“I’M STUFFED.” I slid my empty plate onto the coffee table, where platters of pastry, fruit, and cooked items littered the surface, and fell onto the couch beside West, rubbing a hand over my belly.
“Hey, you’re the one who told me you were starving.” He reached over and twirled a finger through my hair. “I was just trying to accommodate you.”
“By ordering everything on the room service menu?”
“It wasn’t everything on the menu. Just the items under the ‘breakfast’ section.” He winked. “It’s one of the perks of dating the owner’s son.”
“Five-star meals at your beck and call?”
“Five-star meals at your beck and call.” West grabbed my wrist, lounged back into the end of the couch, and pulled me down with him. “Me? I’d settle for having you at my beck and call.”
I shifted in between his legs, almost sad he’d pulled on a pair of blue and black checkered lounge pants, then cuddled into his bare chest, kissing the warm skin there.
“Lucky for you, that’s one of the perks of dating me.”
West brought his arms around me, kissing me on top of my head, and something about the gentle move made my heart flutter.
“Really?” he murmured, stroking a hand down my back. “Well, that’s good to know. Because I really would love it if you rode my—”
I quickly lifted my head and pressed my mouth to his, cutting off whatever outrageous thing he was going to say. West’s lips immediately parted for mine, and without a moment’s hesitation, I dove in for another taste.
I wasn’t sure when I’d turned into such a tactile person. But the more time I spent around West, the more I found myself needing to touch, taste, and have some sort of connection with him.
I’d never felt anything like it. That kind of relationship was not something I’d ever been drawn to. But I was now. I had a boyfriend. A boyfriend that I found myself craving more and more with every day that passed by, and not just physically. I found myself eagerly awaiting the next time he would call or text. The next time we could hang out and just…be.
West slid his hands down my back to the elastic of my sweats, his fingers flirting with the edge of them and then dipping underneath. I raised my head to tell him to behave, but one look at his sleep-disheveled hair, that talented mouth, and his stubble-covered jaw line, and my resolve quickly started to fade.
West was the kind of man that you wanted to misbehave with, but my mind wasn’t that far gone that I’d forgotten West’s roommate and best friend, East, was due home sometime today. The last thing I wanted was to be caught bare-assed naked on his living room couch. East didn’t seem like the type of guy to let something like that go. In fact, he reminded me of someone who’d use anything and everything to his advantage. So I’d rather not give him any kind of leg up here, especially not my naked one.
West rolled his hips up, rubbing his hard length along mine, and the temptation to throw caution aside was a difficult one to ignore.
“Come oooon,” he said, nipping at my lower lip. “I’ll be quick.”
I chuckled. “Gee, how could I pass that up?”
West slipped his hands under my sweats, smiling up at me as he waggled his brows. “I’m just trying to—”
“Get laid?”
“Reassure you we won’t be caught.”
“By promising to make it quick?” I pushed up over him and rocked my hips against his. “Do you really want to rush this?”
West leaned his head back on the arm of the couch, closing his eyes and digging his fingers into my ass as he guided my movement. “No, but you’re the one who said you were at my beck and call, not me.”
“That’s true.” I leaned down to graze my lips over his, and West’s gorgeous blue eyes opened and locked on mine. “But not when your roommate might bust in and catch us.”
West frowned. “He’s seen and done worse. I promise.”
“I believe you. But he doesn’t even know we’re together, so…” I pushed up and moved back from him, settling on my knees between his legs. “I’d rather not announce that with my bare ass.”
“No?” West ran his eyes down over me, then offered up a crooked grin. “But it’s such a nice ass.”
I snorted and moved to get up, knowing it would take very little to persuade West to move this to the bedroom, but then my phone alarm started to go off. I glanced over at where it sat on the coffee table and scooped it up. “Shit.”
“What?” West sat up as I silenced my alarm and dropped it back on the table.
“I’m supposed to meet my dad for lunch today. In, like, twenty minutes.” I got to my feet and shoved a hand through my hair, wondering how in the hell I was going to get ready and get across town in twenty minutes. “I’m totally going to be late.”
I hurried down the hall and heard West follow, but didn’t have time to stop. I needed to find my jeans and shirt, hope they weren’t rumpled to hell, then pack my shit and get going if I had any hope in getting to the restaurant on time.
How the hell had I forgotten about this?
“JT? Slow down, would you? Why don’t you just call and change the day, or tell him you’ll be a little late?”
I glanced over at the sexy man eyeing me across the bed and knew exactly how I’d forgotten. When I was around West, everything else vanished from my brain. Something I wouldn’t generally mind if I knew my mom wouldn’t grill me for my tardiness the next time she saw me.
“You don’t get it. Mom set this up for me and Dad thinking it’d be perfect for father and son time, since she’s going to brunch with her friends. If she finds out I bailed or was late, she’s going to ask why. You really want me to tell her I was late because I spent the night here?”
West’s mouth fell open, but when nothing came out, I nodded.
“Exactly.”
I pulled on my jeans, and when I located my shirt, I groaned. It was a crumpled mess, just as I’d feared.
West crossed over to me and took the shirt out of my hands. “Go and pick something out of my closet.”
One of his shirts was probably worth more than everything I owned combined. “No, that’s fine. I’ll just tell him—”
“That it spent the night on your boyfriend’s floor?” My cheeks flushed, and West chuckled. “I mean, maybe that could be a good icebreaker.”
“Seriously?” I shook my head. “You’re crazy. I need to ease my parents into this, not announce that I spent the weekend in your bed.”
West kissed me quickly. “With me inside you.”
