Avoiding Temptation

by Rachel Van Dyken

  “Then what are you waiting for?”

  Our mouths crashed together again. He mumbled condom against my lips.

  Causing me to pull away and wince.

  “Nooooooooooo…” He punched the penguin in the face and then shook his head at me. “I’m massively disappointed in your sleuthing skills. You get me to come all the way over here—”

  “It’s literally twenty feet.”

  “I risk life and limb—”

  “You were crawling. There was no danger.” I giggled.

  “And you have no protection?” Slater looked ready to strangle the penguin and then throw it out the window.

  “Sorry.” I made a face. “I wasn’t thinking. Don’t you have something?”

  “Yes.” He deadpanned. “In enemy territory. Why don’t I just stroll back into the war zone, grab a few condoms from your BROTHER,” he whisper-yelled the brother part. “And then I’ll stroll right back in here, lock the door, and we’ll get it on!”

  I burst out laughing. “How funny would that be, though?”

  “My death?” He winced. “Hilarious.”

  “Slaterrrrrrrrr…”

  Both of us were naked, ready, needy, dying.

  “You could do it.” Slater crossed his arms and backed away; his gorgeous body was almost too much to take. “I mean, he thinks I’m sick, you could always stroll over there, let him think you need to borrow a calculator and swipe a pack of condoms from the same drawer.”

  “Calculator? Really?” I shook my head.

  “I’m not an amateur.” Slater grinned like he was proud of his genius. “Grab both, it’s dark, and he’s probably already sleeping anyway.”

  I shook my head. “I’ll crack under pressure.” A sigh slipped out. “Guess no sex, unless you can prove your true Wingmen skills of persuasion and spying. I guess a real man would—”

  “Fine, I’m going.” He jerked on his sweats and gave me a blistering kiss before squeezing his eyes shut and whispering. “Finn’s hairy ass, Finn’s hairy ass, Finn’s hairy ass.” He looked down and shrugged. “That’ll do.”

  “I just witnessed that,” I muttered.

  “And yet you’re still attracted to me.” Slater winked. “Amazing, isn’t it?”

  “One of life’s mysteries.” I sighed and crossed my arms. “Now, off you go.”

  “Promise you’ll write?” he teased.

  “I would be the worst wartime girlfriend if I didn’t at least send you a few notes with perfume sprayed on them—your sacrifice is noticed, sir.”

  “Parting…” He sighed. “Is such sweet sorrow. Just know, what I do, I do for King and Country.”

  “We live in the US.” I pointed out.

  “Shhhh, you’re ruining the mood.” After one more kiss, he poked his head out the door and strolled across the living room, confident as sin.

  I watched as he opened the door to his own room.

  It was dark.

  I heard some talking.

  He was so caught, wasn’t he?

  I heard my phone buzz and quickly grabbed it.

  Slater8: Abort, private. Abort!

  UnluckyinLove: What happened?

  Slater8: He’s trying to nurse me back to health and says he was being a bad roommate not going to the store for me, so now he’s awake and looking up natural remedies for diarrhea. Thanks, by the way.

  I burst out laughing.

  UnluckyinLove: Just think you could be having sex.

  Slater8: I’m still going to sneak across, give me a few hours, I’ll wake you up with my mouth.

  I shivered.

  UnluckyinLove: Can’t wait.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Slater

  If Finn didn’t stop asking if I was okay, I was going to grab my pillow and smother him with it until his legs stopped twitching.

  “Bro…” I yawned. “For the last time, I’m feeling a lot better. Go to sleep.”

  He gave me a worried look and then flicked the light off again. “All right, but online it says you need some Pedialyte.”

  “I’ll grab some in the morning.”

  “Cool, hey we have a family thing this weekend, wanna come?”

  I grinned against my sheets. “Yeah, man, that sounds fun.”

  “Well, it will be entertaining, my aunt is one of those crazy old aunts, the old bat’s still sexually active if I’m to believe what I saw from those pictures she tried sexting to me earlier.”

