfortable.”
I screwed my face into a grimace. “Dude, stop molesting the poor chair. Seriously.” Not really realizing what I was doing until it was too late, I wound back my arm and threw whatever was in my hand at him, nailing him in the center of the chest. Perfect shot.
“Ouch. What the hell?” He rubbed the spot and picked up the necklace.
I froze and silently hissed every curse word I knew in my head. But what the fuck had I just done?
Gamble stared at the emerald in his palm before he blinked and lifted his face. “What’re you doing with Caroline’s necklace?”
I stared at him.
“What?” I somehow found the voice to ask. I shook my head, confused. But Caroline’s necklace?
Caroline’s necklace?
Gamble narrowed his eyes suspiciously and wrapped his fingers slowly around the amulet. “Why the fuck do you have my sister’s necklace?”
I didn’t know what to say. Fuck, I didn’t even know what to think.
My gaze dropped to his fisted hand and blood rushed to my head. Finally, I pointed. “No. No, that’s not...” I had to shake my head again, unable to even fathom it. “That’s not hers.” It couldn’t be. “I... I...” I looked at my best friend blindly, but all I saw was his sister’s face. Her blue eyes. Her nose. Fuck, they even had similar lips. My hands began to shake. “Are you sure that’s hers?”
There had to be a mistake. Caroline was not Midnight Visitor, no matter how much I’d initially thought she could be.
But then, Jesus, I sprang instant wood over the very idea. Shaking my head some more, I gaped at her brother, waiting for him to change his mind.
“Hell, yes it’s hers,” he said. “I know the only piece of jewelry she ever wears. I even had her birthday engraved on the back before I gave it to her.” He flipped it over to show me, and I had to crawl out of my cushiony seat to step forward and take it from his hand.
I flipped the emerald over. “Fuck me,” I blurted out. I hadn’t even noticed the day May 24th engraved on the back. I looked up blindly at my best friend. “You gave this to her,” I then stupidly repeated.
But oh, holy, holy shit. This was bad. This was incredibly bad.
I’m sure he could see all the guilt on my face because he scowled and yanked it out of my hand. “Of course, I gave it to her. It was for her sixteenth birthday. Emeralds are her birthstone.”
My head must’ve turned into a pendulum because it kept shaking back and forth in total denial. But this was insane. Totally unreal. Caroline really was my midnight visitor? Impossible. In no realm of reality would all my dreams coming true like this even be feasible. “But I’ve never seen her wear it,” I argued, because...shit. I could not let myself believe it was truly true.
Gamble turned the stone in his hand to run his thumb over the emerald. “That’s because she wears it under her shirt. She’s always been worried about losing it.”
My throat felt like it sank into my stomach because I suddenly couldn’t talk. I sat back in my chair, feeling...shit, I don’t even know what I felt.
Feelings sucked ass.
Gamble seared me with an accusing glare. “Care to explain why you have this?”
No. I shook my head. “I thought it was...” Crap. Think. “Hamilton’s woman’s. I...I found it on the couch...in our apartment. I saw it was broken, so I was going to fix it and get it back to Zo—Blondie.”
Fuck, I really was losing it. I’d almost called Blondie by her real name. Panic and shock were making me undoubtedly loopy.
I shrugged what hopefully looked like a careless signal and motioned to the necklace. “But if you’re sure it’s Caroline’s, she must’ve dropped it there some time or other when she was over visiting Ham’s woman.”
Gamble nodded, and a knowing look entered his eyes. “You really have a thing for her, don’t you?”
I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t know what to say. Shit, I was a split second from passing out.
Instead of leaping across the rug between us to strangle me with his bare hands, though, Gamble let a sly smirk spread across his face and he shook his finger. “I knew it! I knew the moment I caught you drawing her name the other day. Designing a tattoo for Quinn, my ass. You want his woman.”
I pulled back in surprise, not expecting him to say that. “Excuse me?”
