Addiction (The Hunted Series Book 2)

by Ivy Smoak

  James laughed. "Wait, really? You can't threaten a cop, Penny."

  "I know that now."

  He laughed again. "You're full of surprises." His hands had pushed my shirt up slightly, and I could feel his fingers against my skin.

  "Am I?"

  "Mhm." He placed a soft kiss against my lips. His hands slowly pushed my shirt up even more.

  "Would it surprise you if I told you that alcohol tends to make me incredibly horny?"

  "Incredibly horny? That's quite the predicament." He grabbed my ass and lifted me up, setting me down on the kitchen counter. He put his hands on either side of the counter and looked at me. I didn't recognize the look he was giving me.

  "What's wrong?" I asked.

  "You defended me to the detectives even though you doubted me."

  "Of course."

  "But why?"

  "I'll always defend you. I love you."

  He lowered his eyebrows slightly. He seemed confused by my response. I remembered the relief in his eyes when I grabbed his hand at my parents' house. And when he woke up yesterday morning before the meeting with the dean. He had been surprised that I was still laying next to him. He wasn't used to someone having his back. It didn't seem like he ever had anyone that he could count on. I wanted to be that person for him. Maybe I already was more than anyone else before.

  "I swear to you that I didn't do what they said. I've been completely consumed by you. All I ever do is think about you."

  "I know. I've been completely consumed by you too."

  His smile returned. "I can't believe how lucky I am. Now, about that predicament. I think I can probably assist you with that." He lifted off his t-shirt and dropped it onto the kitchen floor.

  I'd never get tired of seeing him like this. He wasn't the lucky one; I was. I ran my fingers down the crevices in his abs. I still felt that spark of electricity run through me every time we touched. I thought it might go away once we didn't have to hide our relationship anymore. The sneaking around, the excitement, the forbidden dynamic. But it was still there. And I wasn't sure that I wanted it to ever disappear.

  He leaned forward and kissed me. Softly at first and then more passionately, sending shivers of desire down my spine. I clasped my hands behind his neck as he pulled my ass to the edge of the counter.

  I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I unwound my hands from his neck and grabbed my cell.

  "Don't answer it." He lips drifted to my neck.

  "But it's probably Melissa." I turned my head away from him so I could see my screen. "She's here."

  "Maybe you should tell her to come back."

  "James, she walked here." I put my hand on his chest.

  He sighed. "Her timing is impeccable." He leaned down and grabbed his shirt as I slid off the counter.

  My phone buzzed again. "She's at the front desk. They told her we weren't here."

  James laughed. "Oh, right." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called down to the front desk. "Is there a Melissa down there asking to come up?" James put his hand over the receiver. "Is her last name Monroe?"

  "Yes."

  "Yes, please let Melissa Monroe up. Thanks, Ben." James put his cell phone back in his pocket. "So, what can I expect today?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well," he said as he wrapped his arms around me, "every time she's seen me, she's been mad at me."

  "No she hasn't."

  "Yes, she has. She hates me."

  "She doesn't hate you. She doesn't even know you. Maybe tonight she can finally get to know you better. I want you two to be friends too."

  "I'll try to be super charming." He flashed me a smile.

  "Yeah, I don't think you need to try to be charming. It comes quite naturally to you."

  A dinging noise sounded through the apartment. James nodded his head toward the elevator doors and released me from his embrace. "I'm probably going to need another shot." He grabbed the bottle off the counter and poured vodka into his glass."

  I laughed and went to go let Melissa in.

  As soon as the doors open, she ran out of the elevator and gave me a big hug. "Where the hell have you been? How are you feeling? How's your head? I can't believe everything that's been going on..." her voice trailed off as she released me from her hug. "Oh my God. This place is amazing." She walked past me and toward the windows all along the back of the apartment. I had never really seen her awe struck before. She folded her arms across her chest as she looked out at Main Street below.

  "It's pretty awesome, right?" I asked as I walked up next to her.

