Playing the Game: Providence University Book 6

by Parker, Ali

  I moved my arm, finger-banging her harder as I licked her clit, teasing and flicking it with my tongue.

  She arched her back and moaned. “I’m going to come.”

  I didn’t stop. I didn’t let up. I let her ride out the waves of her pleasure and lapped her honey as it coated my tongue.

  “I need you inside me,” she said, slithering on the bed. I pushed my fingers back inside her channel, but she shook her head. “Seth, please. You know what I want.”

  “And you know why I can’t.”

  “I’m fine. Trust me.” Her eyes were growing heavy with the meds, and I knew that if she would lie still without my stimulation, she’d probably fall asleep quickly.

  “You should rest.”

  “No. I want to give you the same pleasure.” She raised up quickly but stopped suddenly, holding her head and bracing herself with her other hand.

  “Are you okay?” I rose up and held her steady.

  “The room is just spinning a bit. I moved too fast is all.” She waved it off as if it were nothing.

  “Which is exactly why you need to rest. Come on. Don’t fight me.”

  “I’m fighting for you,” she said.

  I lay stretched out beside her, my hard cock bulging inside my jeans. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Will you at least get comfortable? That can’t be good for your circulation.” She grinned, licking her lips. “I could take care of you for a while.”

  “It’s fine.” I kissed her lips, and she snaked her hand down and stroked me through my pants. It felt amazing, and if she kept it up much longer, I was going to pop.

  “You’re brutal,” I said as she lay beside me, still working down my zipper.

  “We can go slow, Seth. Please? Just a tiny taste?”

  I felt her hand move against my burning flesh as she gripped my cock and pulled it out of my jeans. She stroked it a couple of pumps and rose up to sit on her knees and wasted no time taking me into her mouth.

  I had never been a two-pump chump, but the feel of her warm mouth with the intense stimulation and longing nearly pushed me over the edge. I managed to maintain, holding back the best I could.

  Avery took me deep, and I filled her throat and felt my cock swell at the tip as she bobbed her head.

  I had the best view of her ass and that sweet little pussy beside me, and I couldn’t resist. “Straddle me,” I said, encouraging her to move over my face. I lifted my head to taste her, and soon, we were both tending to the other’s needs.

  I managed to hold off long enough to give her another orgasm, and by the time I found my release, she had taken me even deeper than I could ever imagine, especially in that position.

  “Avery, I’m close,” I warned.

  But she didn’t relent. She moved her head up and down, and I felt my body tense and release, and I wrapped my hands around her waist and lapped harder as I filled her mouth.

  Avery pulled back enough to swallow it down and suckled for more. She had drained me dry by the time she came up for air.

  She moved off of my chest and turned around and smiled.

  “That was intense,” she said with a big smile.

  “You have no idea,” I said. She was definitely the best, but I’d keep that little bit of information to myself.

  “See, you didn’t even have to take your pants off,” she said with a shrug.

  “Yeah, but I wasn’t supposed to take Mr. Wiener out either.”

  “You didn’t,” she said with a sly tone. “That was me.” She curled beside me and closed her eyes. By the time I was ready for round two, she was snoring as softly as a kitten purred beside me.

  Chapter 23

  Avery

  I woke the next morning alone in bed, achy and feeling as if my pain meds were about to wear off. “Seth?” I called out, looking to the empty place beside me. I put my hand over in the spot, but it had gone cold.

  When I didn’t get a response, I listened for the shower, but the house was quiet. There was no smell of breakfast cooking like when I woke up at his place, and no television in the background either. It was still early in the morning but past time for my next dose, and the ache in my side was worse when I tried to get up.

  “Seth,” I called again. I finally managed to get to my feet and went to the kitchen. I found his phone, but no Seth, and when I looked outside, there was no Jeep in the lot. I raked my hand through my hair and wondered when he had left. I hadn’t even stirred.

  I couldn’t remember any place he had to be.