  “Bro—” I looked up at him, blinking against the darkness. “How old is she?”

  “Ninety-two.” He shuddered. “But it’s like her sex drive is aging backward.”

  “I’m very uncomfortable with the direction of this conversation.” Well, my erection was gone, probably wasn’t ever coming back. Sorry, Tatum!

  He barked out a laugh. “Just know if she pinches your ass; it’s normal.”

  “The hell?” I wondered out loud.

  “You’ll be safe.” He said, then muttered under his breath. “Mostly.”

  “Can’t wait.”

  “Slater?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks… for being such a good friend.”

  And the nail in the coffin was hit directly home.

  Raw need and guilt battled in a chaotic war over what I should do. What was right and wrong, and what would happen if things went south.

  But this wasn’t a fling.

  She was my girlfriend now.

  I could only pray Finn wouldn’t ask Leo to help him bury my body somewhere. We did always joke that the swing set at the park across campus was the best chance at not getting caught, considering it’s heavily wooded.

  I gave my head a shake.

  It was fine.

  It would be fine.

  My need for her won out. And I told myself he would understand when I knew that if the situations were reversed—I’d be damn near homicidal.

  I still grabbed my cell phone, so I could turn on my alarm, then put in my air pods so that I was the only one who would hear it.

  It was going to scare the ever-loving shit out of me.

  But it would be worth it.

  I closed my eyes and tried not to think too hard about it.

  My alarm jolted me out of a dead sleep, I almost fell off my own bed and then remembered why I’d set it in the first place.

  I quietly tucked my pods away, grabbed my cell, and then reached for the condoms in the desk drawer.

  Of course, it made a noise when I opened it as if it suddenly decided it needed oil or something.

  I winced when Finn flipped onto his back.

  Heart pounding, I grabbed the box and shut the drawer, then opened the door to our room and bolted out.

  I ran into the couch with my shin.

  Nearly fell over the coffee table.

  But finally made it to her door and let myself in.

  The room was blanketed in darkness.

  Tatum was sleeping on her side, her pretty vibrant hair lay about her, in stark contrast to the white sheets.

  I touched her cheek.

  Her eyes flickered open as a smile spread across her face. “Back from war so soon?”

  “I walked all night, just to find you.” I winked.

  “Run into any trouble?”

  “A large sofa masquerading as a monster may have run into my body, but other than that, no, though I need to warn you, Finn said some shit about a crazy aunt and sexting so I may never get another erection again. Ever. Ever. Ever.”

  Tatum clapped a hand over her mouth and laughed. “You’ll love her.”

  “How about I just make love to you, and we forget about the erection-killing aunt, hmmm?”

  Tatum’s eyes sparkled as she pulled back the sheet. My jaw dropped. “See something you like?”

  “You’re naked.” Voice hoarse, I wasn’t sure if I could move from that glorious spot as the moonlight cast a sultry glow across her lithe body.

  “And you’re still in clothes.” She grabbed the wai
stband of my sweats, snapping them against my skin.

  I set my phone on her desk, grabbed a condom from the box—and gingerly pulled my sweats down, kicking them off my ankles as I joined her in bed.

  I suppressed a groan, my eyes taking her curves, her naked skin kissing the soft sheets.

  Just feeling her hot skin against mine was enough to undo me.

  “You fit right here.” I pulled her against me in a heated kiss, and our tongues tangled as I pressed her down on her back and slid my hand up the side of her soft body.

  “We fit,” Tatum agreed and then looked down with a mischievous grin. “Maybe.”

  “Worried?” I dipped my head, dragging my mouth across her neck and down her chest. Damn, her skin was hot beneath my lips.

  She wrapped her arms around me and moaned.

  “Don’t be,” I pulled back and quickly tore open the foil packet and rolled on the condom.

  She watched me like it fascinated her.

  And then she licked her lips as if she was getting a sugary treat.

  I kissed her hard across the mouth, my hands moved to her hips, positioning her below me as I pressed against her heat.