He just kept nodding as if he was so sure he was right. “Yeah, I knew something was up when you let her move in with you guys after you wouldn’t even let Cora stay overnight.”
Growling, I muttered, “I didn’t let that whore stay overnight with Hamilton because I hated her fucking bitch guts and I was afraid she’d try to crawl out of his bed one night and right into mine. I don’t have to worry about that with Blondie. She actually has morals.”
“Wow, you’ve fallen hard for her, haven’t you?” Gamble shook his head as if amazed. “I never thought I’d see the day. Ten’s in love.”
“I am not!” I snorted and shook my head. “You’re fucking crazy.”
“Don’t worry.” The bastard’s grin just wouldn’t die. “I won’t tell Quinn.”
“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes and decided to just ignore him. Except that didn’t work, so I exploded. “You won’t tell him because there’s nothing to tell. You’re completely fucking wrong. I am not into Blondie.” My gaze slid to his hand still holding that necklace captive, and I had to curl my fingers into fists to keep from diving at him and taking it back.
It belonged to my midnight visitor, to Caroline. I didn’t want him touching it.
“I knew something was off about you lately,” he murmured, nodded his head. “You haven’t been as annoying and crude as your usual self. I should’ve known a woman was involved.”
Well, he was close. Just not close enough. “You’re delusional, man.” Pissed that I wasn’t getting her necklace back, I stood and slung one strap of my book bag over my shoulder. Then I tossed the last of my sandwich in a nearby trash can. “I’m not going to sit here and listen to this shit. I don’t want Blondie. I have no plans of stealing Ham’s woman. And I have been as perfectly crude and annoying as usual.” To prove that last part true, I kicked his foot as I passed him and leaned in to call him the dirtiest, most offensive thing I could think of.
And then I was out of there.
But as soon as I stepped into the April air, I felt even more claustrophobic than I had inside. The panic crowding my chest sucked the oxygen straight from my lungs, until I was nearly gasping for breath. I turned in a slow circle, trying to focus on the blurry images of buildings and trees around me. But I just felt like passing out.
Blindly, I pulled my phone from my pocket, and then I drew in a few deep breaths before I could concentrate enough to focus. After scrolling through the contact list, I shook my head, mystified. I still had Caroline’s number in my address book, and it was a different number than Midnight Visitor’s.
See, they couldn’t be the same person.
Caroline had just gone into my room at some point and dropped her necklace, and that was all. Not that I knew what the hell she would’ve been doing in my room in the first place, but it was plausible...except I’d felt it on Midnight Visitor last night and even asked her about it. And she hadn’t told me about its importance because, Jesus, it’d been a gift from her brother, my best goddamn friend on earth.
Oh, fuck. My vision went black around the edges as I took in the possibility that it really had been Caroline. Stone hard, my dick twitched in my pants, and my skin buzzed with awareness.
Had I fucked Caroline?
The best sex of my life. The way she’d called me Oren. The way she’d sparred with me and gotten into my head.
Jesus, I was so stupid. No one got under my skin the way she did. Why had I even entertained the notion that two different women could affect me the same exact way?
Probably because I’d wanted to believe she was someone else, someone I could actually be with.
I buried my face into my hands and concentrated on breathing. But my body was on fire, I was afraid I might come in my pants. I needed answers, more answers, good solid answers, or I was going to drive myself insane.
Logging into my phone again, I texted Midnight Visitor. Tonight.
She replied almost immediately, which made my blood race to watch a message from her pop up. What? No ‘please’? I don’t feel very inspired to say yes.
Damn, that was such a smart-ass Caroline retort. Why had I not let myself realize that?
My cock pulsed hard. I wanted it to be her so bad, and then again, I didn’t. Everything would change if she was Caroline. It’d no longer be fun, meaningless hot sex. But then, it was already more than that, wasn’t it? This woman had captured my complete attention without me even realizing what was going on. And I still wanted more from her.
Gritting my teeth, I began to type.
