Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men Book 9)

by Linda Kage

  “Yes.” She rolled her eyes and mumbled, “Word for word.”

  “And he still has a penis?” I had to know, lifting my eyebrows incredulously.

  She snorted and cracked a smile. “A bruised one, but yeah. Barely.”

  “Oh my God!” My mouth dropped open. “Did you really rack him?”

  Her smile grew a little more, even as she ducked her face. “I did.”

  I hooted. “Yes! Girl, you are my hero. Way to go, Ty.” I pulled her into a big, encompassing hug, and she ended up resting her head on my shoulder.

  “But what am I going to do now? I can’t be alone.”

  She said alone as if it were a dirty, nasty thing. “Honey,” I scolded, pulling back. “You’re not alone. You always have us. And there isn’t anything wrong with being without a man. You don’t need some dick to define you. You are spectacular in your own right. Men are only good for…”

  My rant trailed off as I thought of Colton. A few months earlier, I would’ve said something about guys only being good for sex and eye candy, but what I’d started with him was so much more than any of that.

  Tyla cocked her head, waiting for my answer, so I smiled and patted her bent knee. “They’re good for making a team, but you have to be strong and individual in your own right so you can carry your weight of the partnership too. And he has to be working toward the same goal as you, with you. There’s nothing wrong with going it on your own, but there is something wrong with partnering up with someone who has their own agenda.”

  Tyla sniffed and shook her head. “That wasn’t what I thought you were going to say at all.”

  “I know,” I answered. “Me neither.”

  “Right,” she said slowly. “So can we start man-bashing now?”

  I chuckled. “Sure.”

  Just then, the door burst open, and Sasha rushed inside, followed by Chad.

  Tyla glanced past Sasha and instantly narrowed her eyes. “No dicks allowed. Motherfucking cheating asshole sons of bitches.”

  Chad froze in the doorway, his eyes going wide. Pointing toward the hallway, he said to his girlfriend, “Yeah…I’ll just be in your room,” and he darted as fast as he could go past the couch.

  We watched him disappear before Sasha turned back to Tyla and promptly pulled her into a hug. “Baby, I am so sorry. Tell Sash all about it.”

  So Tyla proceeded to detail everything again, tears sprouting from her eyes. Sasha and I listened and answered when we needed to, and she seemed to have calmed significantly when a knock came on our door.

  “Oh, God,” Tyla groaned, burying her face in Sasha’s shoulder. “If that’s him, I don’t want to talk to him.”

  “I’ve got this,” I announced, pushing to my feet and straightening my shoulders. “Let’s see how bruised Igloo Pussy can make his balls.”

  “Kick him once for me too,” Sasha commanded.

  I nodded and didn’t even check the peephole before jerking the door open and setting my facial features to fuck-off. I totally wasn’t expecting it to be Colton.

  He started with a cringe. “Sorry, I took off on you, but if you’re still ready to go to the…” His words trailed off as he took in my expression. “What’s wrong?”

  I stepped into the hall with him and pulled the door mostly closed behind me as I said, “Right now isn’t a good time. Tyla just broke up with her boyfriend. He cheated on her. She’s a freaking mess.”

  “She broke up with him? Just now?” he asked, pointing his finger down between us as his eyebrows arched with concern. When I nodded, he asked, “Is she here?”

  After my second nod, he murmured, “Poor thing,” and brushed past me to enter the apartment.

  It took him a split second to take in the sight of Sasha and Tyla on the couch before he tsked sympathetically. “That fucking dick,” he announced. “Why would anyone cheat on you?”

  He strode to Tyla and stole my spot on the couch next to her so he could pull her into a hug.

  At first, she seemed to tense against him, staring at him as if he were insane. But then he said, “Men can be such assholes,” and she nodded in agreement.

  “They really can,” she sniffed before cuddling closer to him and closing her eyes.

  Colton met my gaze over her shoulder as he began to rub her back. “Where’s the rest of that chocolate I got you?”

  My cheeks heated as I pinched my lips together. “Um…Sasha, Tyla, and I ate it all the other night.”

  “You…” His eyes widened. “All of it?”

