Screwed: A Sin City Gym Novella

by Ember-Raine Winters

  “I’ll never force anything on you, just let me….” I trailed off as my hand slid up her thigh. She didn’t protest this time letting me spread her legs open. My nose ran across her damp panties and I inhaled. The smell of flowers and something uniquely Brandy assaulted my senses. I took one hand pushing her to lie back on the couch as I unzipped her skirt and slowly slid it down her curvy thighs. God she was beautiful. Her panties came off with the skirt and I was struck dumb. She was glistening as I ran a finger down her seam. Her hips bucked at the feel and I grinned. This was going to be fun. I wrapped my hands around her thighs and nuzzled her center with my nose before flattening my tongue and licking all the way up to her clit and sucking it into my mouth. I couldn’t get enough of her taste as she thrashed below me. Holy fuck, if she was this responsive from just my tongue I couldn’t think about how she would detonate from the feel of my cock inside her. My cock was leaking as I continued to devour her. The keening noises she made as she came all over my face had me smiling against her skin. I kept at it, swirling my tongue around her clit keeping her on that high for as long as I could.

  “Holy shit,” she said when she came down off the peak. It was a mere second before the panic set in. I had no idea what was going on, but when she jumped from the couch shaking her head and searching for her clothes.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” I asked confused.

  “I have to go. It’s not supposed to be like that,” she mumbled, which had me scrunching my brows in confusion. She ran into the spare bedroom and shut the door behind her. I heard several thump, thump, thumps against the door and I couldn’t help the concern that ran through me.

  “Are you okay?” I asked through the door. “Babe, what’s going on?” She opened the door and tried to smile. It looked forced. I pushed her hair behind her ear and looked into her eyes. “You wanna talk about it?”

  “Not really. I’m tired. I think I’m just going to crash.” She looked away as if embarrassed.

  “Hey, no need to be embarrassed. You can take the guest room. There should be a T-shirt in the closet you can sleep in.” I push her hair back away from her face and felt her stiffen so I stepped back with a sad smile. The last thing I ever wanted was to make her uncomfortable. She pulled back and I took that as my cue to leave her alone. “The bathroom is through there and the kitchen is fully stocked. Help yourself to anything you want.”

  I started to leave but I felt a small hand on my arm. “Pete? I’m sorry. It was just all a little overwhelming.”

  “No problem, beautiful. I’m sorry if I stepped over the line. I never meant to upset you.” I flashed an apologetic smile before heading to the stairs. It was time for a shower. A very cold shower.

  Chapter Six

  Brandy

  Peeling my eyes open was more difficult than normal. I had no idea why until I felt my puffy eyes. Had I been crying? It took a second for the memories of the night before to come back. I’d woke up in a sweat screaming and crying. I was thankful that Pete had been on the second floor and not heard me. I waited long minutes after I’d woken up hoping that he wouldn’t come busting through the door but at the same time being disappointed when he hadn’t.

  My phone rang and I practically lunged for it hoping for the distraction. When I saw the name on the caller ID, I cursed. That was not a distraction at all. “Hey, Dee,” I said softly knowing full well I was about to get an ass chewing.

  “You almost kissed Pete after walking out of a fetish club with him while he was dressed as a fucking reindeer.” She yelled it so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear.

  “Jesus, Delia. I need that eardrum,” I shouted back at her.

  “Sorry.” She had the good sense to sound chagrined. “I just don’t understand.”

  “I had a call from a patient. He said he was at a strip club and needed me to pick him up. He sounded like he was struggling. Pete overheard the address and followed me. He knew I was walking into an uncomfortable situation and decided to help me out, and now he’s taking the brunt of it.” I groaned after I finished my story.

  “But, why didn’t he change out of the reindeer suit?” That part hadn’t sunk in.

  “He was sewn into it. He literally couldn’t take it off, but even if he had he was buck naked underneath.” My body heated at the memory of his naked body and I had to stop myself before I went up to the second floor and begged him to take my V-card from me.