  His phone flashed, making a strange sound, so I went over to pick it up. There was a notification at the top, but the screen was open, and pulled up was a photo of him and Britany kissing. “Party is great! Come out and play, lover.” My voice invaded the quiet as I read it. It hadn’t been a missed message. Seth had seen it and left it open.

  Had he gone to meet her? Is that why he wasn’t there?

  I went to my phone to call Abi and see if she had been to the party. Surely, Seth wouldn’t be dumb enough to try and cheat while my best friend was at Omega House. But when I picked up my phone from the coffee table where I’d left it, something crossed my mind. Seth had definitely seen his phone. He had left it on the coffee table the night before right beside mine. He must have seen it, left it on the kitchen counter, and went out to see her.

  I hit the button to light up my phone and found that he wasn’t the only one to have a message. Britany somehow had gotten my number. A different photo showed up this time, of Seth kissing her breasts. She was looking at the camera with a big smile on her face.

  “Looks like some things never change,” it read. I checked the time, and the message came first thing in the morning. This had happened during the night.

  My heart sank, and I found myself on my knees. “How could he do that to me?” And how long had he been cheating? The whole time? Did he go to Britany while I was in the hospital? Was that why he was so hesitant to mess around? God knew nothing had stopped him before.

  I managed to pick myself up, but my stomach recoiled. I hurried to the bathroom and dry heaved on my way to the toilet. I fell to my knees and lifted the lid, but nothing came up.

  I sank back down against the counter on the fuzzy rug that was in front of it and wrapped my arms around my middle. Fat tears rolled down my cheeks, and the pain in my side was nothing compared to the pain in my heart.

  I heard the door open and shut. I got to my feet and crept out into the small hallway and peeked around to find him in the kitchen with a coffee turned up at his lips.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I barked, causing him to jump and spill coffee on his chin and shirt.

  He wiped his mouth and breathed a sigh of relief. “Damn, Avery, you scared me. I just went out for breakfast. I didn’t expect you to be awake yet.”

  “Yeah, I bet.” He thought he could sneak back in with coffee and pretend like nothing happened. “Is this why you wanted me to take the stronger dose of meds?”

  “What? No. I knew that the next dose was getting close and brought you something to eat.” He moved closer, looking me up and down. “Are you okay?”

  I couldn’t believe he was trying to play it off. “No! I’m not fine. And you’re so full of shit. I believed you. I trusted you!”

  Seth looked confused, but I knew he was probably just confused about how I found out. “Wait, I don’t understand.” He came closer. “Avery, are you in pain? You should sit down and tell me what’s the matter.”

  I shrugged away from him. “Don’t you touch me!”

  He recoiled, giving me a hard look as if I had lost my mind.

  But I didn’t ever want him to touch me again. “You might think that you can sneak around and no one will ever know, but you might want to tell your girlfriend that she should be a bit more discreet.”

  “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. You’re my only girlfriend, Avery.” His voice had gone rougher, and I knew he wasn’t going to like my next words.
<
br />   “Not anymore, and not ever again!” I had let him fool me twice already, and I wasn’t going to do it ever again.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but I shook my head and stepped closer. “Don’t even deny it. Bitchney sent me a picture of your good time. And I saw the message on your stupid phone you left. The next time you try and play someone, don’t leave your phone behind.”

  “Oh, you saw the message? The one she sent. The one I ignored? That doesn’t mean anything other than you were in my phone. I thought you trusted me more than that.”

  “Yeah, I saw it! So what? I looked at your stupid phone. The message was on the front screen. All I had to do was pick it up.” I winced at the pain in my side, which was growing worse as it was well past time to take my dose.

  “Avery,” he said, moving forward to help me.

  I slapped him across the face, and he pulled his arm back to strike, shaking as he backed up, his eyes wild. He dropped his fist, and I took a deep breath, wishing I hadn’t done that even though he deserved it.