  I knew she would be ready for me.

  Because we’d had what felt like days of fucking foreplay.

  Our foreheads touched, she exhaled my name and then hooked her legs behind me, pulling me all the way to the hilt. Her warm softness closed around me. My head fell back in pleasure as she squeezed, her internal muscles locking about me, holding me there in waves of pulsating heat, creating an intimate milking sensation that radiated from where we were connected all the way out to the tips of my fingers and toes.

  “Shit, Tatum.” A moan wrenched itself from my throat, and I slowly rolled my hips. “Are you trying to kill me?”

  Her back arched up to meet me. “The way you’re killing me right now?”

  I pressed our palms together as I slowed my movements. Eyes locked, we smiled. It was a first for me, wanting to savor the moment, savor the girl.

  “You’re beautiful, you know.” I groaned and took her mouth, tasting her lips, biting and sucking the sensitive skin there. “So damn beautiful.”

  Her nails dug into my back with each thrust. “Right there.”

  “Here?”

  Her heat tightened around me again, sucking me toward dry.

  “Or here?”

  “Everywhere.” She squeezed her eyes shut as her hands dug into my hair. “I feel you everywhere.”

  “Good.” I pressed an urgent kiss against her swollen lips. “I can feel you fighting it, Tatum…”

  “Because…”

  Of course, she would argue during sex. I would have laughed if I wasn’t breaking into a sweat by trying to hold back my release.

  “It’s too good.”

  “Tatum…” My voice had a warning edge to it as I slammed into her, knocking a pillow off the bed and causing the mattress to hit the desk, sending a few pencils flying too. “Let go.”

  Instead of listening to me, she moved her right leg over my shoulder and smiled wickedly. “You first.”

  “Son of a bitch.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “Is this a test? I think I’m losing.”

  “Or winning; however you want to look at it.” She panted as I went so damn deep, I couldn’t hold back anymore.

  My name exploded from her lips.

  I clapped a hand over her mouth like I was trying to choke her out mid-orgasm.

  Her eyes widened, and then I felt her release surge through both our bodies and fiery tension gripped my body as I followed her.

  Thank God.

  I collapsed next to her and quickly disposed of the condom at about the same time Finn knocked on her door then tried the handle.

  Panicked, I pulled on my sweats, then did some sort of ninja jump toward the window and pulled it open.

  “What are you doing?” she whispered as she clumsily pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms and a UW sweatshirt.

  “It smells like sex in here!” I waved the room air toward the window like a maniac while she lunged for her perfume and spritzed it into the air.

  “Tatum!” Finn sounded frantic. “Wake up! I heard yelling! Is Slater with you?”

  I jumped onto the bed, grabbed one of her UW blankets, tossed it on the other unoccupied bed since it was a two-bed suite, and sat like I’d been sharing her room.

  After I gave her the nod, she opened the door. Finn stomped in, his expression thunderous. His eyes narrowed in on me on the opposite side of the room, and then back at his sister, who looked like she’d just been fucked right into the weekend.

  Not how I wanted him to find out.

  “What’s going on?” His voice was low, lethal, and I could have sworn he was searching for a weapon while he asked the question.

  “Slater came to check on me, and he fell asleep,” Tatum lied. “Apparently, I snore and woke him up. He tried to smother me with a pillow to get me to stop, so I yelled at him.”

  I nodded emphatically. “Horrible snorer, then again, you already know that, right Finn?”

  “Right,” Finn snapped, then sniffed the air like a damn bloodhound. “Why’s the window open?”

  “Night sweats.” I offered. “She’s on her period.”

  Finn’s face paled a bit. “Oh, uh, you need like… tampons or some Advil or something?” He started scratching his naked chest nervously.

  When in a corner, mention menstruation. Worked every time.

  “No, but that’s sweet.” Tatum reached up and kissed him on the cheek.

  He sniffed again, but this time her hair.

  She swatted him away. “What the hell are you doing?”

  Slowly he locked eyes with me.

