Played (Trapped Book 3) Read online

  “I’m not insinuating anything. I’m stating it as a fact.”

  I huff a laugh. “Don’t you ever give your ego a break?”

  “Tell me I’m wrong.” His tone is all challenge. His raised brow and intent stare dares me to deny it.

  “I don’t want to have sex with you.” That badly, a small voice inside me whispers.

  A knowing glint lights his eyes. “That’s okay, I want to have sex with you enough for both of us.” He pauses. “What do you say? Are you going to put both of us out of our misery?”

  “As tempting as your…invitation sounds—” I deliver my rejection with a smile. “—I don’t think it would be a good idea for us to become involved.” Besides the fact that his best friend is a douchebag and sleeping with him would be a betrayal to Paige, at the end of the day, I’d be little more than another notch on his bedpost.

  Josh casually stirs his drink, peering at me from beneath his unfairly long lashes. “Why not?”

  I tell him the truth. “Because I’m not interested in a one-night stand.” The only good thing that comes out of one-night stands (presumably, besides the sex) is never having to see the other person again. Because of our best friends, that definitely could never apply to us.

  Josh continues to stare at me, amusement now dancing in his eyes.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “That you think one night would be enough.”

  My stomach drops and suddenly the room is fan-myself hot. In a bid to cool the heat flaring up inside me, I settle with squeezing my thighs together, but that does little to stop the throbbing.

  He leans in again. “Look, neither of us is looking for a relationship, but we’re obviously attracted to one another and have been for a while.”

  I open my mouth and then quickly slam it shut. He’s right, so why bother denying it? A relationship with him would be a disaster, but my body is urging me to take him up on his offer. It would probably be a good thing. I could kill two birds with one stone. First, in ending my sexual drought, and second, in finally answering my body’s burning question: What is Josh like in bed?

  I start again. “If—as you say—a one-night stand won’t be enough and a relationship is out of the question, what exactly are you proposing?”

  “Something more fluid,” he replies. And honestly, his smile should be outlawed. It’s the real crime of the century. “Why don’t we take this conversation somewhere private?” he suggests, apparently taking my silence as encouragement. And he’s right, I haven’t said no.

  “And where would that be?”

  “My apartment. It’s not too far from here.”

  This I already know. I’ve never been there but Paige has and says it’s very, very nice.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t do anything to you that you don’t want me to.”

  I stifle a laugh. That’s hardly reassuring since the things I want him to do to me would grant him extensive liberties. “What about your friends?” I look around but fail to spot them amid the crowd in the strobe-lit room.

  “They’re big boys. They can find their way home by themselves.”

  I glare at him. He knows that’s not what I mean, but I guess men and women have different rules when it comes to ditching their friends when they go out drinking.

  “I’m not the designated driver, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “How did you get here?”

  “I took a Lyft like I always do.”

  I give him high marks for being responsible. After Dale, I appreciate a man who doesn’t drink and then put other people’s lives at risk by getting behind the wheel.

  “What about you? Didn’t you come here with one of your girlfriends?”

  I let out a light snort. “She blew me off to get back with her ex-boyfriend.”

  Josh nods and gestures to my glass. “You gonna finish that before we leave?”

  I notice he’s only finished half of his. “Do you want to leave now?”

  At my question, he stands, leans down and whispers in my ear. “Yes, Erin, I want to leave now. Are you coming with me?”

  Desire strikes like a bolt of lightning, touching off fires from my breasts right on down. Am I coming with him? God, I hope so. And that sound you hear? That’s me caving like an avalanche.

  With one last sip of my drink, I slip off the stool and onto my feet. “I drove,” I inform him as he flags Cherise and places two twenties on the table.

  And he’s a generous tipper. He may be boyfriend material after all.

  “Then we’ll take your car. Give me your keys. I’ll drive.”

  Scratch that. I forgot he’s as bossy as hell. But it’s the promise of sex that has me biting my tongue.