  “I didn’t go to the party. I promise. I just left you here sleeping while I went out to get your breakfast, not twenty minutes ago. That’s the only place I’ve been. See?” He gestured to the food he’d placed on the counter. There was a cup of coffee sitting there for me too, but it didn’t mean shit.

  “I’ve been awake for twenty minutes, so nice try.”

  “Avery, I swear. I didn’t cheat on you. You’re the only fucking girl I’ve been faithful to. I’ve been in your bed all night. I don’t want anyone else.”

  The words hurt because I wanted that to be the truth so badly, but I knew he was just playing me to have his cake and eat it too. I went to get my phone and showed him the photo that told me all I needed to know. “Nice try. I guess you were too busy to smile for the camera.” I couldn’t stand to look at the photo again.

  Seth grabbed my hand and looked at the phone, shaking his head. “That’s an old photo. That’s just Britany’s way of starting shit. She probably didn’t expect that I’d be spending the night with you.”

  I couldn’t believe anything coming out of his mouth. It hurt too much to know he could lie to me. “I’m done. We’re over for good. I should have listened to everyone. Especially Clara.”

  “Over some stupid girl’s prank? She probably got pissed when I didn’t go over last night and sent that to mess with us. She’s just trying to cause trouble so I’ll start partying with her again.”

  “I don’t believe you. I’ve seen how you leave here and go there. You did it the night Clara was in the hospital. You would have been there much longer if I hadn’t caught you, and you probably would have slept with her then too! I guess I’m the fool who bought that lie too, but no more. You should leave.”

  “I’m not leaving as long as you’re upset and hurt. At least eat and take your meds. I’ll call Clara over to look after you.”

  “Stop it. Stop pretending and get out. I don’t want you anymore. You’re just like they said.” I walked over with tears in my eyes and pushed his phone at him.

  “Avery, don’t do this. I swear you’ve got it all wrong.” His eyes were hard as red rings formed around them. He balled his fist as his chest heaved. “I’m sorry I almost raised my fist at you, but you hit me. It was just a reaction. I’d never hit you.”

  “Right, and I’m supposed to believe that too. The only thing wrong is me trusting you. Now go. And don’t you fucking ever talk to me again.” The words choked out, and I covered my mouth with one hand as I held my side with the other.

  Seth’s nostrils flared, and I could tell he was just as angry as I was. He walked to the door, stopped, and turned around. “I’m the stupid one. I trusted you would trust me, and you would see around everyone’s bullshit and see the real me. But you’re letting one girl’s game ruin everything, so that makes you just like everyone else.”

  He opened the door and slammed it hard behind him. I heard the Jeep door slam a moment later, and his tires squealed as he left.

  I sank to the floor and sat there feeling like the entire world was going to crash down around me.

  Chapter 24

  Seth

  When I left Avery’s apartment, I headed straight to Omega House, where everyone was still crashed out sleeping from the night before. The floor was lined with bodies. I had to be careful not to step on anyone.

  I kicked the first warm body I came to, nudging them awake. “Hey, is Britany here?” I asked, ready to chew her a new ass.

  She was probably upstairs curled up to whichever sucker had ended up getting to be the booby prize.

  “Britany, who?” the guy asked, his voice rough from sleep.

  I wasn’t in the mood for anyone’s smart mouth. “Don’t be fucking stupid. You know her. The cheerleader. Short, big mouth, hangs with Lizzy.”

  “Oh, that Britany,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “She went upstairs with Lizzy and a bunch of people the last I saw of her.”

  “Seth?” Micah’s voice came from the stairs. He had his girlfriend Tasha by the hand, and the girl was dressed and staring wide eyed at me.

  “I’m looking for Britany. She’s gone too fucking far this time.”

  “She’s not here. She caught a ride home about an hour ago. Are you okay?”

  “No, I’m not fucking okay. I’m sick of always being in people’s mouths. No one really knows me, yet everyone thinks they know everything about me.”

  “Whoa, slow down. Is this about Layla?”

