Game

by Ashley Love

  "Are you speaking in past tense on purpose?"

  "Yeah. We broke up."

  "Wait, what? Tonight? Is it because of what I did?"

  "No, it wasn't because of you. Not really. I suppose once we got some distance between us we realized exactly what you're saying. We weren't really committed to each other; it was just a convenient label. One that's apparently no longer convenient to either of us."

  "I'm sorry, Cassie."

  She shrugged. "Don't be. I'm not. It was a relief, to be honest, though I couldn't really tell you why. The whole relationship was starting to stress me out."

  There was nothing he could think to say to that so he threaded his fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp gently in an effort to comfort her. After a while he noticed that her eyes had drifted closed and he chuckled lightly. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and extricated himself from under her. It was too bad; he wouldn't have minded spending the night with her warm body curled up against him, but he didn't want to risk Aaron finding him in here in the morning.

  After a nerve wracking few minutes listening at her door and peeking out into the hall, he made it safely back to Aaron's room and climbed into the bed alone. The smell of Stephanie's perfume was all over the sheets and he groaned and rolled to one side, covering his face with a pillow to muffle the scent, and drifted into a fitful sleep.

  5

  It had been two days since he'd had a chance to really be alone with Cassie and Jax was getting frustrated. He thought Aaron would be distracted with Stephanie there, but apparently Aaron was using him as an excuse to not spend time alone with her. Normally he wouldn't have minded serving as his best friend's third wheel, and would have enjoyed the opportunity to bug the shit out of Aaron with off-color comments designed to embarrass him in front of his girlfriend, but this time Jax had other things he wanted to be doing.

  Or one other thing.

  It was a special kind of torture to be around Cassie and try to act like nothing had changed. Her enthusiastic response the other night had made quite an impression on him and ever since then his imagination had been working overtime. He couldn't seem to stop the flood of erotic thoughts and images that sprang into his mind every time he looked at her. Or hell, even thought about her. It felt like he was walking around with a permanent hard on. They'd snatched a few moments here and there and it had been hot as hell, but not nearly enough.

  Yesterday morning he'd been disappointed to find that she'd already left the house by the time he dragged himself out of bed, but figured it was probably a good idea to keep his morning wood as far away from her as possible. At least as long as Aaron was in such close proximity.

  While Stephanie and Aaron sorted through the boxes she'd brought from his old apartment, Jax took the opportunity to go home and spend the morning with his mom and the new boyfriend she'd been dying for him to meet. John seemed like a good guy. He was quiet and reserved and Jax was struck with the gentleness and respect with which he treated his mother. It was nice to see her happy.

  Later that day Aaron called and asked him if he wanted to go see a movie. Jax had been both pleased and alarmed when they arrived to pick him up and Cassie was with them. The second he slid into the backseat next to her and she turned that sweet smile on him he knew he was in trouble.

  She sat next to him in the theater and every time she'd run her fingers through her long hair he'd get whiffs of her pear-scented shampoo. That, combined with the fact that she kept crossing and uncrossing her legs making the swishy little skirt she had on ride up higher and higher, had him sliding sideways glances at her every few seconds. It was an exercise in self-control to keep from running his hand up her thigh to see whether she was as turned on as he was.

  He got up to get popcorn halfway through the movie just to give himself a few minutes of relief and while he was waiting in line she came up behind him and grabbed his ass. It surprised the hell out of him and he didn't really take time to consider the wisdom of his actions before he took her hand and dragged her into a stall in the ladies room, ignoring her giggled protests. Her giggles died as he slid his hand up her skirt and he wasn't all that surprised to find that she was indeed just as turned on as he was.

  The second his fingers made contact she moaned encouragement. He told her to prop her foot on the toilet seat, pushed her panties to the side and slid two fingers deep inside her. The way she clutched at his t-shirt and grunted softly with each thrust made him want to take it slow and make her beg for it, but he knew they didn't have time. They were pushing their luck as it was.