  Resting his palm on the small of my back, he leads me out of the club and to my car. I allow him to steer me to the passenger door, and hand him the keys without a fuss.

  It takes less than fifteen minutes for him to pull into the underground parking lot of his building, and three minutes more to ride the elevator up to his apartment, much of it in silence. Tension-wrought on my part.

  Sex with Josh is a huge step for me, and I’ve spent the drive over second guessing myself.

  “Nervous?” he asks, as he flicks on the lights when we enter his condo.

  “Do I need to be? You brought me here so that we can talk…in private. Isn’t that what you said?” I flutter my lashes innocently up at him.

  Josh lets out a throaty laugh.

  I take a moment to admire my surroundings. Walls light-gray in color and dark wood flooring, form the basis of a stylish, masculine space. The living room furniture and accessories are a mixture of dark-gray, tan, and warm woods, and a large television hangs prominently on the wall.

  Next thing I know, I feel him against my back, his chest warm and hard. His arms encircle me and his voice rumbles in my ear. “Here, let me help you with your coat.”

  What? Puzzled, I turn in his arms. “But I’m not wearing a—”

  That’s as far as I get, the next word muffled by his mouth on mine.

  What happens over the next hour changes everything. Rocks my world.

  Suffice it to say, I don’t get a tour of the apartment. Not then, anyway. I can’t remember how we get to his bedroom. I can’t even tell you what his bedroom looks like. Except for the heavenly feel of his navy-blue sheets, everything else escapes my attention. All I remember is the two orgasms he coaxes from me nearly split me in two. I also discover that I’m a screamer, something my exes would be shocked to learn.

  It takes several minutes for the aftershocks to dissipate, for lucidity to return, and for me to gain control over my body. And even longer for me to realize what hit me.

  Sex with Josh is…

  I have no words.

  Hair tangled, my naked body sprawled like a wet noodle across his bed, I slowly turn and look at him.

  He’s watching me, his expression sated. Then his hand is on my ass, palming it. I feel the tug. My pussy purring to life.

  “You good?”

  Good? I’ve never been better. He’s the maestro and I’m—I’m well and truly fucked. Literally and figuratively.

  “I don’t know. You tell me.” The slur in my speech has nothing to do with the half glass of Mai Tai I drank. No, I’m drunk on sex. The good stuff you save for special occasions and two-year droughts.

  Josh pulls me close with an animalistic growl, my breasts flush against him, his chest hairs doing things to my nipples that should be outlawed. He kisses me deep and slow, our tongues on a journey of exploration and rediscovery. Damn, the man can kiss.

  When he finally lifts his mouth from mine, I’m panting and getting wetter by the minute.

  “I told you one night wouldn’t be enough,” he murmurs, his fingers combing through my hair, the long auburn strands fanned out over his pillow.

  “Then what is it?” Sexually satisfied, it’ll be easy for him to convince me to agree to almost anything. My body pulses at the prospect o
f more sex with Josh.

  “Fantastic sex,” he says huskily, lowering his head and nibbling the sensitive spot behind my ear.

  It’s hard not to become too distracted when I’m aroused, but I make the effort. “No, I mean if this isn’t just for one night, what is it?”

  His mouth drifts to the top of my breasts. “It’s us getting together whenever we want. Whenever you want.”

  Whenever I want. I’m already thinking I’ll be needing a stiff jolt of Josh…daily. Which should have been the first sign that I’m already in over my head.

  Danger! Danger! The alarm is going off. But instead of heeding the warning, I ignore it, continuing along because the warning is only at defcon one. Defcon three is technically when the situation truly becomes dangerous.

  “What about when I go back to school? That is, if we’re still doing this?” I add. I don’t want it to sound as if I see this as a long-term thing.

  “How often do you come home?” His tongue takes a swipe at my nipple before pulling it deep into his mouth.

  I close my eyes and bite down on my bottom lip as pleasure courses through me. With my senses swimming, I manage to pant, “Holidays mostly.” Although I started coming home more often after Bree was born.