  “It’s not Layla’s fault.” I released a long breath. “Forget it. You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Well, we’re going out for some breakfast, so don’t murder anyone while I’m gone, okay? And if there’s any beer, feel free to drink it up.”

  “Sounds good.” I would have a drink and clear my head and figure out a way to work this out. Avery had gone off because she was heartbroken, but once she listened to the truth and figured out that she’d been wrong, things could go back to the way they’d been. Couldn’t they?

  It had to. I loved her. I held the side of my face where she’d hit me. I recalled raising my fist and the look she gave me. She didn’t even flinch, and while I would have never hit her, I knew it shocked her to see me do that.

  Raising my fist had been a knee-jerk reaction. I was an abused child, one who had learned to fight back. It was still no excuse, and now she’d probably never see me the same way again.

  I found a red cup and walked over to the keg to get a drink, but it was empty.

  When I found Britany, she was going to make this shit right. I had a bone to pick with that girl, and I was going to get to the bottom of what happened if it killed me. She had no right to make up shit just to hurt Avery. I couldn’t imagine how I would have reacted in the same situation. I would have been looking to kill somebody.

  Just when I had committed myself to someone wholeheartedly, my past came up to pull me under, but I wasn’t going to let it get in the way of what I wanted. And that was Avery.

  I left the empty keg and Omega House and hurried across town to a little bar that, by that time, was serving.

  When I went inside, I pulled up a seat at the bar and ordered a beer. I was so pissed off at myself and the world, and I didn’t see my mood improving anytime soon unless Avery came to her senses, but the cold one was a nice start.

  My feelings about her were so conflicted. I loved her, I truly did, and the way I knew was because instead of being mad at her, I was concerned for her. I didn’t like the way she looked when I left and hated knowing she was hurting because of me. Sure, I hadn’t done anything, but because of me, this had happened. That was enough.

  I tried to call her, but she didn’t pick up. I hoped she had called someone to look after her, and the only reason I didn’t call Clara myself was because I didn’t know if Avery was still upset with her too.

  I had drunk three beers by the time Will Tanner showed up. I saw his smile in the mirror behind the bar as he pulled up a seat beside
me. “You look like you had a rough night.”

  “Yeah, more like a rough morning.” I wasn’t planning to confide in him about my problems. I still wasn’t sure he didn’t have a thing for Avery.

  “Too bad. I hate that you missed that killer party last night. It was so wild. You should have been there, man. Everyone was asking about you.” He looked at the bartender. “I’ll have what he’s having.”

  “But I wasn’t there. And I didn’t want to be.” Not that anyone would believe me. Once the rumor mill got wind that Avery and I were broken up, they’d have the story turned around to where I was there, partying as usual. After everything that happened with Avery, I didn’t want to be anywhere but alone.

  “What’s gotten into you lately, man? Just because you’re seeing Avery doesn’t mean you have to ghost everyone else in your life. Although I have to say, I’m kind of glad you weren’t around last night.”

  “Oh? Why’s that? Did you finally get to be the belle of the ball?” The guy craved attention and had been known to cause a lot of trouble to get it.

  He chuckled. “It was a whole lot easier to get Britany’s attention. That’s for sure.” He grinned, wagging his eyes as if he had scored big with her.

  I stiffened, the drink in my mouth turned stale as it slid down my throat. “You were with Britany Burns?”

  “Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “She took some convincing. She had to get you out of her system first. Man, was she hung up, but don’t worry. I banged that out of her.”

  “She asked me to come to the party, you know? But I didn’t.”

  “Yeah, I told her to invite you and that you wouldn’t show up. I told her you were with Avery now and to give it up, but she bet me she could change that. She lost. I won. The rest is history. I just dropped her off at home.”

  “What do you mean she lost? Aside from sleeping with you?” The jab was too easy not to take. Will had a way of setting himself up. And I had a feeling he was about to set himself up for an ass beating.