Текст книги "Clash"

Автор книги: Nicole Williams

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

CHAPTER FIVE

“Put this on,” Holly ordered me, throwing a wad of red cloth my way. Stopping it before it parachuted into my face, I held it in front of me. It was a strapless, slinky, knee-length dress.

“Why?” I asked. In a man’s world, this was considered hot. In a woman’s world, it was considered trashy.

“Because you’re going to beat that Vix bitch at her own game,” she sneered, unfolding a white halter dress that was considerably shorter than mine.

“Vix bitch,” I repeated as I slid Jude’s sweatshirt over my head. “It’s got a catchy ring to it.”

“That’s because her ancestors were the muse for the term.”

I chuckled as I fought with peeling my skinny jeans off my body. I was glad Holly was here. She’d all but held my hand through the rest of the game that Syracuse won, thanks to one Jude Ryder getting a total of seven passes into the end zone in one game. Between glaring holes into Adriana’s back and screaming at the top of my lungs after every completed pass Jude tossed, I was a drained wreck.

“What time is it?” I asked as Holly texted someone on her phone.

“’Bout time you got your ass into that dress and showed Vix Bitch that revenge is a dish best served with a smokin’ side of Lucy.”

I sighed and stepped into the dress.

“Just hurry, okay? The street’s already packed with cars and the team’s going to be rolling up soon. You want to be down there when Jude bursts in because you’re going to be the only thing he sees in that thing,” Holly said, shuffling out of her own clothes and sliding into the white dress.

It was a team tradition that Jude’s house hosted the home game after parties. There was never a shortage of women and alcohol, and inhibitions were always in short supply, so a wild time would and could be had by all. The last party the team had hosted here a few weeks back, Jude and I had just hid out in his dark room, petting the hell out of each other. I would be more than okay with a repeat of that tonight.

Tying the halter behind her neck, Holly tossed a cosmetics bag onto Jude’s bed and began sifting through its contents. Grabbing a few tubes, she marched towards me, wielding them like they were weapons.

“Hold still,” she ordered, uncapping what I guessed was black eyeliner.

“Make me,” I shot back, knowing arguing with Holly was futile.

“Don’t think I won’t.”

Giving in with a sigh, I closed my eyes and let her have her way with them. The girl lined, mascaraed, and glossed me in under a minute. She had a gift.

“What size shoe do you wear?” she asked, hurrying back over to her suitcase while I smacked my lips together.

“Seven and a half.”

“Ah, perfect.” Prying a pair of black, patent leather pumps from her bag, she tossed them on the floor by my feet.

I tried sliding my foot inside one, but it wasn’t going. Peering down at the size, I understood why. “These are sixes,” I said, wondering if my boots or barefoot would be the better option.

“So?” she said, dabbing her lips with a shell pink gloss.

How was this not making sense? “So that’s one and a half sizes too small.” There‌—‌I’ll spell it out for her.

“Beauty is pain, sweetpea,” she said, flashing a pair of silver strappy heels from her bag and fastening them on. “Put those sexy ass shoes on and work it.”

“Should I even put up an argument?” I asked, clenching my teeth as I worked my first foot into the tiny shoe, praying a few hours of wearing them tonights wouldn’t affect my dancing for a few weeks to come.

“You could,” she said, throwing her head forward again and teasing the roots. “But it would be a waste of time.”

“I figured as much,” I muttered, bracing myself as I slid my other foot into the last shoe.

“Okay, let me get a look at you,” she said, sliding a silver chandelier earring into her ear. She studied me, like a painter inspected their masterpiece, and a smile made a slow journey into position. “Take off your underwear.”

“What?” I said, never prepared for the next thing that came out of Holly’s mouth. “No!”

“Take. Them. Off,” she repeated, sliding the last earring into place.

“You take yours off,” I threw back like an insolent child.

Her smile broadened. “They already are, baby.”

Shudder.

