My palm twitches. I want to take her over my knee and teach her what happens to sassy little brats. I want her crying in pain while she squirms and begs for my cock.
And that’s exactly why I broke up with her. She’s vanilla. I’m a sadist. We’re fundamentally incompatible.
But I love her so goddamn much, it hurts.
JANIE
“Explain this to me again.” I stare into my best friend’s beautiful green eyes as we sit across from each other in my living room. “You’re with two guys now. The bounty hunters.”
Ariel nods, looking happier than I’ve ever seen her. Even when her asshole ex love-bombed her in the beginning of their relationship, she didn’t look this blissed out. And that creepy bastard bought her a fucking sports car and filled it with enough high-end computer and tech gear to make any hacker’s panties wet. “They’re seriously the best men I’ve ever known.”
“With two, though?” I’m trying to make sense of this. Trying, and failing. “How does that...work?”
“It works amazingly, thank you very much.” She winks. “You are sheltered, aren’t you?”
Shame pulls my gaze down. I’ve never watched porn, never read any spicy books. My parents are great, totally sex-positive. When I was a kid, they answered all of my questions matter-of-factly, and never made me feel bad for asking. But I was a virgin when I met Tag, and we never experimented much.
“Sheltered?” I repeat. “I mean, not totally. It’s just...both at the same time? Or do you, like...never mind. This is none of my business.”
“I sometimes have sex with both at the same time, but not always.” She squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry for saying you’re sheltered. It’s okay, sheltered or not. You can ask me anything, and if I don’t think it would break Austin or Lyle’s confidence, I’ll tell you what you want to know. Just ask.”
This is why I’ve always loved Ariel. She’s adventurous, nonjudgmental, and thoroughly kind.
“No, it’s okay. If I have questions, I’ll ask, and thanks for not thinking I’m being nosy.”
“You’re no more nosy than I would be, if our situations were reversed.” She takes a sip of her hot cocoa. “Damn, girl, you make the absolute best hot chocolate.”
“The trick is to add cinnamon.”
“It’s amazing. Now.” She leans forward. “Are you sure there’s nothing you want to tell me?”
My heart stutters in my chest. “No, of course not.”
Leaning back, she squints at me. “I feel like you’re holding something back, but if you aren’t ready to talk about it, that’s cool. I’ll be here when you’re ready.”
I shift in my seat, uncomfortable. “I thought my family party was yesterday, remember?”
“Yeah—did something change?”
“The date,” I say with a laugh. “But they weren’t expecting me, so they didn’t tell me. But Tag was there when I arrived.”
Ariel frowns. “Still with the puppy-dog eyes?”
“Still with the puppy-dog eyes. I swear, those baby blues have everyone else in my family fooled. Not me, though.”
“They should stop inviting him. He broke up with you, but they’re still letting him hang around.”
“They like how he treated me.” I shrug as I take a drink of my cocoa. “My sister even said she thought he and I brought out the best in each other.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. If he’s so great, and if he wants to hang around staring at me, then why the fuck did he break up with me?”
She stares mournfully into her mug. “I wish I knew, friend. I wish I knew.”
Too soon, Ariel has to head out for a date with her new boyfriends. I’m left in an empty apartment with my unpacking chore looming in front of me. Sighing, I haul my carry-on into my room and heave it onto my bed.
When I open it, though, I’m confronted with someone else’s clothes. Shit, I must have grabbed the wrong carry-on. I’m going to have to call the airport, and it’s going to be a whole thing. I might never see my own carry-on again.
