Sophie’s calf tightened against Aiden’s shoulder. He pushed a third finger inside her, angling forward and sparking every nerve to life. Her hips rocked to the rhythm of his tongue as she rode out her release.
Aiden stood and kissed her. Sophie fisted her hands against the front of his shirt; her taste on his lips enveloped her.
He boldly tucked her panties into his pocket with a wink. “Safe keeping until next time.”
TWO
Sophie
Aiden:
I can still taste you on my tongue.
Aiden:
I had a beautiful time.
Sophie:
I did too.
Aiden:
Thank you for giving me your number.
Sophie fussed around the apartment she shared with Claudia between work calls. She had taken a shower, tidied up the living room, and started the laundry. Sophie accomplished more before 11AM than she had in weeks. Her time with Aiden and Zack felt like nothing she’d ever experienced before. She was riding high from her night at Surrender.
True to his word, Rickey didn’t let Sophie leave unless Claudia was with her. He made no exception to the fact that the club's owner offered to walk them to the car. It’s easy to see why Claudia loved it; Sophie already liked that about the space.
Wrapped in a throw blanket, Claudia sleepily shuffled into the living room, her eyes narrow slits. She made her way to the coffee pot and immediately filled her cup just the way she liked it: no cream and an inappropriate amount of vanilla bean sugar.
Claudia juggled the mug, blanket, and a newly acquired cranberry muffin to the kitchen table. She sat beside Sophie and hovered over her coffee cup. Sophie noticed red scratches along Claudia’s arms and neck, as well as a faint bruise on her shoulder that was partly hidden by her hair.
“It seems like you had a good time last night,” Sophie teased, curling her leg under her in her own seat and adjusting the stack of papers she’d been working on and shuffling them to the side.
“If you’re gonna poke me about my night this early, I’m going to grill you about yours…”
Pressing her lips together, Sophie sighed and nodded. “I’ll need more caffeine before we talk about my night.”
Claudia lifted her coffee cup in agreement and changed the subject. “Have you heard from Gage?”
“It's been two weeks, which isn’t odd for this time of year.”
Sophie's younger brother was away at college. It had been just the two of them since their parents were both gone by the timehe turned eleven. She’d spent the better part of her twenties being both sibling and parent to Gage.
While their standing phone date had taken a back seat to midterms, their current form of communication was silly videos and photo memes.
Claudia looked at her watch and groaned, pressing her head against the wood of the table. “I forgot I have to go to the club today.” She looked up at Sophie hopefully, scratching her fingers through her unruly hair. “Would you braid this mess for me, please?”
Sophie patted her arm and stood to gather what she needed to tame Claudia’s curls. They gravitated toward Sophie’s room instead of the chaos that Claudia’s stayed in.
Grabbing the comb, she parted Claudia’s hair down the middle and over to the side, as she’d done so many times in their thirteen-year friendship. “Lidia. I think I have a problem.” She began to brush the tangles, separating the hair carefully.
“By the looks of it last night, you have two big ones.” Sophie returned Claudia’s laugh with a nervous chuckle.
“What do you know about them?” She sat on the edge of the bed, Claudia sitting between her thighs so Sophie could braid her hair. “It’s not that I’m int–”
“Soph?” Claudia’s firm hand was warm against her leg.