“Holly,” I said, “I’m not taking my underwear off. End of story.”

“Oh, yes, you damn well are,” she fired back. “End of story.”

I opened my mouth to volley back, but nothing came out. It was hard work making a logical argument against this kind of insanity.

“Lucy, you want to rub Adriana Vix’s perfect little face in her own pile of shit, you’ve got to have as many tricks in your bag as she does. Because I know her type and they play dirty. And they’re relentless little hoe-bags.”

Marching over towards me, she rammed her fists on her hips. “Trick number one: your hot little number,” she started, waving her hands down my dress. “Trick number two: you’re going to give Jude a pair of lidded bedroom eyes across the room any time he looks your way. Trick number three: you’ll be gracious and flattered when the droves of guys line up around you to drive him nuts,”‌—‌Holly must not have experienced Jude’s wrath if she thought any guy within the state would make a pass at me with Jude in the same room‌—‌”and trick number four”‌—‌she wagged her brows at me‌—‌”Adriana comes within an arm’s length of him, you nonchalantly slip those panties into his hand and walk away.”

For a crazy person, she made a lot of sense.

She waited while I worked all this out in my head. Finally, accepting she’d thought this out and any plan was better than no plan, I hitched my dress up and worked my panties down my legs. Thank the maker I’d selected a minuscule lacy pair that would drive Jude crazy.

Balling them up in my fist, I held it in front of her. “And where am I supposed to keep these while I’m waiting for the perfect time to slip them into his hand?”

She hadn’t thought out everything.

Rolling her eyes like I knew nothing, she fished them out of my hand and stuffed them between my cleavage.

“There,” she said, patting my boobs. “You’re good to go.”

“So glad you’re here, Holly,” I said, combing my fingers through my hair and trying the flip and tease thing she was such a fan of. “To make me paranoid I’m about to lose my boyfriend to the likes of Adriana Vix.”

“That’s not what I’m saying, Lucy Larson,” she said, looking offended. “I know how Jude feels about you. That kind of crazy love runs deep, babe. He’s not going anywhere.” Opening Jude’s door, she motioned me out. “It’s not him I’m worried about. It’s that Vix bitch. That breed of woman has made an art form out of manipulating men before they even know how their pants wound up around their ankles. They’re dangerous, so the sooner you show her she’s not getting her claws into your man’s back, the sooner she can move on to the next couple she wants to tear apart.”

I sucked in a breath. I was going to need it. “All right, let’s do this.”

“There’s the spirit,” she said, smacking my backside as I passed her. “Time to drive Jude mad.”

The music started pumping as we passed down the hall. Of course it was some bad brand of hip-hop that vibrated the floor boards.

“I know you’ve got a streak of diva in you, Lucy,” Holly said as we rounded the corner to the stairs. “But tonight, I need you to set that diva free. Let her be all she can be. Got it?”

“Got it,” I said, surveying the room that was already two times past max capacity and the football team wasn’t even here yet.

Winding our way through the flood of bodies, I saw that Holly’s impromptu makeover was effective. Every male within a few body radius turned to watch us as we slid by.

“Hey, asshole!” Holly hollered behind me. “Keep your hands to yourself unless you want me to chop them off while you sleep!”

The offender raised his hands and backed away.

So maybe she’d been a little too effective.

“This is good!” she shouted above the music, grabbing my arm and pulling me to a stop. “The first thing Jude will see is you when he comes through that door.”

“You really have thought this through,” I said, telling myself the guy beside me wasn’t purposefully brushing up against me.

“Location, location, location,” she quoted, smoothing my dress down before lifting my boobs higher.

The mouth of the guy behind Holly dropped.

“Stop,” I demanded, shooing her hands that were now molding my boobs into position.

“Fine,” she said, giving them one final pop. “Just remember. The diva to end all divas. And slip those panties into his hand the first time Vix tries something.”

