by Nana Malone
I shifted my gaze to the muscles of his back as he leaned over the pool table for his next shot. “I mean, I’m not blind, okay? He’s, uh, cute.”
She laughed. “Honey, he’s more than cute. That man is hot enough to make you ruin your life.”
“Yeah well, I have no intention of ruining mine for Lucas Newsome.”
Bryna
It turned out Lucas, Roone, and Marcus won that round of pool too, and the giant Jenga, and giant Connect Four, and what do you know, the giant poker as well. By the end of the night, Jase and Brian were feeling thoroughly like losers. Drunken losers. I don’t know what possessed me to throw Jase a bone when he offered to take me home. Lucas, as usual, was being a dick and said, “Well, considering she lives with me, I might as well just take her home.”
I glanced between the two of them and finally threw out a tie breaker. “Oh my God, we can just all share a cab.”
Except, I didn’t really want Jase to take me home, but because Lucas didn’t want him there, I absolutely did. It was childish, I know.
Marcus and Roone took a different car back to the building, with me, Jase, and Lucas crowding into the back of a taxi, but we arrived at the same time. The five of us took the elevator in silence. As soon as we hit our floor, Marcus and Roone vanished into their apartment. Then Lucas unlocked our door and went in first. He didn’t even look back but left the door wide open.
I rolled my eyes. Way to give me privacy. I’m surprised he didn’t stay to watch. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize he would try to screw with me and mess with our date.”
Jase shifted on his feet. “It’s fine. It was actually kind of fun. Who knew you would be so competitive?”
“It’s a little-known fact, but I hate to lose. As a matter of fact, I’m not even allowed to play Monopoly in my house. I get a little crazy.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I can see that.”
And then I could see it coming. That look in his eye told me he was going to kiss me good night. He’d started to sober up, but I still wasn’t that into it. If I didn’t want that, now was the time to stop him.
My gaze darted toward the door. Lucas hadn’t turned on any of the lights inside, and all I could see was darkness. I didn’t know if he was right inside the door, waiting, or watching, or anything. This was how it was going to go down.
Fantastic.
Asshole. What right did he have to make judgments on who I decided to date? If he wanted to stand there and watch, hell, so be it. He was going to get a show. I could practically feel his gaze on me. My skin was tight and itchy. It was like a low, trembling pulse between us, and if I followed the feeling, I’d know exactly where he was in the darkened room.
When Jase slid a hand to my waist and pulled me close, I could feel Lucas’s gaze on the back of my neck, watching me, daring me.
Okay, you want to play that game? Fine. I gave Jase my warmest smile and tipped my head up, and he planted his lips over mine.
His lips were soft, sliding over mine, his tongue persistent, but not intrusive. All in all, it was a nice kiss. Great. Fine.
Except, I felt nothing. No heat, no interest, just pleasantly surprised. Just knowing Lucas was there changed everything.
I didn’t mean to do it, but I started pretending that it was Lucas I was kissing, wondering what it would feel like, his tongue sliding against mine, his hands clenched on my hips. Would he pull me closer? Would his hands slide over my ass, pulling me against him, making me feel every pulse of him?
Because Jase’s hands certainly didn’t wander.
When I pulled back, he gave me a wide smile. “So, I’m going to call you tomorrow, okay?”
I nodded but said nothing. Because I knew tomorrow when he called, I would either avoid his call, or have to tell him that while it was a very nice date, I wouldn’t be going on another.
As soon as I stepped into the apartment and closed the door, I sighed and leaned against it. I spoke into the darkness because I could still feel him. “Did you enjoy the show?”
He chuckled softly from his spot against the window. “Oh immensely. He looked oh so engaged. But there was something at the end there, it was almost as if he got good all of a sudden.” In the moonlight, I could see his gaze directed at me. I could feel him. “So tell me, who were you thinking about those last few seconds? You certainly weren’t thinking about him.” His chuckle was low. “Matter of fact, if I had to wager, you were thinking about me, maybe?”
“You wish. Good night.” I deliberately marched by him down to my room and closed the door. The second I was on my own, I sighed against the frame and slunk down to the floor.
He could completely tell. He knew I’d been thinking about him in those last seconds of that kiss. And I couldn’t help but wonder, if that had been Lucas kissing me, would I have been able to even think of anything else?
18
Bryna
Jinx was my first call. I hit one on the speed dial, and she answered on the second ring. “What’s up, buttercup?”
“I have the worst roommate in the history of roommates.”
She just laughed on the other end of the line. Behind her, I could hear the distant sound of calypso. Was she outside? Was she on her balcony just soaking up the smell of hibiscus? Hell, I missed home.
“What did he do this time?”
“Why are you so calm about this? You should be mounting attacks or coming to rescue me from his shenanigans. He is a pain in the ass, an asshole, all the things with ass in them.”
“He’s a twat-cake, but he’s a totally hot twat-cake, if that helps.”
Not good enough. “It does not help. Thank you very much.”
“What did he do?”
I crawled over to the closet and put her on speaker as I toed off my booties and changed into my comfy pajamas. “I had a date tonight. A perfectly nice date.”