I’m already throbbing for you. Don’t wear panties unless you want me to rip them off in inventive new ways, because I’m going to take you HARD as soon as you step into my room. You wanted it dark. Well, prepare for the darkest, grittiest, most sinful sex of your life.
After I shot that note off, I waited, chewing on my bottom lip. When she answered, I blew out a relieved breath.
Okay, I’m inspired.
I grinned. Prepare to be sore tomorrow. Lick you later, baby.
She didn’t respond, and I didn’t want her to. I was too busy scrolling back up to the C’s in my contact list. When I pulled up Caroline’s information, I typed in a new message. What’re you wearing…I mean, doing?
If she was Midnight Visitor, she’d already have her phone open, unless she had two phones. I shook my head. Nah. She’d probably just gotten one of those Google Voice numbers.
And, shit, why the hell hadn’t I thought up that idea before?
Twenty seconds passed and disappointment filled me. Maybe Caroline wasn’t Midnight Visitor after all.
Shit. I’d just been getting into the idea, too.
But then my phone dinged, and my heart lurched.
Why? she said.
“Because I’m about to figure out all your secrets, woman.” A smile slipped onto my face. But instead of telling her that, I wrote, I’m bored.
I envisioned her reading this and giving an irritated sigh. My delight grew.
I’m at the library with Zwinn.
Zwinn?
Quinn and Zoey. You know...Zwinn.
Hmm. I liked that name shipped for them. Jealous I hadn’t thought it up myself, I started toward the library even as I keyed in a reply. A threesome? Kinky.
A typical smutty Oren answer? Unimpressed.
I laughed. Damn, I loved her smart-ass wit. Give me twenty-four hours, and I’ll find a way to impress you. Guaranteed.
Not interested, she wrote back.
“Oh, but you will be,” I murmured. Pocketing my phone, I bounded up the steps to the front door and pulled it open. I’d never been in the campus library before, so I wandered aimlessly for a minute before I found her and the two love doves cozied up at a study table together. After approaching her from behind, I leaned in and whispered into her ear. “Too late, little girl. Prepare to have your mind blown.”
Caroline jumped and whirled around to gape up at me. “What? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Our phone conversation just now.” When her eyes flickered, I wondered which conversation she was thinking about. I blinked innocently and added, “I believe you issued me a challenge to impress you. And I’ve accepted it. I am going to amaze you...probably before you even get to sleep tonight.”
“Oh.” She rolled her eyes. “I thought you were talking in your usual, uncouth sexual innuendo speak.”
I winked at her. “Wow, you have a dirty mind today.” I watched her face as I uttered those carefully chosen words. No memory of our other phone conversation flickered across her expression, though. She merely blinked at me.
Unfazed by her refusal to react, I unzipped my bag and instead of pulling out textbooks to study from, I found a banana and bottle of Powerade. The appetite Gamble had killed minutes ago suddenly roared back to life. Not surprising; I always felt vividly alert around Caroline.
“You know, not everything I do or say revolves around sex,” I told her, picking our conversation back up.
Her gaze tracked the banana’s progress as I unpeeled it and stuck the end into my mouth. Her eyebrows lifted as she watched. “Really?”
I almost choked as I chewed. “Jesus, are you sure everything’s not a sexual innuendo with you? Wow, I was just eating a snack, not giving some imaginary guy head. And FYI, I only get, not give blow jobs.”
Grinding her teeth, she slapped her book closed and glared. “Why the hell are you here, bothering us?”
I turned to Zwinn for the first time since arriving. They were staring at me quite openly, probably wondering why I was being even more annoying than usual. “Am I bothering you two?”
Blondie instantly nodded. “A little bit, yeah.”
“Big time,” Quinn answered right behind her.
I turned away from them. They were no help. But Caroline had already eased her book open again and had her head tipped down as she studied the text. Her pale tresses had a slight wave today that flowed over her shoulder to obstruct her face. I had to shift in my seat to readjust the pinching constraints of my jeans because I was growing so aroused. But staring at that hair only reminded me of how much she liked having it pulled.