I nodded in acknowledgement. Diva, diva, diva. Think like a diva, act like a diva. Diva is a state of mind. My mental encouragement to myself wasn’t helping, so I decided to put some diva theory into practice.

Turning to the guy still brushing up against me, I worked a half smile into place. Looking up at him through my lashes, I saw I’d caught his attention. “Sure is hot in here,” I said slowly, a tad suggestively.

Brushing Up Boy’s eyes widened; I could almost see the pulse quicken in his neck. “It sure is,” he replied, moving closer and resting a hand on my side.

“I could sure use something to cool me off.” I crossed one arm over my stomach, brushing the other hand up and down my other arm. The corners of his eyes lined watching my fingers caress my skin.

Wetting his lips, he came closer. Close enough to know I’d… ahem, hit the mark.

“I think I’m up to the challenge,” he said, one side of his mouth curving up.

“Hey, Mr. Over-eager,” Holly stepped in. “She means a drink. A cold drink.”

Shaking his head, he cleared his throat and stepped back. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “Sure. I’m on it.” Casting one longing look my way, he started tearing through the crowd, heading for the kitchen.

“You’re smart enough to know not to drink anything he gives you, right?” Holly said as we watched the boy storming ahead.

“Yeah,” I replied, shaking my head. “How was that for diva?”

“You’re a natural,” she said, nudging me. “Keep up the good work.”

The music came to an abrupt halt, a few heartbeats of silence saturating the room before the first few beats of “Eye of the Tiger” made the room shudder. All hail the victors, because if the song didn’t give them away, the chanting that had started outside and was working its way in had done the job.

“Show time,” Holly said, elbowing me.

“Will you stop throwing elbows?” I hissed over at her. “I’m going to look like a purple Dalmatian by the time you leave tomorrow.”

“Oh, grow a pair,” she muttered, focusing on the front door when it fired open. “Diva,” she added.

“Brat.”

“Ooooh. Burn,” she deadpanned, elbowing at me again.

This time, I dodged her bony little elbow.

The kicker, Kurt or Kirk, was the first through the door, one of the cheerleaders‌—‌no doubt his Spirit Sister‌—‌hanging off his elbow. Right behind the K named kicker, Tony came in, a petite bouncing blonde on his arm.

The players had never arrived in this fashion before; Jude usually just came barreling through the door first, hollering some obscenity, before throwing me over his shoulder and finding a quiet spot we could be alone.

I knew exactly who and what was responsible for the change in entrance. The who being Adriana Vix. And the what being a bitch.

“All right, Lucy, get into position,” Holly said, shuffling me in front of the door. “This chick’s coming out of the gates swinging.”

“No shit,” I said, shaking my head as the parade continued. I wasn’t holding my breath for Jude; I knew she was saving their entrance for the grand finale.

“Here, lean your hip into this,” Holly instructed, shuffling me sideways until I hip-checked an old, water damaged sofa table. Standing in front of me, she positioned my hip where she wanted it, then grabbed my hand. “Hand on hip, feet crossed at the ankles.” She squatted down, adjusting them just so. Popping back up, her gaze met mine with a hardened degree of seriousness. “When he walks in and his eyes fall on you, I want your eyes to emanate innocence. And I want your mouth to open just a bit‌—‌just like it does during orgasm.” Clamping her hands over my shoulders, she leveled me with one more look. “Got it?”

“Sure?” I answered, because there wasn’t any time for clarification. I could see the top of Jude’s shaved head coming up the front stairs. A shiny dark haired head a few bobbing inches below it.

“Put a nail in that bitch’s casket,” Holly said, driving her fist into her hand before disappearing into the crowd.

Even obscured by a mass of bodies, Jude moving into a room made my heart quicken. Even with a male fantasy glued to his arm, he made my legs weaken.