  "I didn't even know Main Street could look this pretty." She turned toward me. "No wonder you're never at our dorm any more. This place is amaze-balls. I might never leave either."

  "Amaze-balls, huh?" James said as he walked up behind us. "Hi, Melissa, how are you?"

  Melissa openly rolled her eyes as she turned around. "I've been better, James."

  "Oh. I'm sorry..."

  "You're sorry? Yeah, you should be. You know what? You and I need to talk."

  James' eyebrows lowered slightly. "About what?"

  "You know what."

  "Hey, Melissa." I put my hand on her arm. "Maybe you and I can talk real quick? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

  "Yeah, which is another thing I want to talk about. But first I need to talk to your boyfriend."

  Geez. I just wanted to have a fun night.

  James looked over at me. But all I could do was shrug. I had no idea what Melissa was upset with him about.

  "If something is bothering you..." James started.

  "Bothering me? Of course something is bothering me. Don't you remember our conversation the first time we met?"

  "I remember that it was rather one sided."

  "Very funny. But you promised me that you wouldn't hurt her. And do you know what you did that very night? You broke up with her. So yeah, you could say that's been bothering me. You lied to me."

  "I don't think you understand the circumstances."

  "Oh, no, I do. Penny told me that she didn't tell you she was a sophomore. Which doesn't seem nearly as bad as having a secret wife."

  "I know I messed up. But Penny has forgiven me for that. For both things. And I was just..."

  "Right," Melissa said, cutting him off again. "You were trying to protect her or some crap like that? Well I don't buy it. Because this whole thing," she said pointing down to the news trucks. "That doesn't protect her at all."

  "Penny and I both want this. The way people are reacting is not my fault."

  "Yes it is. Of course it's your fault. You can't cheat on your crazy ex wife with a student and not expect things to blow up. You're like a celebrity."

  "I'm not a celebrity."

  I started laughing. I started laughing and couldn't stop. And then James started laughing at me laughing.

  "What is wrong with you guys?"

  We both continued to laugh.

  "Oh my God. You're drunk, aren't you? That's your drunk laugh." Melissa turned toward the kitchen. The bottle of vodka was still open on the counter. "Is that what you've been doing holed up in here?"

  I couldn't seem to stop laughing.

  "Stop laughing at me," Melissa said.

  "I'm not laughing at you. I'm sorry," I said, still giggling.

  "Whatever, I can't even judge you for this whole underage drinking mess you have going on. Josh gets me alcohol all the time. One of the many perks of dating an older man. Or super old," she said and looked at James.

  "I'm not super old. I'm only 27."

  "27 is the new 20," I said.

  "Okay. I need a drink too because you're both being ridiculous. I'm glad this is going to be fun. Because I passed on a very sexy date with Josh to hang out with you guys." Melissa walked over to the kitchen.

  "See, she's always mad at me," James whispered.

  "Well maybe you shouldn't have broken up with me."

  "I didn't break up with you. I just
said I needed some time." He smiled at me. "I really wish we were alone right now. He put his hand on my waist and let it slowly slide down to my ass.

  "Oh my God, James." I grabbed his hand and moved it off my ass. "Apparently you get horny when you're drunk too?"

  "No, I just always want you."

  "You know, you're supposed to be charming Melissa, not me. I mean, not like that obviously. In a gentlemanly way."

  James laughed. "Don't worry. The only ass I want to touch is yours." He slapped my ass and walked toward the kitchen.

  I loved when he was happy and playful. And I was impressed that he was able to be despite Melissa's onslaught. He was definitely better at dealing with her than I was. I tended to always just give in. I followed him into the kitchen.

  "Were you guys just drinking straight vodka? No chaser or anything?" Melissa asked.

  "We both just really needed a drink," James said and sat down in one of the stools at the counter.

  "Gross." Melissa opened up the fridge. She was always so comfortable everywhere she went. And she had already made herself completely at home in James' apartment. James and my apartment. I still needed to tell her that I was moving in with him. She poured a can of cherry coke into a glass, topped it off with some vodka, and leaned against the counter. "Why did you both need a drink so badly?"