  Josh abandons my breasts and shifts his attention to my neck and then my mouth. His kiss has my lips immediately clinging to his, opening up for the seductive thrust of his tongue. “You’re going to need to come home at least twice a month,” he murmurs against my mouth. “Although, three or four times would be better.”

  He wants to see me every week? Pleasure and satisfaction buffets me on a cloud of euphoria. The sex must have been as good for him as it was for me.

  “What about you coming to see me?” In this arrangement, I can already see that much of the work will fall on my shoulders. Not that I mind, but I’m pretty sure I wasn’t put on this earth to make life easier for Josh.

  Drawing his head back, he looks at me, his expression a mixture of amusement and surprise. “You want me to come to your dorm?”

  I give a sniff, vaguely insulted. “I haven’t lived in the dorms in over two years.” Dorms are for freshmen and I’ll be a senior when I return to college in the Fall.

  “Yeah, but don’t you have roommates?”

  He has me there. “One roommate.” Barb, whom I rarely see. She spends more time at her boyfriend’s place than ours.

  His gaze searches mine. “I have no problem going to you but I’m thinking about privacy. Unless you don’t mind people knowing about us.”

  He’s definitely right about that. Especially Paige and Mitch. Good God, I’d never hear the end of it.

  “No, you’re right. The more people who know, the more likely it is to get out,” I reply almost absently. Barb knows Paige and she isn’t exactly known for her discretion. And Paige can never know. Me, on the other hand, I haven’t let on to Barb that I know she’s screwing her biology professor behind her boyfriend’s back. What she does in her bedroom is her own business.

  “So you’ll come home more often?” he murmurs, his hooded gaze fixed on my mouth.

  I stroke the muscled curve of his shoulder, laughing softly. “We don’t even know if we’ll make it beyond the summer. I could grow bored with you by the end of the month.”

  Josh appears to take that as a challenge, his hand immediately delving between my legs and finding my clit. I eagerly surrender, opening my legs wider for him, my breathing coming in uneven gasps.

  “Oh yeah?” he asks with a satisfied smirk. “You wanna bet you’ll still be as hot for this by the end of the summer as you are now?”

  I moan and clutch his biceps. Now that’s one bet I’ll be happy to lose.

  Not another coherent word is spoken until after he once again shows me what his nimble fingers, talented tongue, and rock-hard cock can do.

  Chapter Five

  Present Day

  Josh

  “Is everything okay?” Chloe rubs my upper arm, her question yanking me back to the present.

  I tamp down my irritation and forcibly push the encounter with Erin to the back of my mind.

  The woman drives me nuts.

  I hate that I never know where I stand with her. Not that I should give a flying fuck. If she wants to be a bitch about me seeing Chloe, that’s on her.

  But she’s got some nerve. She tosses me aside and now I’m not supposed to—

  Stop. Thinking. About. Her.

  Aware Chloe’s waiting for my response, I summon up a smile. “Just the project my team is working on,” I reply, referring to the phone call that had given me an excuse to escape the house for a few minutes.

  And a chance to speak to Erin alone.

  I’m a senior animator and project manager at my uncle’s company, PixelGraph, which creates animation as well as animation software for television and movie studios, and digital video streaming services. I love my job even with its long hours, ever-moving deadlines and its knack for infringing on my personal life.

  Chloe threads her arm through mine and presses closer against my side. “I really like your friends. Paige is a doll.”

  Mitch and Paige are upstairs putting Bree to bed. He hadn’t wanted to leave Chloe alone, so he’d waited until I returned from outside. Apparently, Bree wants him to read her a bedtime story too because he does a better prince than her mother.

  “What can I say. I have good taste,” I tease.

  She and Paige hit it off the first time they met over a month ago, and since then Chloe’s been pushing for us to get together with them again. Erin dropping by hadn’t figured into the plan. Certainly not Erin looking like a wet dream in her leg- and ass-emphasizing skirt, prissy blouse and sexy high heels.

