“So you’re telling me you’re going to be my personal sex slave.” Harvey was practically glowing as he needled our manager.
My stomach turned, and I wondered if there was a brand of Tums that worked on emotional turmoil, though I wasn’t positive which part of the situation was causing me unrest. Was it the fact that Tatum had so easily turned me down before hooking up with my bandmates? Or was it something else? I shook my head, avoiding the curious look Harvey threw my way.
“No. I’m saying I will make myself available to you in whatever way necessary to keep you from making my job harder.”
“How romantic.” I immediately regretted opening my mouth as Tatum frowned at me.
Before she could comment, Calix stole her attention away from me. “Are you opening this offer to all of us? Will you be our good little whore and try to control us with that pussy of yours? Does the record company pay you extra for that?” Intentionally vulgar to force a reaction from her.
“So fucking predictable,” I muttered.
Tatum glared at him while Harvey tossed me a curious look, but his attention didn’t stay on me for long. It never did. Like metal shavings to a magnet, his eyes returned to the one person I couldn’t blame him for watching. Because I quietly wanted to know the answer too.
Rage at myself, at this situation, coursed through me, and fueled by some lingering sense of chivalry, I surged to my feet before I could let my stupid hopes get too high.
“How about everyone keeps their dicks in their pants and not take advantage of the desperation of our manager, huh? What the fuck is wrong with you guys?”
They would use her up and spit her out. Destroy the girl who had shown such determination, sitting in an empty apartment with an overwhelming job ahead of her.
I’dbeen there for her.
I’dhelped her make sense of this new life.
And now I felt like I’d been friend zoned.
The Macallan single malt was on the counter, where I’d left it, and as I stomped toward the back of the bus, I swiped it, holding it close like it was the only friend who couldn’t hurt me. I needed the buzzing disconnect of alcohol more than I needed my next breath, and considering I’d never been a big drinker, I didn’t expect it to take long for me to get good and numb.
I slammed the door to the back of the bus and jumped back as it rebounded off someone coming in close on my heels.
“What the fuck crawled up your ass?” Harvey demanded, folding his impressive arms over his chest.
I covered the shiver of desire that snaked down my spine with a healthy gulp from my bottle. The alcohol burned on its way down, lighting up my insides and sending a tingle through my balls. Or maybe that was just the effect of having Harvey’s attention focused solely on me.
To prolong the moment, I took another longer draw before a fucking brilliant idea struck me.
It was so simple. So perfectly right that I almost laughed aloud. Instead, I stepped a little closer to my longtime best friend and dropped my voice so no one else would hear.
“Use me instead.”
He was so close, I could smell the sweat he’d worked up during our show. My cock twitched in appreciation at the sight of his plump lips parting. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t had dreams about his mouth.
A small furrow creased his brow. “What?”
This was right. It was the perfect solution.
His hand pressed against my chest as I pulled him into me and kissed the fuck out of him.
Those lips I’d dreamed of were even softer than I imagined, and I reveled in his taste, licking at the seam in a demand to let me in. Give me everything. I wanted to devour him.
The hand at my chest tightened into a fist, and I grunted my approval.
Hold me. I’ll ground you.
Between one heartbeat and the next, everything shifted.
A hard shove sent me sprawling backward onto the bed, and I blinked in shock, my slightly drunk, lust-addled brain trying to catch up with events as Harvey—my Harvey—stood over me with dark eyes and a look of disgust that twisted his features into something unrecognizable.
I reached for him, trying to bring back the moment, but before I could find my feet, he was gone.
