Pretty Boy D: Chapter 29

Joss

And guys say girls are teases.

I beg to differ.

My eyes flash to the mirror while brushing my teeth, meeting Dane’s gaze in the reflection as he slides past on his way to the shower. There’s a smirk on his lips as his dick brushes across my ass, with only my towel and his between us. Then, he drops his, and I see everything before he steps beneath the stream of steaming water.

The ‘couch incident’ was a full week ago and we haven’t touched since then. There’s been a lot of flirting, a lot of me dreaming about how far things could’ve gone, but no actual contact. I’m trying to resist, knowing he’s broken his end of the deal with Shawna, but I’ve thought about giving in every day.

Every. Single. Day.

“Excited for tonight?”

I spit toothpaste into the sink before answering. “Should be fun.”

That’s kind of a lie. In truth, I’m nervous. Not only will I be seeing Carlos in person for the first time in over a year, I’m worried I’ll somehow hurt his feelings once we’re face-to-face. He’ll see there’s no chemistry on my part, and I can’t guarantee things won’t go bad with him and Dane meeting.

“Shawna coming?” I ask, trying to sound as neutral as possible when her name leaves my mouth. Trying not to sound like the idea of her turns my stomach.

“She can’t really miss it,” he says with a laugh. “For us, this is work. She texted a few minutes ago to say she’d be late, but she’ll be here.”

I pop my toothbrush into the cup and face the shower. A glimpse of Dane’s silhouette catches my eye as I lean against the edge of the counter.

“Cool.”

He chuckles to himself, but doesn’t speak.

“Will I like her?” I ask next.

“She’s pretty chill, so maybe?”

He doesn’t sound so sure about that and I have more questions—about her, about them—but I keep them to myself for the sake of not sounding insecure.

Even if there is a bit of truth to that.

“Well, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I say with a sigh.

“Just fine?” There’s a laugh in his tone when asking.

I shrug like he can see me and push off the edge of the counter. “It’ll just be an interesting night.”

The conversation ends there because I leave to change. I slide into the outfit I grabbed from the mall this afternoon—a denim, overall minidress, a white, off-the-shoulder crop top underneath. Styling my hair, eyeing myself in the mirror, I’m aware of having chosen an outfit I thought would get Dane’s attention. Carlos wasn’t even a thought when I decided.

Placing hoop earrings in my ears, I try to settle my nerves, praying tonight doesn’t end in total disaster.

Dane

West and Blue showed up first, coming through with the drinks they promised. Next, Sterling arrives with bags of ice, and within fifteen minutes of him crossing the threshold, our place is packed with at least fifty people. That number includes members of our new team as well as the old. And the extension of our regular crew—Lexi and Jules—plus Dez, some new girl Blue’s been hanging with. Add in the caterers and we’re almost at max capacity.

Almost.

Still no Shawna or Carlos.

Conversation about two sisters one of the guys fucked last week goes in one ear and out the other. Not only because I’m completely uninterested in hearing about how both were “squirters”, but also because a pair of smooth brown legs just walked past, distracting me like she’s done the past seven years.

I trail up the firmness of her thighs with my eyes, tilting my head slowly as I wish I had x-ray vision to see under that short-ass skirt she’s wearing. Beneath it, her curvy hips and round ass are physically painful to look at. But that doesn’t stop me. As if she feels my eyes on her, she glances back, meeting my gaze from over her shoulder. She fights a smile, facing forward to keep from giving in to it.

My thoughts slip back to a week ago, to the softness of those same thighs tightening against my jaw when I ate her until she came. I’d be lying if I said that was enough for me. I want it all, but for now I’ll settle for us at least being civil again.

I’m on my way to the door when someone knocks, and I have Joss’ attention again. She hasn’t said it, but she’s dreading the arrival of her guest and mine. She isn’t alone, though. Twice this week, I considered calling this whole thing off, opting to go back to me and Shawna’s original plan this weekend—an invite to hang in a nearby club’s VIP room. It’s always about the photo ops and connections. The biggest part for us right now is keeping up appearances, continuing to see our numbers grow and the opportunities rolling in like they have been.

