I rolled my lips together, looking over both shoulders and holding my phone close to my chest before I answered her.
“It’s Braden Lock.”
The cheeky little grin on Darcy’s face melted right off, shock washing in to replace her previous glee. “BradenLock?!” She whisper-yelled the words, looking around the same way I had before she grabbed me by the elbow and tugged me down to yellmore in my face. “Emily! Why the hell does a football player have your number, andwhy is he texting you?”
“Because I gave it to him, and I’m about to find out the answer to that second question.”
I typed out a response even as Darcy warned me not to, and she tucked her hair behind one ear, smiling nervously at a dancer who passed us before she was scouting the room like we were on a heist and she was the lookout.
Me:I thought we weren’t supposed to be fraternizing.
“This is a truly stupid idea,” Darcy hissed at me.
“What is?” Marcus asked, bounding up behind me and snatching my phone before I could catch him. His eyes widened. “Boss? Who the hell is Boss?”
“Braden Lock,” Darcy answered for me, still whispering.
And where she had been aghast at the discovery, Marcus was delighted. He pinned me with a Cheshire Cat smile before tossing my phone back to me.
“I know that’s right,” he said. “Tell him I claimed downs.”
“Marcus,” I chastised, but it was through a laugh.
“What? Would you prefer I join you both? Because I’m one-hundred percent open to that option, too.”
Darcy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Lord Jesus, send me the strength to survive these two.”
Marcus winked at me before holding up his hands in mock prayer.
My phone buzzed, and all three of us leaned in to see the next text.
Boss:Exactly. So you better not be in the hallway by the team store stock room in five minutes. Wouldn’t want to accidentally run into you.
Marcus’s jaw fully dropped as Darcy winced and sighed like she’d lost a bet, her head falling back and eyes washing up to the ceiling.
“Did he just…” Marcus started, his jaw slowly coming back into place as he smiled.
“Proposition me to break the rules?” I asked, my grin mirroring his as those damned butterflies in my stomach tripled. “I believe that’s exactly what he did.”
“Well, we all know you wouldnever,” Marcus teased, inspecting his nails.
“No, never!” I said, hand coming over my chest in mock offense. “Not even if hewouldbe the perfect candidate to help me check off every item on my freaky bucket list.”
Darcy rolled her eyes. “Not this again.”
My roommate had likely heard — andseen— enough when it came to my list of sexual acts I wanted to achieve in my lifetime. It was nothing serious, just something fun I’d drafted up when I was traveling abroad and realized there was absolutely nothing wrong with centering my pleasure — no matter how badly society tried to convince me otherwise.
I’d done a few things on the list already.Threesome? Check. Getting fingered while on the phone? Check. Riding a man’s face? Checkity-check.
But there were still plenty of things left on that list, and I didn’t want to just check them off with anyone.
If I learned anything in my time experimenting with it, it was that I didn’t particularly enjoy one-night stands, or doing these things with just any man who I found slightly attractive.
Unfortunately — likely because I grew up with parents who were stupid in love and always doting on one another — I actually preferred to have a connection with someone before we jumped into bed together. I found I couldn’t relax enough toorgasm if I didn’t feel some sort of friendship first, some sort of relationship that made me both horny and comfortable.
Damn my genetic makeup.
And so, the list had been untouched for a few years now.