  I cleared my throat and shifted uncomfortably. There’d been three women gossiping. Of course we’d devoured it all. Geesh.

  “Doesn’t matter.” He waved an unconcerned hand. “Alcohol’s probably better right now anyway.” With another significant glance my way, he added, “And isn’t it just lucky we have a bartender in our company.”

  When Sasha and Tyla glanced my way as well, I realized they all really did want me to whip them up some drinks. “Oh!” I said, still stunned Colton had metaphorically just rolled up his sleeves and dived into the mess of a freshly single woman. “Right. I’ll get on that.”

  I hurried into the kitchen, shaking my head, and wondering if I’d ever get used to all the sides of Colton Gamble. He really was an enigma. Just when you thought the guy was an open book and you had him figured out, he turned the page.

  Without thinking what I was doing, I started in on my drink-making experiment. It was almost habit these days; I wanted to come up with my own alcoholic drink so bad I’d been determined to concoct the perfect brew.

  When Colton came up behind me, I’d just finished my first try.

  I glanced over my shoulder. “How’s she doing?”

  He shrugged. “Shitty.” Then he wrapped his arms around my waist before setting his chin on my shoulder to watch as I took a sip of the first batch.

  Only to gag and spit half of it back into my glass. “Oh God, that’s disgusting.”

  “What’re you making?” he asked curiously.

  “Nothing. I don’t know. I’ve been trying to come up with some new, awesome drink mix that’s all my own, and they always—and I mean always—suck.”

  “I thought that was something you only did with Brandt when you guys were working together.”

  I glanced back at him, my eyebrows raised in surprise. “No. I mean, sure, he’s helped me try to come up with something. But I honestly do it all the time, with or without him.”

  “So it wasn’t something special between you two? Good to know.” Colton slipped the cup from my hand, gingerly took a sip, and winced. “God…damn,” he uttered, scraping his tongue against the top of his teeth as if desperate to get the taste off. Then he snagged a napkin and literally tried wiping the flavor away. “What the hell was in that shit?”

  I pouted, a little hurt he couldn’t even pretend to like my creation. But then my shoulders sagged. “Honestly, I don’t even remember. But I’ve tried every mix imaginable, and they either end up already existing, or they suck…bad.”

  “Oh, baby doll,” he murmured sympathetically. “No, no, no. You’re going about this all wrong. Here.” He turned me around, gripped my hips and propped me up on the kitchen counter facing him.

  I liked where this was going.

  “First of all, we’re dumping this.” He overturned my glass, letting the rest of the contents spill out into the sink. I sent up a quick prayer that it didn’t cause any kind of toxic, glowy green gas in the sewers and morph baby turtles into human-sized ninjas or anything.

  No, wait. That would be cool. But, damn, that had already been done too. Pooh.

  “Now…” Colton set his hands on my thighs, the heat from his palms feeling delicious as it soaked through my yoga pants. “Close your eyes.”

  Really, really liking where this was going, I did, tipping my face up, you know, just in case he wanted to do something to that area with, say, his lips, maybe.

  His breath wafted across my cheek, and my body stirred.r />
  “Drain your mind,” he instructed, his voice husky and low.

  Instead of draining, my mind filled…every sense overflowing with nothing but him.

  Preferring this to a drained mind, I tightened my lips and said, “Okay.”

  He chuckled as if he knew exactly what I wanted him to do but wanted to tease me first. “Think of every favorite flavor you have. Food, drink, whatever. Then mix them together and imagine them combined in a single beverage.”

  I opened my eyes and met his curious brown gaze. “So you’re saying I should chop you up into pieces and put you in a drink? That’s kind of sadistic, don’t you think?”

  “Ah, baby doll.” Sweeping in, he kissed me, his hands confident and warm as they ran down my back and clutched my ass. “You sure know how to make me feel loved.”

  “You are,” I assured him. “Completely.” Wanting to thank him for the kindness he’d just paid my friend, I buried my fingers in his hair and tugged him forward, nipping at his mouth, then kissing him deeply.

  “Oh, hell no!” Sasha squawked, screeching to a stop as she entered the kitchen. “Jesus, Juli. No sex on the kitchen counters, ’kay?”