  His thumb found her clit and within a few minutes he was pressing her face to his neck to muffle her cry as she came on his fingers. She whispered his name so sweetly afterward that it didn't bother him in the least that they didn't have time for her to return the favor. He did, however, make sure she was looking when he sucked his fingers clean and gave in to a sly grin as her face turned bright red. She was embarrassed, but he could tell by the fire in her eyes that it turned her on.

  In the end, Jax walked out of the theater unable to even name the movie that they'd gone to see. When they all went out to dinner together afterward he had to make a concerted effort to act normal. Fortunately it wasn't all that difficult given Stephanie's tendency to dominate the conversation, constantly steering it back to herself in that insistent, whiny voice. There were a few lingering glances between he and Cassie, but if Aaron noticed them he would hopefully chalk them up to their obvious shared dislike of his girlfriend.

  Later that night he took a cold shower, muttering frustrated curses as he stroked himself to one of the least satisfying orgasms of his entire life. He determined then and there that one way or the other he was going to have to get Cassie alone the next day if he didn't want his balls to shrivel up and fall off in protest.

  Fortunately that turned out to be easier than he thought it would be. Stephanie left early in the afternoon after a brief but heated argument about Aaron playing Call of Duty all morning. Jax actually felt bad for her when the argument, and apparently their relationship, ended with Stephanie tearfully declaring that Aaron's priorities were fucked up and Aaron nonchalantly informing her that they weren't going to change so if she felt that way she could go ahead and leave.

  As soon as she was gone Aaron started calling around to find something to do that night. He got in touch with a couple of guys from his high school basketball team and they made plans to go hit some bars. Not having played basketball it wasn't suspicious when Jax begged off for the night, secretly hoping Cassie would be free. His mom was going out with her boyfriend so he knew he'd have the place to himself until late that night.

  He knew she was in the house, but he was trying to play it cool until he got a chance to talk to her alone. At first he pretended not to notice her walking past the open bedroom door, but the fourth time she passed by he couldn't help smiling to himself at her obvious attempt to get his attention.

  Her sandals made a slapping noise as she went down the stairs and suddenly he had the powerful urge to go get a drink. He paused the video game he wasn't really playing and looked over at Aaron, who was absorbed in something on his laptop.

  "I'm gonna get a drink, you want anything?"

  "Yeah, grab me a Coke."

  He tried not to let himself get too worked up as he followed her down the stairs. With Aaron in the house he knew he couldn't really do anything, but he needed to talk to her; wanted to touch her.

  She was bent over at the waist, digging in the bottom of a cabinet when he walked into the kitchen. Those same little khaki shorts from a few days ago were pulled tight across her ass and he caught himself making a growling noise when he noticed they were so short her underwear were peeking out of the bottom. She started to straighten up as he approached, but his hand made contact with her ass cheek before she quite managed it, the slap echoing through the kitchen.

  "Ow! What the hell was that?" she asked, turning to face him, her eyebrows drawn together in irr
itation.

  "That was for being a tease." He backed her up against the counter and pressed his body against hers.

  Her face relaxed and he could see the glimmer of amusement in her eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

  "No? What were you looking for in that cabinet?"

  "I, um..."

  "Uh huh." His hand slid down her back to the cheek he'd just smacked, squeezing hard before drifting around the muscular curve of her ass to the crease at the top of her thigh. "You just wanted me to see how hot your ass looks in those sexy little shorts." His fingers followed the elastic of her underwear, the damp heat between her legs drawing them in like a moth to flame.

  "Does it?" she asked, her voice going breathy and her eyes fluttering closed as he traced the outline of her outer lips through her panties.

  "You know it does. And you knew it would make my dick hard even though you know there's not a damn thing I can do about it right now."

  "Did it work?"

  He tightened his hand, his finger pressing deeper into her slit as he pulled her hard against his body. She made a whimpering noise and grabbed his hips to steady herself.

