High Strung (Power Station Book 1)

by Gephart, T

  “I’m such a good girl, such a good, good girl,” I moaned into his mouth, sliding my hand into the front of his pants. He hissed as my fingertips made contact with his skin.

  “Yeah, you’re really good.” He gently eased my hand away from his erection, his sexy smile making me want him more. “But unless you want me to come in your hand you are going to need to stop that, not that I have a problem with it, ’cause I don’t, but I think we should probably get your friend home first.”

  “I want you, Dan. I want to have sex with you,” I whispered into his ear, trying to be seductive but for some reason the word sex sounded so funny coming out of my mouth, it made me laugh.

  Dan teased my lower lip down with his thumb. “Ashlyn, you’re so drunk you have no idea what you’re saying right now, babe.”

  It’s strange, it was as if I was someone else, like I could say or do anything I wanted. I was braver, bolder, and his hand on my lips just turned me on more. I captured his thumb with my teeth, drew it into my mouth and sucked it hard. His jaw tightened. “Babe, seriously. I’m not even kidding. I’m so primed right now I’m going to blow my load in my jeans like a thirteen-year-old boy. I need you to really think about what we are doing, I’m not smart enough to be thinking for the both of us.”

  “It’s killing me,” Megs whined from the row of seats behind, reminding us she was still with us. “It’s okay, Troy Harris, you can chop it off, I’ll be brave.”

  “Megs, we’re not going to chop off your foot.” Troy chuckled, his voice surprisingly calm. “It looks like just a sprain. I still think we should swing by the ER and get it looked at.”

  “Noooooooo,” Megs begged, sounding less like the twenty-nine-year-old professional she was and more like she just caught underage drinking. “They’ll tell my dad. I’ll be a laughing stock. We can’t go to the hospital. Just get me home.”

  “Okay, Megs, we’ll get you home.” Troy tried to comfort Megs and he was being so incredibly sweet with her. “If you twist around, I can elevate your foot for you. Hopefully it will help with the swelling.”

  As I leaned up against Dan’s chest, a sense of ease flowed through me. Strangely, it was as if I didn’t have to worry about Megs. She was in good hands. Whatever my thoughts had been about these guys, I was wrong. They weren’t bad guys.

  “Oh thank you, Troy Harris,” Megs crooned, her discomfort eased by Troy’s hands on her feet.

  “Megs, just Troy. Seriously, just Troy.” Despite it being the fiftieth time Troy had told Megs, there was no annoyance in his voice.

  “I like saying your name though…it’s sexy, like you, Troy Harris,” Megs said sweetly.

  “So you keep saying.” He chuckled.

  “I have to hand it to you, Dan, I was convinced tonight was going to blow but it has been rather amusing.” Jason’s voice floated from the front seat. I had forgotten he was with us, obviously sitting next to the mysterious driver who had barely spoken.

  “Whatever, douchebag.” Dan flipped him off which for some inane reason made me laugh.

  “That’s such a funny word.” I smiled as my hands once again slithered southward.

  “You girls are so wasted.” Dan smirked as he gently stroked my arm.

  I tilted my head to look at him saying the words I’d been dying to say all night. “Take me to bed, Dan. Stay with me tonight.”

  “Oh shit.” I rubbed my hands across my face, Dan hadn’t seduced me. I had seduced him. A fractured memory was providing more insight as to how Dan ended up in my apartment last night.

  “What? What oh shit? Tell me I didn’t make an even bigger ass of myself than it sounded like.” Megs paled. While I had wanted to spare her the details, I figured it was better to be honest and tell her exactly what I remembered. Her muffin and her coffee forgotten as she carefully placed them on the side table. Obviously, the caffeine hit and nourishment was going to have to wait.

  “I threw myself at him, Megs. He confronted me with it this morning and I denied it. I flat out refused to hear him out, but I remember being in the car, I remember having my hands all over him and asking him to spend the night.” Sipping my coffee, not willing to forgo my caffeine injection.

  “So you slept with him?” Megs’s eyes widened.

