“We could bust into the engineering building and try to get behind Betty’s desk,” Adam suggests.
Madison sighs. “What does she even keep there? I don’t want to spend half our time breaking in if all we find are paperclips and coffee cups. That’s not going to help us built an epic tower.”
“She’s right,” Royce grunts as he rounds the back of my car.
“Wait. I’ve got this,” I say as I shift into the driver’s seat, thinking of his toolshed in the yard—it’s got to have some tall, sturdy building materials. “We’re going to Lancaster’s house.”
Madison narrows her eyes in the rearview mirror.
Adam switches on music, and Royce drums his fingers on the window in the back.
“What is this music?” Madison gripes, and Royce chuckles.
“What you’d rather have the holy trinity? Dolly, Reba, Shania?”
Her mouth drops open and I grin at her.
“You’re a country fan?”
“Yeah, and I’m not apologizing for it.”
I reach for the radio and flick it to a country station. “Before He Cheats” drifts lazily through my Bose speakers. “Carrie Underwood. Good enough?”
“Good enough.”
I navigate the dozen blocks from campus, turning down Hot Profs Lane. I planned to park at the end of the street to avoid being seen, but now, I realize it’s going to be out of necessity. Cars are lined up along both sides of the street.
This open house is bigger than I thought.
“How’re we going in?” Adam asks after I park and we get out.
“We’re not. I am.”
I don’t need them spotting Sawyer or tripping me up. I know this place.
Without waiting for agreement, I sneak up the driveway, using the parked cars as cover.
Even though my destination is the backyard, I can’t resist leaning against the window to peek inside.
A dozen people make conversation. They’re grown-ups, civilized.
When I spot Sawyer, my chest contracts.
He’s beautiful in a dark shirt and dress pants, his hair loose and a half-empty glass in his hand.
The realtor’s near him, all smiles and tossing him flirty looks.
I’m in stretchy pants and a beanie.
It’s a cruel reminder of the reason I said no feelings in the first place. He’s here to sell his house. He’ll leave and go back to his life and I’ll continue mine.
My attention drifts from Sawyer to an object in the corner of the room.
The telescope.
Scavenging from the backyard during a party is risky but worthwhile. Breaking into the living room to take what’s right under their noses?
It’s insane.
But my mom’s call drifts through my mind.
I’m tired of people telling me no, and Carrie’s gotten under my skin singing about her baseball bat exploits.
I tiptoe around to the back door, using the key under the mat to get in.
No one’s in the kitchen and I wait until the hall is clear to duck into the living room behind the couch.
The telescope’s in the corner, where I suggested we set it for the open house.
I cross to it and grab it.
Then peek over the back of the couch at Sawyer, my breath catching.
He’s so damn beautiful.
Get going. I creep back across the floor, my prize tucked under my arm.
I sneak a look behind me when I run into something.
Shit.
Apples spill out of the bowl and roll over the table. I grab for them, stopping them from rolling to the floor.
There isn’t time to replace them all, so I stuff a couple back in and continue on my way.
I’m nearly out the front door when I’m thrown up against the wall in the hallway. The surprise makes me drop the telescope to the carpet.
Sawyer yanks the beanie off my head, recognition and surprise cutting the accusation on his beautiful face. “Well. Look who’s stealing from me.”
He’s gorgeous and cultured, his dark blue shirt rolled down to cover the strength of his forearms, and pulling tight across his shoulders. His hair falls around his face, practically daring me to touch him. But it’s the twist of his mouth that keeps me away.
“Borrowing. It’s for Black Build.”
“You broke into my father’s home to take a telescope.”
It sounds dumb when he says it like that. “I didn’t break in. It is an open house.”
“Didn’t see you come in the front.”
He’s got me there.
“You miss me so much you couldn’t stand to be away from me for twenty-four hours?” he asks softly.
Shit. He thinks I came to see him, that I’m being clingy.
“No. I came for Black Build. That’s it.” I cut a look toward the window. “My friends are outside.”
His jaw works, like he’s disappointed by my answer.
I reach for the telescope. “You had something I needed. My team is waiting and I got what I need, so I’m going to go.”
I start to duck out from between him and the wall.
Three steps down the carpeted hallway, his voice stops me.
“If you want to leave with that, there’s a price.”
My heart kicks in my throat as I turn.
“Don’t move.”
He stalks back into the living room, and my ears strain to hear him speak. There’s nothing, only laughter and low music in the background.
A moment later, he’s back.
He reaches for an apple on the table.
Then grabs my arm and yanks me up the stairs.
We leave the laughter and clinking wineglasses further behind with every step.
He releases me in the bedroom.
The room is dark, the rest of my team somewhere outside the window beyond.
Sawyer sets the apple on the bed, where it’s illuminated by the sliver of light through the window.
“A room full of strangers are drinking sauvignon blanc twenty feet away. What are you going to do?” I breathe.
Sawyer reaches for his belt. “Remember how I said the next time we played you’d be onside?”
“Yeah.”
“Tell me you’re onside.”
The arousal that’s always there when I’m around him flares to life. How am I always less than three seconds from wanting to beg this man to fuck me?
I nod, eager.
He pulls out his cock and fists his hand in my hair, shoving me to my knees.
The door is wide open, the sounds of music drifting up the stairs.
“Anyone could come upstairs.” Between the shock and getting the wind knocked out of me, catching my breath is near impossible.
“Then you’d better work fast.”
I rock back on my heels, my boots digging into my ass as I look up at him from the carpet.
If I thought he was in command at the front of the class, he’s even more commanding here. He’s a dark god, thrilling and a little terrifying.
“Suck.”
I tense, thinking of my team waiting outside. But this is the only way to get back out there with my prize.
He’s as thick and hard as I’ve ever seen him, as if this game turns him on more than usual.
I lick the head of his cock. He’s smooth and salty and when my lips brush his skin, he jerks in my mouth.
“More.”
I take him down my throat, his muffled groans shooting straight between my thighs.