I could practically hear Jinx perking up on the other end as her voice went just a little bit chirpier. “Ooh, a date?”
“Okay, it wasn’t like a date, date. I mean, he was nice. Cute. Eager, I guess. I just wasn’t, I don’t know, super into him.”
She sighed. “Oh, well that sucks. What happened to operation live life to the fullest, your best life and all that?”
“Well, I was trying to do that, which is why I said yes to the date.”
“Okay, well that’s good. It gets you out there to see what’s happening on the market.”
“That was my thought too. We were having fun, I guess. We went on double date with my new friend Ellie and this guy she’s seeing.”
“Okay, double date still sounds fine. What was the problem?”
“I don’t know.” I was trying to say it out loud, but it didn’t sound very convincing. “I just wasn’t feeling him, I guess. He felt like the safe choice. No chemistry, no challenge.”
“Ah, so no fun. I can see how you’d go safe.”
“But the whole point of leaving home was to live my life. Like really live. And the first thing I do is go out with the kind of guy that my parents want me to date, which just sucks. So, left to my own devices, I have no idea how to pick the right kind of guy. I mean, basically, you dress this guy up in a nice suit, send him to the Hamptons or St. Kitts for the summer, and he is basically every single guy my parents have forced on to me.”
“Okay, so we need to just edge up your choice making a little bit. A great guy who’s different and unique. That should be easy.”
I sighed. “Easier said than done. Besides, the date with Jase wasn’t really the problem anyway.”
“Oh God, his name is Jase? It’s like straight out of the standard rich-frat-boy playbook.”
I groaned. “I know. Jase. He sounds like he belongs in a soap opera. I don’t know. He was fine. He wasn’t the problem.”
“For the record, I’m going to let you finish your story. But just so you know, your date should never be fine. It should be ‘That was really fun’ or ‘I’m not going to see that guy again.’
Those are the only two acceptable options.”
“Hmph, I guess you’re right. But anyway… So there I am with Jase and Ellie and the guy she was dating, Brian, and in walks freaking Lucas.”
There was a pause on the line.
“I swear, what is it with you two?”
I was so angry, I didn’t realize I had been squeezing my hands into fists until the slight sting of pain in my palms alerted me. “It’s like he’s deliberately trying to make me insane, like that was what my parents asked him to do. ‘While you’re at it, drive her crazy.’”
“I know. He showed up? To what, drive you home?”
“No. To just hang out, like he and his friends had just chosen to go to the same place.” I was clenching my jaw too. “When I told him where I was going, I didn’t expect him to follow me.”
Jinx laughed. “Honey, you know I’m your girl. Ride or die till the end. But is there maybe a chance you wanted him to show up? Is there a chance you were hoping something like that would happen?”
“No!”
Another pause.
“Okay, okay. I’m just asking.”
“Did you miss the memo where I can’t stand him?”
“No, I got the memo. It’s just that you keep saying you can’t stand him, but half of our conversations are about Lucas.”
I opened my mouth to argue with her and then snapped it shut. She had a point there. I needed to stop talking about him. It didn’t matter that one look from him and my insides were a melted pool of goo and hormones. Nope. No more. The quickest way to get Lucas Newsome out of my mind was to not think about him. Easy-peasy. I could do that.
“You know what? You’re right. No more Lucas. It doesn’t matter that he crashed my date. It doesn’t matter that I laid a spectacular kiss on Jase and he saw the whole thing and then told me that I have feelings for him.”
There was a bark of laughter on the other end of the line. “Say what?”
“It was just, you know, Jase brought me home, and Lucas, of course, had to ride with us in the cab. When we arrived, Lucas went in first, and then there he was, just in the doorway. And I had it in my head that if he was going to crash my date, then he was going to have to watch the whole thing.”
“In other words, you wanted to make him jealous.”
I sighed. “Yes, I wanted to make him jealous.”
She tsked. “I swear, it’s like you two are just circling each other like caged tigers.”
“I’m not the one being crazy. I’ll stop when I finally find my own place. But for now, the fight is on.” I needed to stop talking about him, or I really was going to admit to thinking about him. “Tell me about home. I don’t want to talk about Lucas anymore.”
“Um, you know, the usual. Classes are good. Mom drives me bonkers, of course. I think I’m going to have to move from home and get a small apartment near campus. You know how it is, you’re studying oceanography, but you can’t be near the ocean. Apartments by the ocean don’t come cheap. So, I need to figure that out.”
“You know, I should have just stayed home, and we could have had a place together.”
“As much fun as I know that would have been, under no circumstances would I have held you back from your dream. You couldn’t stay here. Your parents will control you too much. You had a great opportunity. I miss you though.”
“Well, my parents are trying to control me now, so nothing has changed.”
“Yeah, but it’s harder in New York City. Here, it would be easy. It would have been Lady Bryna this, Lady Bryna that. You would have hated it.”
“You’re right. So, Aunt Willow is making you insane, huh?”
“Yes. She answered my phone and was chatting with the guy I started seeing. She’s crazy. The other day she loaded my clutch with condoms and lube. I think there is such a thing as too progressive.”