  I looked at James and then back at Melissa. "The cops showed up," I said and shrugged.

  "Wait, what?"

  "To interview me for that stupid investigation they're doing."

  "Did they tell you how the investigation was going?"

  I looked at James again.

  "Apparently two of my former students said I was asking for sexual favors in exchange for giving them better grades. Or something along those lines."

  "And..."

  "And nothing. It isn't true. Either the girls made it up, or the detectives did to try to get information from Penny.

  "You have a history of lying."

  "Here." James pulled out his phone and set it on the kitchen counter. He pushed it and it slid across the counter to Melissa. "Check my phone. I'm telling the truth."

  I had never looked at James' phone before. James hadn't offered his phone as evidence to me. Because I trusted him. And he needed to know that I trusted him. Melissa clearly didn't trust him though. She needed the proof.

  "So I can just look at your phone? At your texts? And contacts? And emails? And pictures?"

  "Suit yourself."

  Melissa swiped her finger across the screen. "What's your password?"

  "Oh." James laughed and ran his hand through his hair. "Actually it's Penny."

  "I'm your password?" I slid into the seat next to him.

  "Yeah, I happen to like thinking about you." He put his arm around me.

  "I hate that I'm mad at you right now, James. Because you two really are adorable," Melissa said as she looked down at James' phone.

  I leaned my head against James' shoulder. His cologne seemed to affect me even more when alcohol was coursing through me. I wished we were alone too. I put my hand on his thigh.

  "Insatiable," he whispered.

  I gulped.

  "Who's Jennifer?" Melissa asked.

  "My sister."

  "Oh." She looked back down at his phone. "What about Ellen?"

  "That would be my housekeeper."

  "Okay, fine, there's nothing on here." She placed his phone back down on the counter. "Actually there's barely anything on here. Which is suspicious all by itself."

  "Sorry to disappoint you."

  "Well I'm adding myself into your phone. Because if Penny winds up in the hospital again, I want to know."

  "You'll be the first person I call," James said.

  "I'd better be. And her parents. Have you talked to them yet, by the way?"

  "We did." I lifted my head off of James' shoulder. "It went pretty well actually. My dad was not thrilled about me losing my scholarship, but other than that...it was good."

  "Oh crap, Penny. I didn't realize you lost your scholarship. What are you going to do?"

  "I don't know why everyone is making such a big deal out of this. You know I have the money to pay for it," James said.

  "The perks of having a loaded boyfriend." Melissa smiled. "Speaking of which, I'd love a tour."

  "I will let you handle the tour, Penny. I need to get some work done." James stood up.

  "But you're not a professor anymore," Melissa said.

  "I'm working on some other stuff." He kissed my cheek. "I'll be in my office."

  Melissa didn't say anything. She just watched James disappear. "Oh my God, this place is so cool! Show me everything!"

  I laughed and slid off the stool. "Okay, so this is the kitchen." This whole part of the apartment was open. I didn't really need to say anything. "And the dining room and living room."

  Melissa walked over to the big box in the living room. "New T.V.?"

  "Yeah. James knows that I like to watch T.V. and he didn't have one. Plus his brother, Rob, is coming to town tomorrow. He wanted something to watch football games on with him."

  "That's cute. Are you excited to meet him?"

  "Yeah, and I'm really curious to see what he's like. I feel like I'll know James even better once I meet his brother."

  "And you two are good? I mean, I saw all the news vans outside. It's kind of ridiculous."

  "We're good. I'm just trying to ignore everything else. What was class like today? Did you hear anyone talking about it?"

  Melissa shrugged. "A few people. But I wasn't in any of James' classes. I feel like your Comm class is going to be a nightmare. Have you decided whether or not you're going to drop it?"

