My breath hitches and my hands ball into fists at my sides. I can feel my heart pounding a million miles aminute, and my body is trembling with anticipation. Just as she’s about to pull the towel loose, she stops.
What the hell? Why did she stop?
“What are you-” I start, my voice rough with need and probably a little bit of disappointment at the fact that she just halted all of her teasing. Lainey cuts me off with a soft laugh.
She pushes me away from the door and turns to leave with a mischievous look on her infuriatingly gorgeous face.
“Where are you going?” I ask, my voice tight. I’m trying not to sound too pissed off at the fact that she’s seemingly leaving me with the worst case of blue balls the world has ever seen, although I’m not so sure I’m doing a great job.
Lainey pauses, her hand on the doorknob. “I’m going home. I’m like, really tired all of a sudden,” she says, a smirk playing on her lips as she opens the door and walks out of my room and down the stairs.
My eyes widen, realization dawning me. She did that on purpose.
Leaning through the doorframe with my hands at the top, I watch her descend.
“You’re playing with fire, Bug,” I warn.
Lainey turns to face me once she hits the bottom level, her eyes sparkling with challenge. “And you’re about to get burned,” she replies simply, before turning the knob and slipping out of the house, leaving me hard, frustrated, and alone.
The door clicks shut behind her, the sound echoing in the silence. All I can do is stand here, my chest heaving, and my body throbbing with unfulfilled desire.
So that’s how you want to play it, Barkley? Fine, I can play dirty too. I can play even dirtier. Lainey thinks she just won this round, but this dangerous game she just started is far from over. A slow, dangerous smile spreads across my face.
Lainey Barkley isn’t going to be able to resist me after I’m done with her.
It’s been two days since what I’m calling the bedroom incident. I think I’ve been rock hard since Lainey left my room. I haven’t been able to get her out of my head.
I haven’t seen her since, not because I’m avoiding her, but because we’ve been busy with classes, and I had practice.
Tonight is Ryker and Gwen’s bachelor and bachelorette parties. So I won’t be seeing Lainey tonight either. Which is fine, because I’m not even sure how to act around her now.
I know she’s attracted to me. I saw it in her eyes. She may have been messing with me, but she wanted me just as badly as I wanted her. She wasn’t completely unaffected.
Tonight isn’t about me or Lainey or our mutual attraction to each other. Tonight is about my best friend and giving him a night to remember.
Flux is packed tonight. The techno music is blaring through the speakers, and the smell of alcohol, sweat, and weed fill the air. You’re not allowed to smoke in the building, but people definitely take a hit or two before they come in.
The bright lights flash, and the colorful dancefloor changes patterns to the beat of the music. This place is always full, but it never gets too rowdy. This crowd doesn’t really do rowdy.
The guys and I are seated in a round booth toward the back of the lounge, sipping on our various choices of alcohol. Whiskey for Ryker and Logan, Mason’s got some sort of rum concoction, I went with scotch, and Patrick isn’t drinking because he’s apparently completely sober now. Boring.
None of us have seen Pat in a while since he moved to California to be a freaking doctor. Don’t ask me what kind of doctor because fuck if I know. What I do know is he’s done well for himself. He got out of here as soon as he could, and I don’t totally blame him.
After the take down of our fathers’ company, we were the talk of the media for a while. Some of it good, a lot of it shitty. Campus was rough for a few weeks until everyone moved on to something new.
We’d told our fathers’ that we’d keep the whole thing quiet from the tabloids and the police, but we never said anything about deterring rumors.
A lot of what was being said was rumors, but there was plenty of shit that was true. People they worked with really didn’t like them, and they weren’t afraid to turn on them.
“So, man, you’re getting fucking married! Shit, I never thought this day would come,” my idiot cousin says, patting Ryker on the shoulder.
Ryker takes a sip from his glass. “Yeah, yeah. I get it. It’s a shock to all, including me, but fuck if Gwen didn’t show up in my life and turn the whole damn thing upside down,” he says, looking a bit nostalgic.
Ryker was Ellington University’s most eligible bachelor. He was untouchable by all, even the professors. He had everyone in his pocket, and the girls? They’d fall at his feet.
Sure, Mason, Pat, Logan, and I are all Elite’s too, however Ryker was the top dog. Everyone wanted him and he knew it. It made his college career a breeze.
He’d had a girlfriend once back in like, high school or something like that. After they broke up, he swore not to date again. So instead, he slept his way through campus.
