Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 131728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
“I mean”—I shrug—“I’m only speculating, of course.”
“You think Henley likes Mason?” she gasps. “He’s into men?” she squeaks.
“Shh, keep your voice down,” I whisper. “I don’t know . . . maybe?”
“Fuck it. I had plans for him.”
Cancel them.
“I mean . . . go for it if you want. I just thought I should let—”
She cuts me off. “No, you did the right thing.”
“So what are you going to do?” I whisper.
Taryn looks into the house. “Maybe we should have a group thing? That way nobody gets left out. We can all get what we want and fuck each other.”
I bubble up a surprised giggle. Out of all the things I thought she would say, that was not it.
Help!
Henley
I sip my beer. “Fuck . . . Taryn.”
“I know.” Mason nods. “Dude, I know she’s your date . . . but, fuck me. Those tits.”
I roll my lips to hide my smile. This poor dumb fuck has no idea. “I think she likes you,” I tell him.
“Who, me?” He points to his chest.
“Yeah. She’s checking you out every chance she gets.”
“Really?” He frowns. His gaze flicks to the back door, to where the girls have gone.
“You could . . .” I shrug casually. “I mean, if she’s into you.”
“You want to swap dates?” Mason whispers.
“Not really . . . but, I mean, I see the way she undresses you with her eyes. I don’t stand a chance.”
Mason thinks hard. “But Juliet . . .”
“She’s not that great,” I lie. “I feel like Taryn is better suited to a guy like you.”
Mason nods as he contemplates his perceived choices.
There are no choices, fucker. You can’t have Juliet.
End of story.
“No. I want Juliet,” he says defiantly.
Taryn interrupts us as she walks back in through the door. “We’re ready to go.”
Mason stands. “Here’s my hot little date.” He puts his arm around Juliet, and I stare at the two of them together.
Don’t even fucking think about it.
Juliet
Our Uber arrives, and we walk out to meet it. “I’ll sit in the front seat, Mason,” Henley says as he opens the car door.
Taryn bends over to climb into the car. She’s wearing a white wetsuit dress that leaves nothing to the imagination.
Honestly, where does she even buy this stuff?
Henley watches her ass and raises an eyebrow at me.
Don’t even . . .
“No, sit next to me, Henley,” Taryn calls out of the Uber.
Henley climbs in beside her.
I’m glad he’s having fun. That makes one of us.
The drive is long. Taryn and Mason jabber on, but I can’t concentrate. All I can think about is Henley’s thick thigh muscles pressed up against mine.
“Ha, ha.” Taryn laughs out loud as she tells a story.
“You are kidding me.” Mason laughs.
“One time when I was in Bangkok,” Mason continues.
“Do you ever wonder how that country got that name?” Taryn replies. “I mean, I do. All the time. Bang cock. Go figure. Like back in the day, I wonder, were the people of the country just banging cocks the whole time?”
“Never thought of it like that.” Mason laughs out loud. “You’re incredible, Taryn.”
I roll my eyes. Seriously?
For fifteen minutes I listen to the most mundane stories of all time, and Henley hasn’t even looked my way.
The Uber pulls to the curb as we arrive at the club, and we all climb out.
Mason and Taryn walk in front, and Henley puts his hand on my waist as he ushers me through the crowd. My hormones go into overdrive at just a passing touch from him.
Suddenly I feel off.
I want to be here with him but under much different circumstances. I want to be alone and on a date, just the two of us, with no lies or other people.
What started out as a fun playing-hard-to-get game has somehow lost its sparkle.
Fuck.
Stop overthinking it.
We walk through the super-crowded club. As Henley walks in front, he glances back and, sensing my mood shift, frowns down at me. “What’s wrong?” he whispers.
“Nothing.” I force a smile.
We arrive at a small table; it’s high, with stools around it. “Here?” Taryn asks.
“Looks good.” Henley smiles. “I’ll go and get some drinks. What do you all want?”
“Thanks. I’ll have a beer,” Mason says.
“I’ll have a vodka, lime, and soda.” Taryn smiles. “Thank you.”
“Um.” I twist my lips as I think. I’m not sure what to have. “I’ll just have . . .”
“Cocktail?” Henley asks.
“A margarita?” I ask hopefully.
“Sure.” Henley gives me a swoony smile, and I melt a little inside.
“Where are the bathrooms?” I ask Taryn.
“Over to the far-left wall.” She points.
“Okay, back in a minute.” I make my way over to the far wall and then head down a corridor that leads to the bathroom.
I look in the mirror. The girl staring back at me doesn’t look familiar. She looks flushed and flustered. Challenged, but more than anything, I can see a fear deep in her eyes. Because the girl in the mirror knows she’s in over her head.