  “I guess I did because he was still there this morning, but I honestly can’t remember.” My fingers squeezed at the bridge of my nose. “Who forgets they had sex? Is that even possible to have sex and have no recollection of it at all?” I mean, surely I should have remembered something? It’s not like I had sex a lot, surely it would have stood out in my brain as something noteworthy.

  “There’s a few times I’d rather forget but sadly they are still with me,” Megs commiserated. “So you guys dropped me off and then you went to back to your place. Do you remember anything about getting home?”

  I closed my eyes, trying to force the fragmented night to somehow piece itself together in temporal lobe.

  “Babe, you sure this is where you live?” Dan glanced out of the tinted window of the Suburban, studying the derelict building I had directed the driver to.

  “Yes, this is me. I have to grab my keys, the security light is out again and I can never find the keyhole in the dark.” I fumbled in my clutch for my keys, pulling out my phone instead. “I have to text Megs, she likes to know I get home safe. Unless I stay at her house, then she automatically knows I’m okay.” I hoped the sentence made sense to Dan, the words didn’t sound right as they spilled from my mouth but there wasn’t a lot I could do to steer them into anything more coherent.

  Dan opened the door as I finally fished out my keys. I held them up victoriously, jingling them in my fingers as I placed my clutch on the seat beside me and unhooked my seatbelt.

  Dan stepped out of the car and walked around to my side of the car. “Let me walk you up, okay?”

  “You aren’t staying? You said you would stay.” I pouted as I stepped onto the sidewalk, doing my best puppy dog impression and trying to not drop my keys or my phone.

  Dan pulled me into a hug, his breath tickling my ear. “Babe, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m really trying not to be a piece of shit here and I have to tell you, my dick wants to kick my ass right now.”

  “But I want you.” I wrapped my arms around his neck, ignoring the idling car waiting for his return. “Maybe I should have words with your dick, we both seem to want the same things.”

  “Fuck, Ashlyn.” He released himself from my embrace. “Look, give me one minute.”

  He moved over to the car and spoke to Troy through the window. I couldn’t hear what was being said but it felt like victory. I had convinced him to stay. He was going to have sex with me. It was going to be good sex too, I bet. He looked like he was built for it and I couldn’t tell you the last time I actually came. Well not when a guy was present anyway. Dan Evans was going to make me orgasm.

  “Okay, babe, lead the way.” He put his arm around me and walked me up the stairs of my apartment building.

  While I was no closer to finding out how good the sex had been, I was fairly sure I knew where my clutch was. Probably sitting on the backseat of the Suburban, where I had stupidly left it after grabbing my keys. I scrubbed my face with my hands. I was going to have to call him. I wasn’t sure if it was excitement or dread bubbling in the pit of my stomach.

  “I have to call him,” I vocalized, clueing Megs into my internal thoughts.

  “Well I was hoping if you’d slept with him, at the very least you were going to see each other again.”

  “I hadn’t planned on it but I guess I don’t have much choice. Unless I get him to UPS my clutch to me.” I laughed, knowing how ridiculous that sounded. We were adults, sure it might be awkward, but we could move past it so that he could give me my misplaced item and I could try to salvage some self-respect.

  I placed my half-empty cup on the coffee table in front of me and pulled my phone from my pocket. I scrolled down my contact list, angling my screen away
from Megs so she wasn’t able to see the sensual shot Dan had gifted me with this morning. My finger hovered over his name, not quite able to make that final step.

  “Just call him already.” Megs gently shoved my shoulder.

  “Don’t rush me. I’m calling.” I pressed call before I had the opportunity to chicken out. My heart was beating so fast, I was positive he was going to be able to hear it.

  “Yo. Talk to me.” Dan’s voice burst from the speaker. His New York accent seemed more pronounced on the phone.

  “Dan? Is that you?” I knew it was him, so I’m not sure why I asked for confirmation. No doubt my subconscious was buying me some precious time so I could work out what I was going to say.

  “Ashlyn.” He said my name and all I could think about was him standing in my room, wearing only a towel. “Miss me already? I knew you’d call.”