“Man, I miss your Mom.”
Jinx’s mother was one of the circuit judges in the islands. She was brash, unfailingly honest, and one of my most favorite people on the planet.
We chatted for another moment or two, and I could feel my blood pressure lowering. I missed my bestie. I missed all of the things we would’ve been up to, but I mostly missed talking to her. And then she dropped the next bomb.
“And then, there’s this guy, he’s been going around the island insisting he’s the long-lost prince. I mean, there have been lots of people like that since it was announced that there was a lost prince and princess, but this guy is apparently getting traction. There’s like a petition to get his blood tested. He’s working this to the end. Apparently, he even got a bank to loan him some money on his claim that he’s the next prince. It was a whole hoopla because the bank apparently wanted the king and queen to back the loan. Obviously, they refused. They asked what proof he had that he was a prince, and basically, it was just his word that the bank had gone on. It was awesome. News reports have been going off on him since.”
“Jesus, that guy is a con man.”
“Yep, plain and simple. And a pretty decent one, I’m guessing, if he managed to convince a bank to give him a loan.”
“I swear, people are insane with the things they will do to be close to the royal family. It probably isn’t even that great being a royal. The restrictions, God, I ran away from those restrictions. Hell, I’m not even royal. My parents were members of the court, but that has nothing to do with me. I can’t even imagine all the people coming out of the woodwork to get a piece. I don’t envy the king and queen right now.”
“Neither do I. Then, if you remember, the treason trial is about to begin in a month or so. The whole thing has been crazy. But, other than that, it’s just, you know, the islands.”
An hour later, I felt more like myself. But when I climbed into bed, my brain slipped into dreamland.
Lucas was right. The second my head hit the pillow, it was him I thought about. What if he’d been the one I’d kissed instead of Jase? Instantly, my body went flush, my thighs parted slightly, and my breathing shallowed. Despite myself, I wanted him. Good thing he was never going to find out.
Lucas
This called for a cold shower. An ice bath even. Jesus. I’d wanted to rip that guy’s head off his goddamn shoulders. And his name, Jase. What kind of fucking name was that?
All night I’d kept the low-key aggression and the urge to club Bryna over the head and drag her home under wraps. But seeing her plant one on that douchebag had been my undoing.
Had she been thinking about me? I couldn’t explain how I’d known she wasn’t thinking about that dude. But there was something about the way she’d turned her body, as if she’d known exactly where I was and knew I was watching her. Knew that I was wishing I was Jase.
You’re an idiot.
Yes, yes, I was. I needed to get this shit under control or living with her was going to be a problem.
My dick throbbed again, as if to notify me that he was lonely, and I’d blown his shot at getting someone other than me to touch him. “Yeah, man, I know. I fucked up. But she was never gonna happen.
I turned on the shower and hissed a curse as ice water sluiced my arm. As I sent up a silent prayer that the water would warm, I ducked my head under the chilly spray.
This was fine. I could do this. I just had to remember I was in control here. Control the mark. It was something Tony had always said. And I’d thought it was bullshit. But the basics were stay ahead of your mark, and never be caught unaware.
Twice tonight, she’d surprised me; First when she’d announced she had a date, then when she’d kissed the guy in front of me. You could have looked away.
As if. I’d been picturing myself kissing her.
Through the window in the bathroom, I could see that stars illuminated the sky and winked at me as the water ran through my hair. My dick still throbbed despite the temperature.
As if on cue, my mind went to the one place I didn’t want it to go. The vision of her kissing me, throwing herself into it. I’d imagined how
many different ways that she would taste. I could almost hear the hitch I’d hear in her voice, the way her pupils would dilate.
Shit. I’d never get any sleep this way. Wrapping my fist around my erection, I pumped the soap-slickened flesh in a slow, deliberate motion. As blood surged to my groin, I pictured Bryna on her knees before me, all that glorious hair slicked back with water as she wrapped those luscious lips around me.
I could almost feel her tongue lap the length of me before circling the tip in a deliberate motion. I could feel her delicate hands, wrapped around my girth as she stroked in time to her suckling mouth.
Blood roared through my head. I slapped a hand against the shower stall to steady myself against my release. “Fuck, Jesus, Damn,” I bit out as I dragged in gulps of air.
This was it. No more fantasizing about my roommate. It stopped here. It had to if I was going to keep my word.
19
Lucas
I still couldn’t get the sight of her kissing that douche bag out of my head. It had been a long, sleepless night. Did she actually like him? Hey, maybe that was her type… total, complete dickheads. I could believe it.
I returned from the coffee shop to find her gearing up with her to-go mug, jacket, keys, and a map. “Where are you off to?”
The smirk she gave me was all sass and brass. “None of your business.”
“Another hot date with Jase?”
She put her hands on her hips, drawing my attention to her curves, which honestly wasn’t going to help the situation. “What part of none of your business did you not quite get?”
I held up my hands. “Truce.” I held up the second latte I’d brought. “This is for you.”
She stared at it for a moment and then narrowed her gaze up at me, and I sighed. “It’s not poisoned or anything. It’s a peace offering.”