  "I mean, I'm already halfway done. There are only a few speeches left. I don't want to have to take the whole class over." But I also didn't want to have to face the other students. Especially Raymond Asher. But it was also the only class I had with Tyler. Tyler was one of my best friends. I liked getting to spend time with him. And I wasn't sure how James would feel if I hung out with him outside of class.

  "I get it. So..." Melissa's voice trailed off as she looked around the living room.

  "Yes?"

  "James mentioned paying what your scholarship used to pay. I know that he has a lot of money. But do you have any idea how much? I remember when these places were being built. They were selling them for like a million dollars or something ridiculous."

  I looked at the door that James had disappeared into. I was pretty sure anyone could look up the price he sold his company for. It didn't seem like a big deal for me to tell her. "I don't know exactly. The only thing he's told me is that he sold his company for 2.8 billion dollars before he became a professor."

  Melissa started laughing. But she stopped when she saw my face. "What, are you serious? Billion with a B? Who the hell has that much money? That's like...well I don't even know who makes that much money. I don't even have a comparison. Are you serious?"

  "Yeah, that's what he said."

  "Well you should totally let him pay for your education."

  I laughed. "I don't want him to do that."

  "You're so weird. I mean look at this place. Clearly he can afford anything he wants. And he said he wanted to pay the difference of your scholarship."

  "I don't know. I'm sure we'll talk about it again. I'd just feel weird taking his money."

  "You wouldn't be taking it, he'd be giving it to you. What's in there?" she asked, pointing to James' bedroom door.

  "That's his room. Come on, you've gotta see his bathroom."

  Melissa laughed. "Geez, this is weird. I can't believe I'm about to walk into a professor's bedroom. I have to say, if I was to guess which one of us was more likely to sleep with their professor, I would have guessed me."

  "I know. I would have too." I opened up the door to James' bedroom.

  Melissa laughed and lightly pushed my arm. "Holy crap." She stepped into his room and looked around.

  James' room wa
s my favorite place in his whole apartment. Probably because of how often we had sex in his bed. The shower was one of my favorite places too. I could feel my face starting to blush.

  "I've never felt sheets this soft." Melissa ran her hand along the bottom of the bed. "What side do you sleep on?"

  "The right side."

  Melissa jumped onto the right side of the bed and laid down. "Oh my God."

  I started laughing.

  "I'm never getting up. You can't make me."

  "But you haven't even seen the bathroom yet."

  "Fine." She sighed, slowly climbed off the bed, and followed me into the bathroom. "This is like my dream bathroom." She sat down on the edge of the tub. "I need to find a professor to sleep with."

  "Melissa!"

  "I'm just kidding. I'm obsessed with Josh. But seriously...you're so lucky. Is that his closet?" She peered around me, back into the bedroom.

  "Yeah." I was more embarrassed now. I had forgotten about all the clothes that James had bought me. Most of them still had the tags on.

  Melissa wandered past me and into the closet. "Gross."

  "What?" I asked and ran in after her.

  "He kept his ex's clothes. You should make him get rid of these."

  "Those aren't Isabella's clothes. They're mine."

  Melissa pushed a few of the hangers back, studying the shirts and jackets. "Penny, these aren't your clothes. They're actually nice."

  "Hey! My clothes are nice."

  "Sorry, you know what I mean. They're expensive. They're classy and trendy, and really there's some of everything in here."

  "Yeah, James bought them for me."

  Melissa turned around. "Seriously? All of this stuff is yours? You better let me borrow this top. This is so pretty."

  "Yeah, you can borrow it. Of course."

  "Wait. So you let him buy you a T.V. and tons of clothes but you won't let him pay for some of your schooling? All of these clothes probably cost a fortune."

  "I don't know, it's just different. I didn't ask for any of those things. He just got them for me. He wanted me to be more comfortable here."

  "Geez, what else has he bought you? No wonder you chose him over Tyler."

  "Melissa, it wasn't like that. I don't care about his money."

  "I know. You wouldn't even add that it was a pro when you were choosing between them. Because you're insane."