  His arrogance grated on me. Had this been his plan the whole time? Knowing I would have no choice but to call? No, while Dan was cocky I didn’t think he would be that premeditated. Still, I decided to play it safe. “Yeah well, this isn’t really a social call, so don’t get too excited. I need my clutch, I left it in your car.”

  “You left your clutch in the car? Is that some kind of riddle?” The confusion in his voice was adorable. “Isn’t that where a clutch belongs?”

  “Not a clutch for gears. An evening bag, a clutch.” I bit back my smile as I explained, Megs watching me closely.

  “Your purse?”

  “Yes, my purse. I think I left it in the Suburban. Can you have your driver look for me?”

  “Yeah, you left it. Troy had it with him when he came and picked me up this morning.”

  “Well if you had it this morning, why didn’t you bring it to me?” I was slightly annoyed I had been worried about it the whole morning and Dan had known the whole time.

  “’Cause you were moody and I was hungry.”

  “Okay, so why didn’t you bring it to me after you had breakfast?” I tried to remain calm despite his bogus reasoning. Five minutes. It would have taken five minutes to make the exchange and then he could have gone on to stuff his face with whatever he chose to.

  “Oh we didn’t eat in Brooklyn, we drove back to Manhattan. I wanted cupcakes.”

  I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it. I shook my head at Megs as I tried to follow the conversation. He wanted cupcakes? Is he for real? Or is he just pushing to see how far the dopey routine will go before I blew.

  “So why didn’t you call me then?”

  “Um, to ask if you wanted cupcakes?”

  “No! To tell me you had my purse!”

  “I didn’t have your number.”

  “How do you not have my number? You went through my phone and programed in yours.”

  What was it about this guy that seemed to push my buttons so hard? There was no middle ground with him. The embarrassment I had felt when I started this conversation had long been forgotten. In its place was a simmering rage that at any point could explode into something more substantial.

  “I just looked at your photos, I didn’t go through your contact list. Besides, stealing your number is kind of an invasion of privacy.”

  “Are you kidding me? You went through the photos on my phone and my underwear drawer but you drew the line at my number?”

  Megs stared opened mouthed as she sat beside me. I possibly had forgotten to mention the fact Dan had been sniffing around in my panty drawer, my brain misfiring as the memories of the evening were coming back to me in slow bursts.

  “Well…yeah. I’m not a stalker, babe.”

  What in the hell? His logic made no sense. None at all. Not even a little. Was he just trying to infuriate me?

  “Just give me my freaking purse back,” I spat out through my clenched jaw.

  “Geez no need to get mad about it. It’s not like I was going to keep it. I figured you’d call eventually.”

  He seemed so unaffected. This wasn’t an act; he really just had a basic and simplistic view of things. How he had managed to get through life unscathed astounded me. Perhaps I should be impressed but it only served to remind me of the injustice in life, how not everyone had to work hard for their rewards.

  “Okay, so I’ve called. Can I have it back please?”

  “Sure, especially seeing as you said please.” I sensed his smile through the phone. “I’ll pick you up for lunch in an hour? That good?”

  “What? No! We’re not having lunch.”

  Did he just ask me on a date? While we were in the middle of a heated discussion? This man had zero boundaries, either that or an incredible self-assurance with no fear of failure.

  “We can do dinner if you prefer, I just figured you’d want your shit back sooner.”

  “No, no dinner either. I just want my stuff. I’m not going out with you.”

  “But you have to meet me somewhere so I can give it back to you, right? I don’t see the problem,” he reasoned, unable to see why I was refusing his offer.

  I took a deep breath while Megs tapped my arm, silently encouraging me to go. I was glad I was only going to have to recount the one side of the conversation she hadn’t heard, though I’m guessing she was catching the vibe all by herself without my input. I needed to be honest. Something about him fried my brain. I didn’t trust myself around him.

  “The problem is that when I’m around you, I obviously exercise poor judgment. So I think it’s best if you just drop off the bag and we go our separate ways. No dates.”

  “Lunch isn’t a date.” Dan laughed.

  “Are you holding my clutch for ransom?” I half shouted into the phone, still a little hung over and too tired to deal with his circular logic. He just didn’t get it.