As I’d expected, Adriana was beaming like she was walking across the Miss America stage. I’d be honored to add some tears to her eyes if she didn’t loosen her grip on Jude’s arm. Bouncing into the room like she was the star attraction, she waved at the crowd while the chorus thumped through the room. She was wearing a simple, short, turquoise colored dress that made her skin almost sparkle in its bronziness.

The crowd was chanting, “Ry-Der. Ry-Der. Ry-Der,” and my heart was beating two beats a syllable. He’d changed into a snug fitting white v-neck tee and dark jeans that hung off his hips, finished off with his worn pair of Converse.

Over a year on and off together, and the man could still make my stomach clench just by looking at him.

As Jude and Adriana blazed through the crowd, it began to part, opening up to where I leaned against the ramshackle sofa table, hand on hip, eyes and mouth ready to carry out their orders when he looked my way. Holly couldn’t have placed me in a better location.

Adriana’s eyes landed on me first, and her face screwed into a smirk as her hand curled deeper into Jude’s muscled forearm.

But I didn’t deviate from the plan‌—‌resisting the urge to smirk right back at her‌—‌and my willpower paid out in spades. Jude’s gaze didn’t only shift to me‌—‌it skidded to me. Stopping in his tracks, he held me in his eyes. He never even blinked. “Wow,” he mouthed, running his eyes down my body.

Inhaling through my nose, I pushed past the muscles clenching tighter in my stomach brought on by the way he was staring at me. Opening my eyes wider, I blinked them slowly, infusing as much innocence as I was capable into them. Then, biting my lower lip suggestively, I parted my mouth just how I imagined Holly would have wanted it.

Jude might have just wavered in place. Adriana’s scowl screwed deeper, resembling a rare form of outrage.

I owed Holly big time.

Weaving out of Adriana’s death grip, he cut through the rest of the room towards me. Adriana slammed her hands on her hips, looking one quake away from exploding. It was a beautiful sight.

Even more so was the one grinning at me as he shoved through the rest of the crowd, moving as fast as he could. Stepping in front of me, his eyes were swirling pools of silver.

“Damn, Luce,” he said, sounding out of breath, appraising me with his eyes again. Looking at me with the excitement and anticipation of unwrapping a present.

I didn’t have words for the man standing before me, worshipping me with all he was. Flattening my hands over his chest, I pressed against him. His mouth parted with a surprised inhalation. The heels made it so I didn’t have to press onto my tip-toes when I crushed my mouth into his. My mouth was unyielding against his, smoothing, sucking, and smashing his lips like all we had left in life was this moment.

After his surprise passed, his hands lowered into place over my hips, kneading into them with an urgency that tightened the muscles in my thighs. By this time in our public make-out session, the crowd had starting hooting, and when Jude’s hand rounded around to my backside, digging into the flesh back there, they started hollering.

My breathing was becoming irregular, what amount I was able to manage in this state of tongue tangledness low. Running my hands up his neck to cradle his face, I pulled it back. Looking up into those hungry eyes, feeling the warmth of his breath gusting over my face, I smiled.

“Good game.”

CHAPTER SIX

“You better not be staring at what I think you are, Kurt,” Jude warned, reappearing with a couple of beers in hand and clearing up the K kicker’s name.

“I most certainly am not staring at what you think I was,” Kurt said, tilting his beer our way before fading into the crowd.

“He most certainly was,” Jude said, handing me one of the beers before resting his hand on my side. “Not that I can blame him.”

Clanking my bottle against Jude’s, I took a drink. “But you will beat him if he does it again,” I guessed.

“Hell, yeah I will,” he said, nuzzling my neck before he laid a path of kisses down it. The slippery glass bottle almost fell from my hands. “That goes for you too, Denoza,” Jude said, peering over at one of his teammates while his mouth continued to wet the skin above my collar bone. “And I’ll start by prodding out those wandering eyes.”

“Sorry, Ryder,” Denoza said, smiling sheepishly between the two of us. “What can I say? Your girl is meant to be stared at.”