I swallowed and shoved him away. “You’re not helping.”
“I just offered you the clothes off my back—well, hanger.” He gestured to the closet again. “Go pick something, and I’ll have this cleaned and back to you the next time we hang out.”
I bit down on my lip and finally gave in. “Okay.”
I darted into the closet and picked out the first shirt I spotted, a black button-down with a subtle pattern that I was hoping my dad wouldn’t look too closely at, because it was unlike anything I would pick out for myself.
I shrugged into it and tried not to think about how damn good it smelled—just like the man it belonged to—then headed back out to the living room, where West was waiting for me with my bag.
“Thank you.” I took it from him and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, and just as I was about to slip out of his arms and head for the door, West grabbed my waist and pulled me in to deepen the kiss.
I melted into his arms, my mouth going pliant, my willpower zero against the hunger he always inspired in me. When I found myself contemplating how I could get out of lunch again, though, I started to pull away.
But not soon enough.
“Oh, Weston dear? Is your motherfucking ass finally at home?”
West’s arms stiffened at the sound of East’s voice, and he pushed me away.
I frowned even as I took a step back, knowing we were keeping this a secret from his friend. But something about West’s sudden dismissal of me cut deep. Much deeper than I’d expected, given how close we’d become over the last month.
East stepped out of the foyer, and when his eyes shifted between the two of us, I found myself reaching for the strap of my bag. God, this was awkward. West was standing beside me, still and silent as a statue. It was completely out of character for him, but I didn’t have time to analyze it. Instead I had the insane thought that maybe we should just rip the Band-Aid off and tell his friends and my family we were together. Because this feeling I was experiencing right now? It sucked.
“Hi,” I said, deciding the best thing I could do was get the hell out of there.
“Hello.” East’s eyes narrowed a fraction, reminding me of a hunter stalking its prey. “Fancy meeting you here, JT. Though I’m not sure why I’m so surprised. I haven’t seen my boy West here in days. I should’ve guessed you were the reason.”
“East…” West finally said, walking around the couch toward his friend.
“What? From the minute I saw you two together, I had a feeling it would end up this way. Hell, I should’ve bet on it.”
I grinned, almost relieved that he was joking about it. Maybe if I got out of there West could finally tell his friend everything, and the next time we all hung out it’d be much less awkward.
“Look, I’ve got to get going.”
“So soon?” East said.
“Yeah, I’ve got to meet my dad for lunch.”
“That’s sweet.” He looked over at West. “You’re not going with?”
When West merely glared at his friend, I took that as my cue to get out of his hair. “Okay, I’ll see you two later.”
West gave a nod as East waved me goodbye, and I quickly headed for the door. Great, now I was running even later. I was about to make a dash for the elevator when I reached for my phone in the pocket of my jeans and realized I’d left the damn thing on the coffee table.
Shit. Today was not my day.
I turned around and luckily caught West’s door before it shut, and I hurried back inside, about to make my apologies for barging in.
“So you finally fucked the golden boy, huh? Guess you won the bet after all.”
I froze as East laughed, my entire body paralyzed by the words I’d just heard.
“I told you I would.” West scoffed, the sound caught somewhere between a chuckle and a cough. “You’re the one who doubted me.”
“My mistake for sure. We were starting to think you’d ditched the bet altogether, but we should’ve known better. You never give up on a challenge. You’ve just been busy sealing the deal.”
My mind began to spin, and the rush of adrenaline from seconds ago instantly drained away as I tried to comprehend what I was hearing.
Bet…?
Deal…?
They’d all been waiting for West to…fuck me?
No. There was no way I’d just heard what I thought I had.
My stomach roiled as I blinked, trying to focus, trying to reason away what these two guys had just said, but nothing was making sense.
Nothing except the fact that I was a bet. A sick and twisted bet. How low could someone go?
My legs shook and the room started to sway, and when my bag fell off my arm and hit the floor, East and West both stepped into view.
East’s smirk was like that of a snake—cruel and cunning and not at all sorry for the venom he’d just spewed out of his mouth.
West, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to vomit. His face had turned ashen, his eyes glassy and wide, as he tried to swallow back the revolting things he’d just said.
“JT… I—”
“Don’t,” I said quietly.
West walked around the table scattered with our leftover breakfast, and my eyes welled as I thought about what a difference a handful of minutes could make. Minutes ago, I’d felt happy and hopeful, like my entire world had been turned upside down by the possibility of falling for someone so completely unexpected.
And now? Now I felt like my world was crumbling down around me—or maybe it was just the castle this Park Avenue Prince had lured me into.
“JT, it’s not what you—”
“Think?” I spat out, the word so harsh that West had enough common sense to stop by the end of the couch. “Are you really going to stand there and tell me I didn’t hear you just call me a bet?”
“Technically”—East shrugged—“I said you were the bet. He just said he won.”
“By fucking me.”
“Yes. I hear he’s quite good at it, so you’re welcome.”
“Shut. Up. East,” West ground out.
But it was too late now.
I was done listening to him.
Done looking at him.
Done with him.
Humiliation washed through me like ice-cold blood in my veins, and if I didn’t get out of there and soon, I wasn’t sure I’d make it out alive. With my eyes on East, because it was much easier to feel hate and loathing than heartbreaking disappointment, I said, “I left my phone on the coffee table.”
He turned to eye the cluttered space and picked it up, daring me to come get it. Not about to give these two assholes another reason to laugh at me, I forced my legs to move.
I stormed over to East and snatched the cell from him, and as I turned to get the hell out of there, the last thing I heard was West saying, “It’s not what you think…”