  Mortified, I buried my face in Colton’s shirt and muffled out a wincing, “Sorry.”

  “I was just inspiring her to create a really awesome drink,” Colton answered, making Sasha snicker and back out of the kitchen.

  “Well, then. I’ll leave you to it. Just hurry it up. Ty’s getting restless.”

  I pushed Colton back so I could slide off the counters. He backed away, taking my hands as I landed on my feet. “I need to get back to this alcohol-making duty someone assigned me to.”

  He winked and kissed my forehead. “I’ll stop inspiring you, then.”

  And he strolled back out of the kitchen. I watched his ass in his jeans until he disappeared, soaking up the last bit of inspiration I could before, wham, an idea really did hit me.

  Chocolate-covered strawberries were my favorite thing on earth. I hurried to pull a carton of strawberries from the refrigerator, then chocolate syrup, and some whipped topping. Raiding the cabinets, I found some rum and Kahlua and put my mixer to work.

  A minute later, I was carrying a tray full of three drinks into the living room, where Chad had crept out of hiding and was sitting in the chair farthest away from the couch where Tyla was. She remained curled up between Sasha and Colton, who had an arm draped around her shoulders.

  “The alcohol is here!” I announced, grinning brightly.

  Sasha and Tyla immediately took their glasses, and when Colton reached for the third, I sent him an arch look and half pulled away. “That one’s mine. You’re not twenty-one, remember?”

  He glanced at me and then winked. “I just want a taste.”

  I sighed but stopped pulling back to allow him to claim the glass. As he took his first sip, I held my breath and bit my lip. He looked up at me and lifted his eyebrows. “Mmm. This shit is good.” His next drink was more of a gulp.

  “It really is, JuJu,” Tyla announced while a busy-drinking Sasha could only nod and hold out a thumbs-up.

  Curious because I’d been too afraid to try it, I reached for Colton’s glass. “I want to try it.”

  But he held up an arm to block me. “Hell no. This one’s mine now. Go make your own.”

  I paused to raise my eyebrows. “What did you just say to me?”

  Eyes sparkling with mischief, he stuck out his tongue and slowly lapped his way up the outside of the glass. “I licked it. It’s mine.”

  When Sasha and Chad and Tyla all burst out laughing, I gasped. “Why you…” I dove at him, making him shout out his surprise and quickly set the drink on an end table before either of us spilled it.

  I pounced onto his lap and tried to reach past him, but he cried, “No!” and laughed, slinging an arm around my waist to hold me back.

  “Give me my goddamn drink, you jerk,” I muttered, struggling against him and yet unable to stop laughing either.

  “Jerk, huh?” He lifted his eyebrows through his grin. “That’s definitely not going to get you your drink back. Actually, I think that’s grounds for this.”

  And the bastard proceeded to tickle me.

  “Oh my God, no!” I squealed, struggling against him and giggling uncontrollably. “No! Stop. Stop! Oh my God, wait. You’re going to jostle my ovaries.”

  He immediately stopped before he realized I was making fun of him by repeating his own words back to him from when I’d had my period.

  A second later, he narrowed his eyes. “Ooh, you smart-ass. I’m going to get you even more for that.” And he advanced slowly, his fingers spread and curled into mock claws.

  “Girl, please do not tell me you have a bun in the oven,” Tyla demanded. “Are you fucking pregnant?”

  JULIANNA’S CHAPTER | 31

  Colton straightened with surprise. “Wait, what?” His eyes went wide and scared as they darted between me and Tyla. “Pregnant?”

  I blinked at my roommate, utterly confused. “Yeah…what?” I asked Tyla.

  “Well…” She blinked at me, clearly confused. “You said something about jostling your ovaries.”

  I glanced toward Colton. He glanced back at me. And we both burst out laughing.

  Tears were streaming down my face and Colton still couldn’t calm down enough to help me explain our inside joke when Tyla finally lifted her hands, and said, “Never mind. I don’t want to know. You and your happy new relationship is making me ill.”

  “No, wait.” I dove at her, grabbing her arm. “I’m sorry. We’ll stop. I’ll behave, I swear.”