My hand lingers on the door knob before telling myself to man-the-fuck-up and just open the damn thing. When I do, Shawna greets me with a huge grin that tells of her own nervousness.

“I come bearing gifts,” she announces, holding up a bottle of wine.

I take it and she leans in for a hug while we linger in the doorway for a bit.

“Thanks. You didn’t have to do this, though,” I say, eyeing the bottle.

“It’s no bother. I actually enjoy buying this shit now that I’m legal.”

I glance up and she’s still smiling, but scanning the room over my shoulder.

“Come on in. I’ll introduce you to everyone. Well, the people you haven’t already met.”

Her lips widen and as soon as I close the door behind her, she latches on to my hand, lacing her fingers with mine. The feel of it makes my gut twist and my anxiety spike. On cue, I glance toward Joss. Her eyes flicker down to my hand locked in Shawna’s, then she meets my gaze for half a second maybe, before she falls back into conversation with Blue and the other girls. Of course, she misses the part where I let go, pretending to need both hands to set the bottle on the counter as we pass.

Shit.

“Is that her?”

Shawna points and I’m not even surprised she’s aiming right at Joss.

I nod. “Yep.”

I don’t miss how she scans Joss with only her eyes, never moving her head as she gives her a sweeping look.

“Do you… want to meet her first?”

She sucks in air and I’m reminded of the many, many chicks I’ve come across who Joss manages to intimidate before they even exchange a word. Guess that’s the cost of being a fucking knockout.

“Sure,” Shawna sighs, pushing her shoulders back when she smooths her hair.

We walk that way, me with my heart in my damn throat. It’s Blue who slides a look our way this time, and I don’t miss it when she mouths the words ‘They’re coming this way,’ to Joss, which means they were definitely talking about us. Joss doesn’t move, appearing to be the picture of confidence as she sips from the glass she holds.

“Ladies, mind if I interrupt?”

Four sets of eyes land on me when I ask—all except for Joss’—then those probing looks shift to Shawna, judging everything from her hair, to her outfit, to her shoes. All with one collective glance.

They scatter slowly without a word, leaving Shawna and me to face Joss alone. She turns with this freakishly natural smile on her lips.

“Shawna, Joss. Joss, Shawna.”

I hold my breath once the introduction is out of the way, having no fucking idea how this shit’s about to go.

“Hey!” Joss says sweetly.

“Nice to finally meet you,” is Shawna’s enthusiastic reply. She’s someone who likes to be liked, so I know Joss’ warm welcome resonates with her.

“I’m glad you made it. Dane’s told me a lot about you,” Joss continues, still giving nothing away with her expression.

“Same. I feel like I know you already. By the way, I cried with you when you got that foot tatt. You’ve got bigger balls than me,” Shawna adds with a laugh.

“Oh gosh, you saw that?” Joss says with a grin. “I tried to get Dane to shut the camera off.”

“No, I loved it! It was real! You don’t get a lot of that with social media these days. People are up for posting their latest clothing hauls and vacations and shit, but no one posts the real, day-to-day shit. Whenever you and Dane hang out, you two give tons of footage like that.”

When she finishes speaking, she does that thing again, where she slides her hand into mine, and there’s no smooth way out of it this time. And, like before, Joss doesn’t miss it.

Her smile is still there, but it’s not quite as light and easy as it was a moment ago.

“Well, I’m going to let you two hang out,” she announces, only now letting her true emotions seep through. “I’ll be around.”

With that, she’s gone and back talking to her girls where they’ve gathered near the fire escape. Her back’s to me, but the sympathetic looks on their faces tells me all I need to know.

This party—having Shawna here—was a bad fucking idea.