  I reflexively slam the door shut on the image when it comes to mind. I need to get that woman out of my life, but as our best friends are getting married, I don’t see that happening anytime soon. And by soon, I mean ever.

  “Erin is great too.”

  Oh shit.

  I’m hit by a wave of guilt. Guilt at what the sight of Erin does to me. My dick’s been twitching from the second she walked in the room tonight. And if there’s one thing I know, her ability to literally get a rise out of me is going to pose significant problems to the viability of my current relationship.

  “Although you might have mentioned how gorgeous she is,” Chloe chides playfully. “I wasn’t expecting she’d be quite so tall. And that hair. I wonder if it’s natural?”

  I come damn close to swallowing my tongue. It’s natural. But there’s no way I’m volunteering the information. Or how I know.

  Thank goodness Mitch and Paige pick that moment to return. Because seriously, how the hell am I supposed to respond to that?

  Like a guy who hasn’t had her six ways to Sunday.

  Chloe addresses Paige. “Does Erin have a boyfriend?”

  What the hell? I try not to gape at Chloe. The evening has taken one too many unexpected and uncomfortable turns. The kind of interest my girlfriend is showing in the woman I used to sleep with is more than a little mystifying. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Chloe knows the last part.

  As Mitch and Paige resume their place on the couch, he shoots me a look as if to ask, What’s her deal with Erin?

  I respond in kind. How the hell should I know?

  “Um, not right now.” Paige replies tentatively. “Why are you asking?”

  Chloe shrugs. “I don’t know. After meeting her, I assume she has guys beating down her door.”

  Wonderful. Erin will be happy to know that not only did she make an impression tonight, it appears she picked up a fan.

  “Because she’s pretty? That’s why you assume she has guys beating down her door?” I’m genuinely curious as to why Erin’s relationship status is garnering this much of her attention. It’s not as though Chloe isn’t as attractive herself.

  Okay, maybe not as gorgeous but then few women I know are.

  “It’s not just that,” Chloe rep
lies but doesn’t elaborate.

  “Okay, then what does Erin’s relationship status have to do with the price of tea in China?” I avoid looking directly at Mitch. He told me I should be upfront with Chloe about my thing with Erin. I told him it wasn’t necessary since we’d technically never dated. I hate that he gets to have the last laugh.

  In my defense, though, Erin and I had done a good job avoiding each other since Christmas. She ditched Mitch and Paige’s New Year’s Eve party, and she was gone by the time I arrived—late as usual—for their house warming at the end of January. I honestly didn’t think Erin and Chloe would meet. There hadn’t been a reason for them to. At least not in the near future.

  “I think I have the perfect guy for her.”

  What the fuck? “The perfect guy for who?” I must have misheard her.

  “Erin, of course.” At our collective silence, her gaze darts around, touching each of us as uncertainty lines her brow. “Did I say something wrong?”

  Based on the way Chloe’s now staring at me, it’s obvious I need to work on controlling my reaction to the insane things that come out of her mouth.

  “No.” My reply comes out more clipped than I intend.

  “Then what’s the problem?” she asks calmly.

  Since I can’t tell her how inappropriate it is for her to try to set my ex-lover up with another man, I opt for, “It’s just that—” I pause a beat before starting again. “Chlo, you barely know her. Why do you want to set her up with anyone?” And who the hell does she have in mind? Some idiot at her job?

  “What else do I need to know? She’s Paige’s best friend. And you guys like her, don’t you?”

  Mitch manages to convincingly cover his laugh with a cough. He doesn’t dare look at me when he says, “Absolutely. Erin is great. The best. Paige couldn’t have a better friend and Bree adores her. Any guy would be lucky to have her.”

  Is that a dig at me? I’d had her and hadn’t wanted to let her go. He knows that better than anyone. But that was over a year ago. It’s not as if I’m still hung up on her. The sex was great, and while I’m still physically attracted to her, I’m with Chloe now.