  “Why are you being so bitchy? I’m trying to be a good guy here. I have to see you anyway to give you your purse so let me buy you some lunch.”

  “If I’m bitchy, why would you want to buy me lunch?”

  “Even bitches have to eat, don’t they?” He laughed, clearly enjoying himself.

  “Calling me a bitch is not endearing yourself.” I narrowed my eyes, unsure of whether or not I was glad he couldn’t see me right now.

  “You’re a bitch, I’m an asshole. Can we move on to lunch already?”

  “Ugh. Fine. Buy me lunch.”

  “So where do you want to go?”

  “Just meet me at Applebee’s on West 42nd.”

  “You want to go to Applebee’s?”

  “Yes! Just meet me there in half an hour, okay? And bring my purse.”

  “Okay, see you then.”

  I ended the call and pushed my hands into my face. “He is so impossible,” I groaned, annoyed he had somehow talked me into going on a date with him.

  “Ash, unless you are in high school, Applebee’s isn’t a date.” Megs laughed, pulling me into a hug. “Applebee’s?” she repeated as she pulled a funny face.

  “I tried to think of a place I was least likely to want to get naked around him. I clearly can’t be trusted.”

  “Sweetie, you’ve already slept with him. A meal isn’t going to kill you. Go have fun and then come back and tell me all of the details.” Megs playfully pushed my shoulder. Of course, she was right. I could sit across a table and eat and not feel the need to sleep with him again. If anything, this would be the closure I needed. I would ask him calmly exactly what had happened last night and then say a final goodbye. I looked down at my phone’s darkened screen, sitting in my lap. That goodbye would definitely be bittersweet.

  "Can I get you something to drink while you wait on your guest?” the pretty blonde waitress asked as I drummed my fingers across the table. She had to be barely twenty-one but her smile told me that if I were into it, she would be happy to show me a different kind of menu.

  “No, I’m fine for now, thanks.” I smiled back, not wanting to cash in on what she was offering. This was so unlike me. Ordinarily I would have taken her number and found out exactly what was hiding under
neath that little black polo she was wearing.

  “Okay, well let me know if you change your mind.” Her hand floated down and trailed along the top of my knuckles.

  So this is why Stone got so much pussy? Girls liked it when you pretended not to be interested. Well, fuck me. Wasn’t that just the revelation of the century? Son of a bitch could have clued me onto this earlier though.

  I gave her a smile, figuring I had to give her something, and that seemed to satisfy her. She sauntered off leaving me to sit in the booth by myself like a douche. I hadn’t even bothered to check out her ass as she walked away. I must be off my game.

  I had arrived at Ashlyn’s choice of restaurant right on time but she still hadn’t showed. I asked for a booth toward the back and let the waitress know I was expecting a guest, although why she picked this venue was a mystery. I can’t remember the last time I was in one of these places. Still the location was unimportant, she had agreed to meet me and I had that tiny, sparkly purse to thank.

  “Hey, sorry I’m late.” Ashlyn rushed in, her face a little flushed. “I walked from Megs’s apartment.” She collapsed into the bench seat opposite me. “It took a little longer than I thought.”

  “It’s okay, babe, I haven’t been waiting long.” I watched as she nervously picked up the menu in front of her, a few strands of unruly red hair fell across her face, the rest of her curls were pulled back away from her face and secured by a hair tie. She looked completely different, no business gear or short dress and come-fuck-me heels. Just a pair of jeans, some faded bar T-shirt, a pair of Vans kicks, and no makeup. My dick punched out in my jeans in appreciation. She was stunning.

  “Here,” I slid the purse across the table, feeling kind of stupid staring at her while she sat uncomfortably studying her menu. “I went through it but just to see whose it was. I wasn’t doing anything shady.”

  She glanced up, her big green eyes looked at me and then dropped to the purse on the table. “Thank you. There wasn’t much in there for you to see.”

  She looked awkward, nervous almost. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time, getting another opportunity to see her but now I felt like a giant dick making her sit here when she didn’t want to be.