  “Yeah, I won’t touch her for the rest of the night,” Colton promised, right before sending me a big wink and then scooting me off his lap. Then he turned all his attention to Tyla. “This is your night. We’ll do whatever you want to do.”

  “Whatever I want?” she asked, her gaze lighting with appreciation as she looked at my man. I began to narrow my eyes, wondering what the heck she was going to suggest he do with her, when she said, “Theo never let me play Super Mario with him.”

  Colton’s eyebrows lifted with surprise. “You want to play Super Mario? Hell, I would love to play Super Mario with you. Anyone else in?”

  “Ooh, me!” Chad said, immediately rising from his seat and coming closer so he could squeeze onto the couch at the end, next to Sasha. “I’ll play.”

  I smiled at them as they began to set up that game.

  “I guess I’ll go make another drink for myself,” I announced.

  Chad, who’d been sipping from Sasha’s glass, lifted his hand. “Make me one too. This shit rocks, Juli.”

  I beamed, proud of my concoction. “You got it.”

  “I’ll help you,” Sasha announced as she popped to her feet and followed me into the kitchen, only to yank on my arm as soon as we were alone. “Oh my God, I could just kiss your Colton right now. Did you see the way he totally cheered her up?” She sighed and pressed her hand to her heart. “Girl, if you don’t end up married to that one, I might.”

  I snickered and bumped my shoulder against hers, knowing she was joking. “Back off, bitch. He’s mine.”

  With a laugh, she helped recreate my masterpiece, but a knock on the front door interrupted us.

  “Babe, can you get that?” Chad called. “We just started.”

  Sasha’s hands were covered in strawberry guts where she was busy cutting off stems, so I set my hand on her shoulder. “I’ve got it.”

  Cracking my neck and once again preparing for a confrontation with Theo, I hurried back into the front room and made sure to cross behind the television so I didn’t block the screen from the three playing Super Mario so intensely on the couch.

  When I pulled the door open again, however, I was once again surprised.

  The man on the other side of the door spread his arms open wide with a big grin. “Surprise!”

  My jaw sagged. “Dad? What…what’re you doing here?”

  “W
hat? Like I need a reason to visit my Juli Bug?” He walked past me into the apartment before I could invite him inside, shedding his gloves and trench coat as he went.

  I opened my mouth to say something along the lines of not having any warning, but he stopped dead, staring at the sofa where Tyla, Colton, and Chad sat in a line, each of them frantically operating the Nintendo controls in their hands with their gazes fixed on the television. A second later, Colton shouted his triumph as he sprang to his feet, while Chad and Tyla on either side of him cried out their dismay and flung down their controls, disgusted.

  Colton was still grinning over his win—or whatever he’d done to best the other two—when he caught sight of me standing slightly behind my father as Dad stood stonily staring at him with his coat folded over one arm.

  I could tell the moment Colton realized who he was. His grin faltered and he darted a quick glance at me before pushing another smile onto his face, this one a little bit leery.

  “Hey,” he said, sounding completely polite and welcoming.

  Dad’s glower intensified before he glanced at me. “Is he the one Shaun told me about, then? The boy you’ve been seeing behind my back?”

  “Oh…shit,” I heard Chad’s quiet curse. A second later, he and Tyla scrambled past Colton to escape the room and hustle into the kitchen, making excuses about things they had to do.

  Five seconds later, only Colton, my dad and I remained.

  Colton made the first move. “Hey, um, hi.” When my father veered his hard stare back to Colton, Colton winced but cleared his throat and kept striding forward. His black and blue eye suddenly stood out horribly. “You must be Juli’s dad. I’m Colton. It’s nice to meet you.” He respectfully held out his hand, but of course, my dad only narrowed his eyes.

  Colton slowed to a stop and shifted his attention to me, his gaze clearly asking me what I wanted him to do.

  Unable to leave him hanging like that, I moved to his side and took his hand—the same one my father had refused to shake—and squeezed his fingers as we faced my dad together. “I don’t know what Shaun told you, or thinks he knows about me, but yes, this is my boyfriend, Colton. I wasn’t hiding him or doing anything behind your back.”