  And I knew… he knew.

  I wasn’t sure if it was the smell of me that gave us away, the open window, or the guilt on my face.

  But he knew.

  And he knew we were lying.

  He stared me down and then slowly backed away, offering an easy smile toward his sister before going back to the door and then calling over his shoulder. “Nice try, her time of the month is the sixteenth.”

  He closed the door behind him with a soft click, leaving us both gaping.

  “Hurry!” I stumbled toward it. “We need a barricade!”

  Tatum frowned. “What are you talking about? Even if he didn’t believe that he doesn’t think—”

  “He does, though. Trust me, he does think, and his thinking is leaning heavily toward my death.” I did a small circle in place. “I think we’re going to have to move your desk.”

  “We aren’t moving my desk! If he knew, and if he was angry, he would have said something.”

  “His anger is in his silence… Do you know him at all!” Slater roared. “Shit, this is all my fault, I should have said something before thinking with my dick.”

  “Wow, and here I thought you were thinking with your heart.” Tatum glared.

  “I was, I am, but let’s not pretend that the tension hasn’t been unbelievably hard. No pun intended.”

  Tatum sighed. “Okay I’ll admit it, if you’ll stop pacing, lock the door, and come back to bed, I’m exhausted, and I have class in the morning.”

  “You want me to get back into bed with you, Delilah!?” I was sweating, profusely, tugging at my hair. My best friend was either going to murder me or worse, just stop being my friend—my family.

  “Look.” Tatum cupped my face with her hands; they were warm, anchoring. “He’s my brother, he can’t just ignore us. He’ll get over it. And that’s if he knows. He probably suspects, but that’s all he has right now, and it’s like three in the morning, so let’s just go back to bed, and we can figure out what to do tomorrow, all right?”

  I sighed. “Fine, but if he kills me and you wake up in a pool of my blood… I’m sorry in advance if it gives you night terrors for the rest of your life.”

  Tatum just rose up on her tiptoes and kissed me.

  And like a complete idiot.


  I kissed her back.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Tatum

  I was worried.

  It had been two days.

  And neither Slater nor I had seen Finn. His stuff was still in his room, but he was sleeping somewhere else.

  Not good.

  On top of that, he was reading texts but only responding in emojis that were personally offensive—Slater stopped texting after he got seventy-two middle fingers.

  Seventy. Two.

  I expected him to be pissed, but I expected yelling, and then maybe a bit more yelling and then hugging.

  Not this.

  Slater decided we still needed to go to my cousin’s for dinner, and I agreed, after all, maybe they could talk some sense into Finn—that is if he was still planning on showing up.

  The drive didn’t take long.

  Slater held my hand the entire time. In fact, he hadn’t left my side since that night, which made it even worse. I knew he was just as miserable, but we’d made our bed—literally, and now we had to lie in it.

  We pulled down the insanely long driveway that led to the lakehouse, Slater’s eyes widened to saucers when we stopped in front of the iron gate. It opened for us immediately.

  He pulled the Jeep around the front and cursed.

  “What? What’s wrong?”

  “I’m stealing that Ferrari. Hurry, distract everyone!” He teased.

  I rolled my eyes. “He has more than one, but if you ask to see his cars, you’ll be lost in his garage for at least two hours.”

  Slater looked ready to hump the yellow Ferrari in question. “And that’s a problem why?”

  “Because it leaves me alone with Finn if he’s here, and it’s easier to kill a person when you get them alone.”

  “Ah, wartime. I forgot. The car gave me momentary happiness.”

  I smacked him in the chest. “Then what am I, you asshole?”

  “Forever happiness.” He winked and kissed the back of my hand, then licked it.

  There it was.

  I burst out laughing just as the giant oak door swung open, revealing my aunt Nadine.

  “TATUM!” She yelled it so loud that Slater flinched. It was always funny introducing her to people. They either looked ready to bolt or found her to be the most endearing and interesting woman around.

  I figured Slater was probably looking at his soulmate.