“That’s right. She is,” Jude said, straightening up and putting himself in front of me. “By me.”

Denoza lifted his hands in surrender. “No harm, no foul, man,” he said before setting his sights on a single girl sprawled out on the stairs and beelining her way.

“Not in my book,” Jude muttered after him, before turning around. “You’re gonna get me killed, Luce,” he said, his face twisting when he took another look at me. “I’m one tough son of a bitch and I can fight off every one of these guys one loser at a time, but I think they could take me if they all came at me at once.”

“Should I go change?” I suggested, taking a step towards the stairs.

“Shit, no,” Jude said, grabbing my hand and pulling me back. “I just wish it was you and me so I could enjoy you all to myself.”

Lifting my arms, I wound them over his neck and started swaying in time to our own beat. Dancing to the beat of Jude and Lucy’s song.

“It is just you and me, baby,” I said, resting my head against his chest, closing my eyes when his arms fastened around me. The music wasn’t fitting, the crowd wasn’t fitting, but everything about the way Jude held me to him made up for our inability to fit into the world around us.

Not even a minute later, the music came to a screeching halt. Jude and I continued to sway in time to the silence.

“Okay, everyone,” a familiar voice spoke through a microphone. “It’s time to play a new game night game that’s sure to become a tradition.”

I thought we’d been playing a game all night.

Sighing, I lifted my head from Jude’s chest to see what the bitch had up her sleeve now.

“As everyone knows, the starters are all assigned a Spirit Sister at the beginning of the year.” I rolled my eyes at the rest of the cheerleaders grouped around Adriana, bouncing and clapping in excitement. “Our goal is to make their lives easier so they can focus on kicking ass every Saturday!”

A roar burst through the room.

“But a man’s got to have his fun too, right?” Adriana’s brows lifted in suggestion as the roar amped up.

“So tonight marks the beginning of a new Spirit Sister tradition.” Lifting the arm she’d hidden behind her back, she revealed a full bottle of top shelf vodka. Another explosion of cheering. Over a pretty girl holding a bottle of liquor.

It was oddly depressing.

“We don’t only do your laundry and make you brownies, we’ll get you drunk as a skunk!” Adriana waited for the crowd to quiet before continuing. I was already feeling sick to my stomach before her eyes landed on Jude. “Each Spirit Sister will serve a shot to her assigned player, starting with the quarterback first.”

Yep, that’s what I was waiting for. She was using the ruse of a game and the motivation of peer pressure to separate Jude from me. Holly’d been right with her manipulation meter readings on Adriana.

“That means you, Jude Ryder!” she shouted into the microphone, waving the bottle at him.

Jude groaned, peering over at me, but before he could say anything, a herd of his teammates moved up behind him and began shoving him towards the front of the room.

“Don’t worry, Jude’s date for the night, you’ll get him back,” Adriana said, staring right at me. I wanted to slap that smug smile off her face for referring to me as nothing more than “Jude’s date.” “That is, if he wants to come back after playing the game we’ve got planned for him.”

A couple of guys around me hung their heads back and made coyote calls. I was reminded, yet again, that men were evolved from apes.

Shoving Jude up next to Adriana, the herders stepped back into the crowd so everyone could see what was happening up in front. I didn’t like seeing Jude standing so close to Adriana, seeing how close in height they were. In her heels, only a couple inches separated them. They’d fit together perfectly. Why my mind went there, I don’t know, but the image of Jude bracing himself above Adriana while he kissed her, moving inside of her, made me clutch at my stomach.

“Here’s how this works,” Adriana said, looking over at Jude, who was rubbing the back of his neck, looking every shade of uncomfortable. “Shot glass,” she began, lifting a small glass. “Shot,” she continued, pouring the clear liquid to the brim. Then, handing the bottle off to one of her fellow cheerleaders, she raised his index finger to the crowd, who was looking around at each other like big deal.