Had my fingers really been buried in all that gorgeous blonde as I’d pounded into her?
A moan tried to crawl up my throat. I quickly covered it with a cough. She continued to ignore me. So I openly stared. She picked up a pen and jotted down some notes on the notebook beside her text. My gaze fell to her slim fingers. Had they been wrapped around the base of me last night, tugging until I’d come in her mouth? They could’ve been. And thinking they had been only shot a throb of pure longing through me.
I couldn’t wait until tonight. Tonight, both her life and mine would change forever.
Finishing my banana, I played with the peel as I glanced around for a nearby trash can. My fingers came across the produce label sticker on it. After peeling the sticker away from the yellow skin, I leaned in and pressed it to the back of Caroline’s hand where she was still busy writing.
It totally messed up whatever word she was trying to spell. “What the hell?” She jerked her hand away. “I’m writing here.”
I winked. “Now you can’t say I never gave you anything.”
“Oh, gee. Thank you. I’ll treasure it always.” The dry sarcasm in her voice and plastered across her face told me I hadn’t managed to impress her yet. But the day was still young.
“Really?” I arched an eyebrow. “Twenty bucks says you won’t even be wearing it tomorrow.”
“Oh my God. You really are bored, aren’t you?”
Not even a little bit. I merely smiled at my fly as I finished weaving the web I was going to use to trap her. “What? Twenty bucks, Caroline. Sounds like an easy bet to me. Or does my gift just not mean that much to you?” I pressed a hand to my heart and pretended to look hurt.
She rolled her eyes.
One of these days I was going to count how many times I could make her roll her eyes in a single conversation. There had to be a world record for that shit, didn’t there?
“Fine,” she muttered. “But you better pay up.”
“Oh, I will.”
As Oren slid out of his chair and strolled away,
I stared after him, wondering what had just happened. His cheerful whistle echoed back to me before he turned a corner and disappeared out of sight.
I spun toward Zwinn as I pointed after him. “What was that about?”
While Zoey shrugged, Quinn said, “He must know.”
I flashed my teeth. “He doesn’t know.”
He couldn’t know, though it probably wouldn’t take a genius to figure out who I was. All he’d have to do was flip on a light. Maybe he’d followed me last night after I’d left. Maybe he’d finally recognized my voice. Or maybe Quinn was putting thoughts into my head.
Oren hadn’t let on to Midnight Visitor that he knew anything when he’d just texted her. And what was up with that, anyway, texting and coming to see me right after he’d texted her? Unless...no, I don’t think he knew.
Unless he did.
Crap, I didn’t know what to think anymore. I hated being this confused.
I hated how easily I’d let Midnight Visitor accept that invitation from him too. But that probably had something more to do with the dirty, dark, sinful way he promised to take me. God, I was way too easy for letting sex get in the way of my common sense. But it wasn’t just my hormones moaning for him; my silly, stupid heart was also pro-Oren. Denying him was frankly impossible, no matter how much I tried to encourage myself that a good, healthy no was the way to go.
“I gotta go,” I told Zwinn as I slapped my textbook closed. No way could I study now. I had a night with Oren to look forward to.
A night of dark delights.
Dark. Hmm, I suddenly wondered why he so easily let me keep the lights out when I came to him. I know he’d said he liked the game of not knowing who I was, but it’d been his idea to keep it dark the first night I’d come to him, butting into his plans with Kelly. Maybe that rumor was actually true. He only did it that way.
But...why?
You’d think he was trying to hide something; a deformity or scar or something. Except Oren Tenning was not a modest guy. I’d seen him whip off his shirt numerous times...all glorious, breath taking moments too. I’d seen him in shorts—really short shorts that showed off the muscle and golden tan of his toned thighs. He had no problem exposing his sculpted, athletic body. The only things I hadn’t seen was his cock...or his tush. I doubted he had anything wrong with his tush, though; I’d seen it molded too perfectly to the back of his snug football tights. There was definitely no deformity there.