Page 75 of Spin Control

“I just don’t really know why we’re toasting to Stas,” I say, laughing. “But, fuck it. I can’t think of anything better.” I clink my glass against hers and we both drink. We sit in silence for two full breaths before Elizabeth titters. Somehow, that opens the floodgates and we both start laughing uncontrollably.

“This is absurd,” Elizabeth says as she gasps for air.

“It is,” I say, my abs starting to feel sore from how hard they’re being worked. But the fact that the two of us are sitting in my RV, drinking wine, and toasting to my former teammate who is involved in a high-profile criminal investigation after a race where my new teammate who is nearly half my age crashed into me is basically the definition of absurd. “It really is.”

“He called me.”

Suddenly, nothing is funny anymore.

“Stas?” I ask, focusing intently.

Elizabeth nods and my mind goes into overdrive. Stas called Elizabeth. They had a conversation. “Why?”

“Because I asked him to,” she says simply, as if that’s not a huge bomb to drop. “I didn’t like that he used you to get to me. So I had a contact who owed me a favor get a message to him.”

I let my brain wrap around that slowly. I knew she was good at her job and that she was well-connected. But I somehow didn’t realize she could get in touch with someone who has gone off the grid. “That is both completely terrifying and ridiculously hot.”

Elizabeth laughs, and I don’t miss how her cheeks turn a little pink, how she tucks a wisp of hair framing her face behind her ear.

“What did you two talk about?”

“Oh you know,” she says breezily. “We gossiped about Tilly Monroe and her novelist boyfriend then compared notes on your thrust technique.”

“I’m guessing you mean in bed and not on the track.”

She shoots me a wicked smile that has my heartbeat skyrocketing. “Guess you’ll never know.”

“Are you fucking with me right now?”

“Obviously,” she says, smiling wide. “Do you seriously think I’d ask him about hooking up with you?”

“I have no idea!”

“I am a bit curious,” she admits, tugging on the end of her ponytail and wrapping it around her index finger. It’s something I’ve never seen her do before. It’s mesmerizing.

“If you want the horny details, I’ll give them to you.”

“Really?” Her eyes are bright with curiosity.

Holy hell, she actually wants to know. And I’m not about to deny her a damn thing—even if I suspect she’ll be disappointed.

“I’m a little worried I might have oversold things,” I say slowly. “At first, Stas didn’t want anything to do with me, though he was happy to share and enjoyed watching. But there was one night where our partner wanted to watch us make out. I never thought he’d do it. But then he grabbed the back of my head, pulled me to him, and kissed me. From then on, he was more adventurous, but I never made the first move. I didn’t want to assume and end up doing something that made him uncomfortable.”

Elizabeth nods, as if this makes complete sense. Considering I’ve so quickly adapted to her preferences, I guess it does.

“But that story the woman posted,” Elizabeth says. “The one where—”

“They got me off together?” I ask, the white-hot memory of his fist around the base of my cock while her mouth worked the rest of me floating to the surface. “That’s true.”

“That’s incredibly hot,” she says, and I feel myself go hard. I meant it earlier when I said I’m not interested in sex tonight, but damn, the idea of her being into that rather than thinking it’s some deviant aberration is a turn on.

“Have you ever…?” I start to ask, but she shakes her head immediately.

“No. In theory, I’m into it. But I’m….” she trails off. “You know how I am.”

“You like control.”

“I don’t just like it,” she says. “I need it. I thought there was something wrong with me for a long time because if I wasn’t in control during sex, I felt violated even when I was consenting.” She pauses. “Any time I asked friends for advice, they would say I needed to relax and get out of my head. But that never worked for me. I genuinely thought I was broken. I knew I wasn’t asexual, so I explored sex with women. Though it was better in certain ways, it wasn’t fully satisfying. One day I found this online forum where women were discussing being dominant. Let’s just say it resonated.” She meets my gaze, her cheeks flushed and a little grin playing at her lips. “I worked up the courage to ask someone I trusted if he would let me try being fully dominant with him, and he agreed.”