“All sounds the same to me.” He shrugged and someone balled up a napkin and threw it at him.
“Did something happen with you two?” Asher lowered his voice enough that no one else heard him.
“Who?” I played dumb.
“Jase, come on. She looked ready to puke all over the table.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Of course you don’t.” He grimaced, turning away from me and joining in the rest of the conversation.
I don’t know what they were all getting so hung up over. So me and Felicity had sex. It wasn’t my fault she was a virgin and didn’t tell me. Or that Hailee had walked in on us. If anything, it was a good thing… we’d fucked whatever this weird hate-lust vibe we had going on right out of us. Except, you didn’t finish and you stole her fucking virginity.
Stifling a groan, I mumbled, “Be right back.” Slipping out of the booth, I ignored the questioning stares. I don’t know when I’d started caring about things so goddamn much, but I needed to clear the air. I couldn’t afford any distractions this semester, and if my friends were going to keep bringing Felicity up, then she was just that. A distraction.
One I needed to nip in the bud sooner rather than later.
Determined, I headed toward the back of the bar where the hall leading to the restrooms was. Hailee and Felicity were just coming out of the women’s bathroom when I entered. My step-sister immediately spotted me, her eyes on high alert.
“Hey,” I said, raking a hand through my hair. “Can I get a minute?” My eyes found Felicity over Hailee’s shoulder.
“I don’t think that’s a good—”
“Hailee,” Felicity laid a hand on her shoulder. “It’s fine. Go, we’ll be right there.”
My step-sister shouldered past me, pausing only to meet my eyes. She didn’t speak. She didn’t need to; her message glittering right there.
Don’t touch.
Don’t hurt her.
I’m warning you.
Jamming my hands in my pocket, I moved toward Felicity. “Come on.” I slipped around her and down the hall. I knew this place well enough to know every nook and cranny. Shouldering the last door, I pushed it open and waited for Felicity to go inside. Her brow rose in question and I said, “Just to talk, I promise.”
She gave me a tight nod.
The second I stepped into the storeroom and closed the door, the air seemed to disappear. Felicity watched me, her eyes clouded with hesitation.
“What the fuck was that back there?”
She jerked away as if I’d physically slapped her. “Don’t act dumb, Flick. I saw the way you acted when Mackey was running his mouth.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t plan on becoming locker room talk,” she shot back.
“Is that what you think? That I was talking about you?” I stepped closer. “That was a mistake. You were a mistake. One I don’t plan on making again.”
Felicity’s breath hitched, pain flashing in her eyes. “Fuck you,” she seethed.
“Baby,” I reached out, pulling a strand of hair. “We already did that.”
“I hate you.” Her voice trembled.
Good. She needed to hate me. I didn’t need her getting the wrong idea about us.
About me.
For as much as I hated to admit it, Hailee was right. I needed to stay away from Felicity. She was too naïve, too fucking pure. Until New York, until me, she’d been a virgin for fuck’s sake.
I stepped forward again, putting us almost chest to chest. I hadn’t planned on getting this close, but there was no denying she pulled me in. Almost made me want to finish what we started in New York. My eyes dropped to her lips; soft pouty lips I knew the taste of. Her tongue darted out as she watched me watching her.
“Jason, what are—”
“Shut the fuck up,” I ground out. Her chest was heaving, matching the way she kept sucking in tiny harsh breaths. She reminded me of a doe. Innocent and vulnerable. Waiting to be picked off by the big bad wolf.
Before I knew it, I’d slid my hand to her neck, stroking my thumb along her damp skin. She was sweating. I made her sweat. It was heady, knowing the way I affected her. Knowing that if I dipped my fingers into her panties I’d probably find her wet for me. Even though she hated me, even though she didn’t want this, her body did. Something we apparently had in common.
Her body shuddered, heat radiating off her.
Perhaps Felicity Giles wasn’t such a good girl after all.
The idea made my dick twitch, straining against my jeans.
“You need to leave.” Her body shook now, her eyes saying a million things she would never tell me.
“And why exactly would that be?” I leaned in, my lips ghosting over her jaw up to the corner of her mouth. She inhaled sharply.
“Jason, please, don’t do this…”
“You want me.”
“No.” It came out a shaky breath.
“Don’t lie to me, babe. I can feel the heat from your body, the way you’re trembling at my touch. And I bet if I do this,” I let my other hand drift down her stomach, down and down, until I grazed the apex of her thighs.
A soft moan slipped from Felicity’s lips and I chuckled. “Bingo.”
“Why?” she choked out, swallowing hard.
“Why?” I eased back to look at her. Pupils blown, skin flushed, her arousal swirled around us. “Because I can.” My mouth hovered over hers, waiting. Anticipating what she might do.
Her eyes fluttered closed, her breathing ragged. I was barely touching her, and yet, she was so responsive. So easy to work up. Felicity Giles was nothing but surprise after surprise.
“Why me?” I asked against her lips.
“W- what?”
“Why did you pick me? I don’t believe that bullshit about being a means to an end. Not when you could have your pick of guys who would have treated you—”
She snorted at that. “No one at school would dare ask me out.”
What the actual fuck?
I blinked, hardly able to believe what I was hearing. Sure, Felicity wasn’t classically hot; usually found walking the school hall looking more of a hot mess than a girl I wanted to fuck. But when you looked past the overalls and floral print shirts and hippy style she wore most days, she was beautiful.
“You really don’t know?” she whispered.
My expression must have said it all, because Felicity let out a heavy sigh. “You,” she said. “It’s you. You told everyone Hailee was off-limits in ninth grade, and I’m her best friend. If anyone tries to get close to me, they’re going to get close to—”
“Hailee.”
“Hailee.” Her lips pursed as she gave me a small nod. “Apparently, I’m not worth the risk.”
She didn’t date… because of me.
I guess I’d never really given it much thought before. She was Hailee’s best friend; someone I was used to seeing around. Someone I barely tolerated. But now she was… fuck! I didn’t want to feel guilty. But the unfamiliar emotion snaked through me.
A beat passed. And another.
“Jason, I should—”
“Wait, just wait a minute.” I needed to think, and it was impossible with her standing there, so close, yet, so far away. My body hyperaware of hers.