  "What do you think?" he asked, pressing the evidence against her belly.

  She didn't respond, just moaned and dug her fingers into the muscles of his lower back. Her teeth scraped against his neck, her hot breath spilling out as she sucked his skin into her mouth. It felt so damn good he tangled his fingers in the hair at the back of her head to hold her there as he grinded against her.

  Suddenly coming to his senses, he tugged her head back before she could leave a mark that he'd never be able to explain away.

  "What are you doing tonight?" he asked, his finger sliding along the wet cotton of her panties

  "Mmm...nothing."

  "I'm gonna be home all alone. Why don't you come over and keep me company?" His finger zeroed in on the hard nub of her clit and he pressed harder. "I'll teach you the real meaning of the word tease."

  He watched the blood rush into her cheeks, heard her breath catch. When she looked up at him her brown eyes looked nearly black.

  "Sounds...educational."

  "Oh, it will be," he said, his voice dark with desire. Damn, she was so wet, it was all he could do not to yank those shorts off her and—

  "I wouldn't want to pass up the chance to learn something new."

  "Babe, I can teach you all kinds of new things. You have no idea." The tip of his finger dipped into her heated depths for a brief second and she gasped, pressing her forehead against his shoulder. Shit, he had to get control of himself. He stilled his finger and took a deep breath. "I want you to do something for me," he whispered.

  "What?" she moaned, moving against the hand still clasped between her legs, urging him to continue.

  Jax softened his touch and smiled at her frustrated grunt.

  "I want you to go to your room..."

  She nodded and wiggled her hips as he let his fingers slip away.

  "And I want you to lock your door..."

  He trailed his hand up her ass and she lifted up on her tiptoes.

  "And take your shorts off."

  She froze in his arms.

  "And those wet panties."

  The noise she made was something between a moan and a whine.

  "And slide your fingers between your legs—"

  "Jax..." her voice trailed off into a whisper as he pulled her close again, sucking the sensitive skin under her ear.

  "Mmm, if you want to say my name just like that while you do it, that'd be fine with me," he murmured against her neck.

  "I don't know..."

  "Don't pretend you don't want it. I know how wet you are. I can't give you what you want right now, Cassie. Do it for me. Make yourself cum for me."

  After a brief pause he felt her warm breath as she sighed against his neck.

  "Okay."

  "Good," he said with a smile. He moved back a step and gave her other ass cheek a hard swat and she yelped in surprise.

  "What was that for?"

  "That was just because I like to slap your ass," he said with a cocky grin as he turned and grabbed two Cokes out of the fridge.

  "Dick," she muttered behind him, but he could hear the smile in her voice.

  Jax chuckled as he walked away, trying to wipe the huge grin off his face before he made it back to Aaron's room. Aaron barely looked up when he came back in, which was probably a good thing because the grin seemed to be glued on.

  He pretended to be engrossed in looking at something on his phone and forced himself not to look up as Cassie passed by on the way to her room. He heard her door shut and almost groaned in frustration as he counted down the minutes imagining what was going on in there.

  Her shorts would be off by now. She'd hesitate for a minute, trying to get up her courage. She'd close her eyes and let her hand slide down that smooth flat belly until she reached that sweet wet heat. She'd spread her legs when her fingers found her clit, the pleasure forcing her self-consciousness into the background. Her fingers would get all wet and shiny, start sliding in and out...

  Was she thinking about him?

  Fuck. This was a really bad idea. He shifted on the bed, quickly realizing he was in trouble. With a glance to make sure Aaron was still occupied he rose silently and walked straight to the bathroom. He shut the door and leaned back against it, exhaling heavily. Damn, he was playing with fire. In more ways than one.

  Not only was he risking an ass-beating sneaking around like this with Aaron right there, he was driving himself insane. He'd never wanted anything as bad as he wanted to bust into her room and fuck Cassie right this second. God, she would love it too, he'd make damn sure of that.