Rolling down the top of her strapless dress, she tucked the shot glass between her huge tits. “Enjoy,” she instructed. “No hands allowed.”

Oh, hell no.

The guys had turned into rabid beasts, throwing their arms in the air and cheering.

Adriana took it in, managing a tiny curtsy without spilling a drop of liquid, right before her gaze shifted on me. “What are you waiting for, Jude?” she said, looking nowhere else but at me. “Drink up.”

“What the hell are you doing standing here, you stupid, stupid girl?” Holly hissed beside me, shoving me towards the front of the room. Reaching down my dress, she slapped the panties into my hand. “Go beat that bitch at her own game.”

It took one more solid shove from Holly, but then I went into action. Hurrying through the bodies chanting “Ry-der” and throwing fist pumps into the air, I balled the panties up into my hand, watching Jude, who was watching me. I had his attention, likely because he was worried about me getting eye molested by one of his teammates, but right now, I’d take his attention any way I could get it.

“Your shot’s getting warm,” Adriana said into the microphone, giving her bust a little shake. This time, a splash of liquid spilled out, running down her cleavage.

Shoving the last hulk of a man standing between me and Jude, I brushed past Jude, curling my pinky over his, waiting for his hand to open. As soon as it did, I slipped the lacy thong into his hands, arched a brow at him, and kept walking.

Walking away from Jude, standing there beside with Adriana, all but being peer pressured by his entire team to upend a shot of alcohol from Tits R Us, brought me near to hyperventilation. But I couldn’t turn back because what was I going to say? What was I going to do? I had to trust that Holly, in all her man-eater wisdom, knew what she was doing.

The crowd started thinning out by the time I made it to the hall, and there wasn’t a sign of anyone when I walked into the bathroom at the end of the hall. Closing the door behind me, I braced my hands over the sink and focused on breathing.

Before I’d completed one full breath, the door whispered open. Looking up in the mirror, my smile pulled so tight it almost hurt when I saw Jude’s face, wound into a hungry expression, staring back at me.

“I think you lost something,” he said in a low voice, lifting his hand where my underwear dangled from his finger.

My smile stretched farther. Now it was hurting. “Looks like the right person found them.”

Stepping inside, Jude shut the door behind him. The bathroom was small, and small was a generous term for it. For the two of us to fit in here, my butt was rammed into the sink counter and Jude’s back was pressed up against the shower wall.

“So does this mean…?” he said, gazing down my body, ending at the center of it. I felt every muscle inside of me contract, right before it went soft under the weight of his stare.

“Why don’t you find out for yourself?” I whispered, my breath already coming in short bursts.

His gaze stayed fixed on that point south of my navel as a slow smile crept into place. “Happily,” he said, his voice husky and deep.

Then, before the flash of heat had a chance to spread, Jude threw himself against me, lifting me onto the counter. His mouth crushed against mine, forcing his tongue inside and running it over every plane it could reach. Overwhelmed, my head fell back against the mirror, trying to keep pace with him.

Right in the middle of our kiss, Jude pulled back suddenly, appraising me where I sat sprawled over the counter, breathing like I’d run a two minute mile. Looking down at the space between my legs, his forehead lined, like he was tortured, right before a tilted smile ironed it out. Grabbing my waist, he shifted me down to the very edge of the counter. Resting his hand on the inside of one knee, he pushed it open. Repeating the same with the other, he stepped between my legs, looking down at me like he couldn’t handle the emotions he was feeling right now.

Gripping the hem of my dress with both hands, Jude rolled it up one revolution, his thumbs trailing along the sensitive skin of my inner thighs. My heart was racing and everything was quickening in that way.

And he hadn’t even touched me there yet.

His fingers rolled the dress higher, and then higher still. The entire journey up, Jude’s eyes stayed fixed on mine. Like he wanted to watch every reaction that played out on my face from the way he touched me.