  “You realize what this is doing to the company right?” Delia growled. “One of their prize fighters looks like he has some weird fetish.” She huffed angrily.

  “I know, Dee, what do you want me to say? We have a plan. Haven’t you talked to Darren yet this morning?” I was pissed. I knew I fucked up. How was I supposed to know the place he was taking me to was a sex club or that Pete would follow me even at the risk of his career. “Jesus, Dee. I told him not to come with me, but then he heard where I was going.”

  “Brandy, I’m sorry, calm down. I’m not mad at you, just wondering how something like this can happen to someone. It’s crazy.” I heard Kyle chuckling in the background something like “Only Collins” leaving his lips on a laugh, then a loud smack and a muffled giggle like Delia was covering the phone with her hand so I wouldn’t hear what he was doing. “There’s going to be a press conference this afternoon. You both need to be there presenting a united front. Can you do that considering you stayed at his place last night?”

  “Wait, how did you…?” I trailed off.

  “I’m in charge of PR. It’s my job to know,” she said in a dismissive tone. “And, once I’m no longer knee-deep in this shitstorm, you are going to tell me everything that happened last night.” I started to speak but she cut me off. “Don’t pretend nothing happened. I know Pete and I know you, and I know the two of you have been on a collision course for months.”

  Well she wasn’t wrong there, but what happened when the famed manwhore found out that I was even more innocent than even he thought? It had bad situation written all over it. “It doesn’t matter what did or didn’t happen. Nothing can ever happen between us. We’re too different.”

  “You say that now but remember me and Kyle?” Delia and Kyle had a somewhat tumultuous start to their happy ever after.

  “You and Kyle are different. You guys belong together and he doesn’t pride himself on sleeping with half the bimbos in Las Vegas,” I reminded her.

  “Okay, fine. But, don’t count him out. I think you two would be good for each other.”

  “Whatever you say, Dee. What did you need?” I asked trying and failing to change the subject.

  “There’s a press conference today. I need you both to be there acting the happy couple. Can you do that?” She sounded uncertain.

  “You know me,” I sang back to her in a false chipper voice.

  “I know. I just still don’t understand why you’re doing this.”

  “I told you, it’s kind of my fault.” I shrugged even though she couldn’t see me. “I gotta go. What time is the press conference?”

  “Two this afternoon outside AMMA. Thank you, Brandy. If this works, you’ll be saving all our asses.” She clicked off the phone, and I wondered was it really me saving their asses when I caused the whole mess in the first place?

  Chapter Seven

  Pete

  Knocking on the door to the guest room was a seriously bad idea. I knew that but it didn’t stop my feet from moving toward the door. I’d made breakfast and even though I knew she would come out when she was ready, I still wanted to see her. I hadn’t slept much the night before and I was sure my face painted an ugly picture of how sleep deprived I really was.

  I knocked on the door and when it opened my jaw hit the floor. She had taken me up on the offer to wear one of my shirts, and damn it, it had never looked better on anyone else. It was black and came down to mid-thigh. All that creamy skin was on display and my eyes drank in every inch. She was a fucking goddess. My poor unused dick was once again standing at att
ention. Clearing my throat, I looked back at her eyes. The look on her face doused any flames that may have been there before. Her features were carefully blank. “I, uh, how’d you sleep?” What an idiotic thing to say. I knew exactly how she’d slept. I’d heard her cries in the night but knew better than to try to comfort her. She would have gotten even more spooked if I had.

  “I slept well, and you?” The conversation was stilted. I knew she could see it in my eyes that I’d slept about as well as she had. It didn’t stop me from answering in much the same way she had.

  “Good. I made breakfast.” I didn’t tell her that was because around 5 a.m., I’d given up on sleep and after a long run and a cold shower I needed something to keep me busy or I would have crawled into bed with her, consequences be damned.