  Cursing himself for ever agreeing to those stupid rules, he tried to calm down and think instead about all the reasons it would be a terrible idea. Number one, of course, was that she made it perfectly clear that sex was off-limits. He suspected she wanted it as bad as he did, but unless she said otherwise he would respect her decision. And even if she did say otherwise he wasn't sure it would be a good idea.

  She was young and inexperienced. No matter how much of a little vixen she was turning out to be he had to remember that. She'd only been with a couple of other guys, both of them boyfriends. Casual sex wasn't something she was equipped to deal with. Hell, casual kissing wasn't something she was equipped to deal with, apparently. That alone should have been enough to stop him in his tracks before any of this got started.

  He shook his head at his own stupidity and told himself he should just call the whole thing off before it went any further. Before she got hurt. She was so sweet, so trusting, and while she'd clearly enjoyed everything they'd done so far, he couldn't help feeling like an asshole for letting it continue. Maybe he was a dick after all.

  Thinking along those lines had the desired effect and after a few more minutes of berating himself he felt it was safe to be in the same room with Aaron again. He opened the bathroom door and stepped out, nearly walking right into Cassie. Her startled gasp told him she was just as surprised as he was to run into him. Her red cheeks and sparkling eyes told him she had just finished doing exactly what he asked her to do.

  All those chivalrous thoughts dissolved into nothing.

  Jax's eyes darted quickly toward Aaron's door and he grabbed Cassie's hand, lifting it to his nose. He suppressed a moan at the scent of her arousal on her fingers. Silently, staring into her eyes, he closed his lips around her index finger and dragged his tongue along her skin, tasting the remnants of her juices. Her breath caught in her throat and her face flushed, but she didn't pull away. He lifted her middle finger and sucked it clean too, smiling when her body swayed toward him.

  He let go of her hand, but she pressed the tip of her ring finger to his lips with a coy smile. His eyebrows shot up and he parted his lips, letting her slide a third finger coated with the taste of her into his mouth. He closed his eyes and saw her writhing on her bed with three fingers b
uried inside her glistening pussy, moaning his name as she brought herself to a powerful orgasm.

  God. Damn. He had to get out of here. When he opened his eyes she was grinning at him like the Cheshire cat. He shook his head and grinned back.

  "Tonight," he whispered under his breath.

  She nodded and squeezed past him into the bathroom, throwing one last smile over her shoulder as she closed the door. Jax strolled casually into Aaron's room and announced he was heading home.

  "Alright man, take it easy. Let me know if you change your mind about tonight. We're gonna hit a few places, but I'll have my phone on me if you want to meet up."

  "I will. I think I'm just gonna chill at home, though."

  "Cool. Give me a call tomorrow, bro."

  Jax went home and collapsed on his bed, staring at the ceiling. What the fuck was wrong with him? He wasn't disciplined by nature, but his martial arts training had drilled it into him. So while he didn't always instinctively know the right thing to do, usually once he determined what he thought was right he didn't waffle, holding himself firmly to his own moral standards.

  But there was something about Cassie that made his resolve crumble. How many times now had he decided not to mess with her and then gone ahead and done it anyway? Even now he knew he should call it off, but despite the sensible portion of his brain that told him the whole thing was a bad idea, he couldn't stop. He didn't want to stop.

  She didn't want to stop either; he knew that for a fact. The change in her just in the last couple of days was amazing. There was a fiery wildcat quickly emerging from under the uptight prude. Apparently all she needed was a little nudge in the right direction; someone to encourage her to let go and trust her instincts. He could be that someone. He wanted to be that someone.

  He already was that someone.

  That was what made up his mind. Fully aware that it was a convenient justification for his own selfish desires, he told himself that if there was damage to be done, it was already done. If she did have feelings for him, which he wasn't even sure she did, stopping now would surely feel like a rejection. As amazing as she'd been, he definitely didn't want her to think she had done something wrong or disappointed him in any way. He didn't want to do anything that would smother her emerging sexuality.