One more roll and there was nothing left to slide higher. My body was aching for some release, pulsing like it had its own heartbeat.

Jude’s thumb skimmed up the rest of my inner thigh. When he pulled it away, I almost whimpered out loud. And then, when he lowered it back into the place that was throbbing the worst, I did cry out. Grabbing the edges of the counter, I forced myself to keep looking into those eyes of his that were darkening with their want.

“I’ll be damned,” he breathed, the words all throaty and rough.

I couldn’t acknowledge him with words‌—‌I was one thumb stroke past words.

Closing the space between us, he kissed the corner of my mouth. “I love you,” he whispered outside my ear, right before his thumb started moving in slow circles over me.

My head fell back, smashing into the mirror, but the dull pain felt good paired with the acute throb spreading its way through my body from Jude’s skilled thumb.

My breath came in shorter gasps as everything tightened into a ball. I was so close.

“I love you so damn much, Luce,” Jude said as his mouth explored my throat.

And that was all I needed. My fingers dug into his back as my body quaked against his.

As my muscles went limp, I let myself curl into him. I managed to sigh through my staggered breathing. I could feel his smile against my skin.

Holy shit. My body felt like it was still intact, but a few moments ago it felt like it was falling apart from the center. I couldn’t calm my breathing and my inner thighs were still trembling as Jude continued sucking on the soft patches of my shoulder.

Right as my head was falling back again, the bathroom door exploded open, slamming into Jude.

“I think we better find you another bathroom to freshen up in, Adriana.” Holly peered over Adriana’s shoulder, shooting me a smile of camaraderie. Adriana took in the scene, my legs wrapped around Jude where he held me captive on the counter, still exploring my skin with his mouth. New tears pricked to life in her reddened eyes. “This one’s… occupied,” Holly added, flashing me a wink before pulling on Adriana’s elbow.

But before she backed out of the room, her eyes met mine. My mouth curved up, my lips still parted from my clipped breathing. Keeping her gaze, I curled my fingers into Jude’s back, arching my neck higher to give Jude better access. I didn’t have to utter a single word for Adriana to get the message. It was crystal clear.

Jude was mine.

Only after the door closed again did Jude’s mouth slow. Giving one last nip over my shoulder blade, he lifted his head. His face was smug as he took me in, still rattled from what he’d done to me.

“I guess she figured out what ‘came up’ when I left her high and dry with a shot between her tits,” he said, bracing his hands over the counter outside my legs.

“I guess she did,” I replied, scooting off the edge of the counter since the backs of my legs were falling asleep. Bad idea. Because nothing that was supposed to work in my body was. Jude’s arms wound around me, keeping me steady.

“I guess I showed her,” I said, gripping Jude’s arms as the sensation drained back into my legs.

His eyebrows squeezed together. “Showed her what?”

“That she better keep her hands and sights off my man,” I replied, not sure I should be admitting this to him, but my mind was still foggy and punch drunk.

Looking down at me, his eyebrows pulled tighter for a moment before his whole face flattened. “That’s what this whole thing is about,” he said, running his eyes down my dress that was still rolled up to my waist. “Isn’t it? This whole night has been about Adriana. Not about me.”

Okay, yeah. I shouldn’t have said anything. Especially when the corners of his eyes lined from the words he’d said.

“No, this was for you,” I said, rolling my dress back down.

“Don’t lie to my, Luce,” he said, the muscles in his jaw going taut. “Everything‌—‌the dress, the coy little smiles and flirty eyes, the panties, the damn orgasm in the bathroom as Holly ‘accidently’ shows Adriana what’s going on‌—‌it was all just some calculated plan put into play by a jealous girlfriend.”

“No,” I said. “This whole thing in the bathroom was one big, spontaneous, pleasurable surprise,” I argued back. “At least up until right now. There’s nothing pleasurable about my boyfriend calling me a calculated, jealous girlfriend.” Even as I said the words, I knew they were true.