  “It smells amazing.” She smiled shyly and walked out of the room. If I’d thought the front view was hot, the view of her from the back was fucking intoxicating. Her ass swayed and I didn’t even think it was intentional. It was natural, and it had all kinds of images flying through my head. I needed to get laid but that wasn’t happening anytime soon. I’d made an agreement with her, which meant I would have to seduce my fake girlfriend. How hard could that be? After the freak out the night before, I had a feeling it would be much more difficult than even I could deal with. That meant cold showers and fantasies of my goddess on her knees. Jesus I needed to stop. The image in my head of Brandy, completely naked in the shower and her pouty lips wrapped around my cock, had me so hard it was painful.

  “Delia called. There’s a press conference at two. We need to be there.” She didn’t even look up from her plate as she spoke and I found myself irrationally angry. Why won’t she look at me?

  “Sounds good.” My voice was gruff and had her pinching her brows together looking at me in confusion. “Any special rules for this press conference?” I cleared my throat.

  “Just be the happy couple we claim to be.” She laughed sardonically.

  **

  Leaving the house had been more difficult than I’d thought it would be. There were reporters everywhere yelling out questions about my lifestyle. I rolled my eyes making sure to keep Brandy close and as hidden as possible as we made our way to her car and I opened the door for her. As soon as she was safely inside, I made my way through the mob to the passenger side and nearly hit a man with the door as I opened it and slid into the seat. Good thing he had good reflexes because as angry as I was about the mass of vultures outside my home, it would have hurt and probably earned me an assault charge.

  Brandy looked pensive as she drove to her apartment. She needed clothes and a shower from what she told me. “Why don’t you ever drive your car?”

  “Is that one of your questions?” I asked with a sly smile. She shook her head. I decided to give her something even if it wasn’t the whole story. I was honestly surprised the whole world didn’t know the story, but Darren had an in with some judge and they were able to keep everything on the down low. “I was in an accident and they took my license.” I decided to try for a question of my own. I knew before I even asked she wouldn’t answer, but you never know unless you try. “Why did you freak out last night?” Her body stiffened and she shook her head.

  “Veto” she whispered.

  “You only get one veto in this game and you already used yours,” I reminded her.

  “Some things are best left in the past. Please, can we drop it?” Her voice was shaking and I realized that maybe I pushed too hard to fast so I nodded.

  “I’ll drop it. For now.” It didn’t matter; we had three months to get to know each other and I had every intention of learning everything about her. She drew me in and there was nothing I wanted more than her.

  Chapter Eight

  Brandy

  He was pushing too far. I couldn’t really blame him though. That had been a freak-out of epic proportions. I was still thinking about it when we made our way to AMMA headquarters a half an hour early. Pete walked around and opened my door for me offering me his hand. I took it and he guided us to the front door. He was being such a gentleman, and the idea clashed with the manwhore image of him that I had in my head. His arm snaked around my waist as we walked through the hall to Delia’s office. It was comforting but at the same time confusing. There were no cameras, but I guess if we were going to sell this thing, we needed to sell it to everyone and not just when cameras were watching.

  Delia’s door was open and she was talking loudly into the phone when we peeked our heads inside. “No, listen to what I’m telling you. It was an innocent misunderstanding,” she huffed out angrily. “Well then, be at the press conference in an hour and see for yourself.” She paused. “I understand how it looks, believe me, I do. But, Brandy is my best friend and she would not walk inside a place like that knowingly.” She paused again before hanging up the phone without another word. “That was one of your endorsement deals down the drain.” Pete stiffened beside me. Damn this was all my fault. AMMA and Pete were all going down because of my stupid naivety. I hated this. Being the one to drag my friends down.

  Pete squeezed my hip smiling down at me like he knew exactly what was going through my head. He bent close to my ear. “Don’t worry, we’ll get it all worked out.” His whispered words sent a spark of lust shooting through me and I shivered.

  “Yes, it will all be fine.” Delia stood from her desk rubbing at her temples, her baby belly causing her to lean back to support the weight.

  “Shouldn’t you be on maternity leave or something?” Pete looked at her like he wanted to make her go lie down and rest.

  “Next week. As long as no more of you idiots cause a huge scandal.” She glared at him. He put one hand up in surrender never removing his other from my hip. The move was not lost on Delia who raised her eyebrows. “Anyway, here’s a list of talking points. Once they finally see what actually happened, they’re going to start asking for details on your relationship. It’s good that we’ve all been photographed together in the past. It makes the friends to lovers thing more believable.”

  “Friends to lovers? Is that what you’re calling it?” I rolled my eyes. “This isn’t one of your books, Dee.” Delia stuck her tongue out at me. “Real mature.” I giggled.

  “Unless you have any questions, I suggest you look over the papers. We need to be as prepared for this as possible.” She eyed the two of us. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking but I knew I wasn’t going to like it. I had a feeling when I got home later I was going to have some explaining to do, and it wasn’t going to be as easy to get out of it with Delia as it had been with Pete.

  Holy hell I was so screwed.

  **

  The press conference went better than even I had expected. Delia had been right. As soon as we gave them the truth, well our version with a little white lie mixed in, everyone changed their questioning to our whirlwind romance. Pete had been attentive, and I saw a few female reporters in the crowd either sighing happily at the way he was with me or glaring at me. The ones glaring were the ones asking the tough questions. Asking if his days of being the playboy were over. I nearly growled when he winked at them telling them corny lines about finding the one. He definitely was an amazing actor.

  I was exhausted by the time I dropped Pete off at his house and made my way back to the apartment. There were half hung Christmas decorations and wrapping paper strewn everywhere. You could definitely tell it was nearly Christmas. I’d barely made it through the door when someone started pounding on it.

  “What?” I glared at Delia. “No rest for the wicked, huh?”

  “What is going on with you two?” She tapped her foot waiting for an answer. “You were awfully cozy in my office when no one else was around.”

  “Fine, I’ll tell you, but I need wine first. Maybe the whole bottle.” Delia moved some Christmas lights off the nearby chair and eased her body down into it while I made my way to the kitchen wondering if I should even bother with a glass. It was only a second before I made u
p my mind deciding on manners before needs. I’m refined like that.

  Wine in hand, I made my way to the sofa and sat down before spilling my guts to Delia. She looked at me with sad eyes as I told the story, gasping when I got to the freak-out. “See? That’s why nothing can ever happen between us. I’m a total freak.” I brought the glass to my lips taking a healthy gulp. My throat was suddenly parched. I couldn’t tell her why I freaked out. I’d never told anyone what had happened and I never would. It was too embarrassing. The expression on my face must have said it all because she didn’t push for more. She just sat quietly processing the information. Finally realizing how fucked up her friend truly was.

  Chapter Nine

  Pete

  What did one buy a fake girlfriend for Christmas? I didn’t even know. I needed to keep up appearances and many reporters were speculating about what kind of gift Pete Collins bought for his “one.” It was nauseating really. Or, maybe that was just me being sex deprived. It had been two weeks since we’d come out and announced our relationship, which was the stupidest thing I’d ever been forced to do. It had also been two long weeks since I’d actually been with a woman. Fanaticizing about my fake girlfriend while I jerked off in the shower didn’t count.

  “What are you getting for Delia?” I asked Kyle as we walked into the jewelry store.

  “I already bought her gift. I’m just picking it up today.” He smiled. The guy should have lost his mancard a long time ago the way he was with his fiancé. It was sickeningly sweet the way they were together. “What about you? What are you getting for Brandy?”

  “I have no clue.” I didn’t want it to be too much because this wasn’t real no matter how real it felt when we were together. We’d spent every night going out to one event or another throughout the last two weeks and the more of her I got to know, the more I wished it could be real. Looking at all the jewelry, I noticed a pair of earrings. They were teardrop-shaped emeralds and I remembered that first night when she told me her favorite color was green. I remembered the quizzical look on her face when I told her my favorite color was sapphire. Her nose scrunched up in confusion. It was fucking adorable.