Page 16 of Sizzle

Christ. Jesus Christ.

He’d yank her skirt up around her hips—I have it on good authority he likes to leave the skirt on. She’d straddle him, her knees going tight around his hips. I’d have to lean closer to see.

“Alex?” Meg is snapping her fingers in front of my face. “You okay, babe?”

Joelle is looking at me with concern. Thank God I didn’t take my jacket off. It’s the only reason the whole bar can’t see me leaking at the thought of this gorgeous girl riding my best friend’s dick.

“I’m good,” I say. My voice is too low for her to hear me, so I give her a thumbs up. Meg shrugs and sets down Joelle’s drink, some fruity concoction in a pretty glass that I don’t recognize. Joelle’s giving me the side-eye like she’s not sure what she’s gotten herself into.

Truth be told, I’m not sure myself, but it’s not her fault I’ve got a thing for my friend. Who happens to be her boss.

And with that thought, the porn just writes itself in my head. Seriously, what the hell? My libido’s been all but dead this last year. Lately I’d started to forget why that was a problem, because it had been so long. Now in the span of two days, my body suddenly decided to make up for lost time.

So I turn the conversation to her blog. Joelle humors me at first but then she gets so into it, and I get so into watching her light up with how much she loves her work that we stay for a second drink. She begs off after that, saying she’s got to get home. My food arrived during our conversation but I wasn’t paying attention to anything but Joelle. I pay Meg, tipping her more than usual because she went out of her way to be nice to Joelle despite the crowded bar.

I wave as the cab drives off, carting my cold takeout through the door and back to the kitchen. The microwave dings just as I hear a car door slam in the driveway.

“Dude,” says Elliot as he walks down the hall a minute later. “If you’d waited about ten more minutes, I could have driven you home.”

“No big deal,” I say. “I guess Meg told you I was there?”

“Mhmm,” he says, helping himself to a beer from my fridge. “I hear you and Joelle Munroe are thick as thieves.” He cocks a brow at me and leans against the counter as his opens the bottle.

Something’s thick, anyway. I shove a huge bite of my reheated pasta into my mouth and take my time answering him.

“She told me about some of the new menu stuff,” I say. “Sounds like your problems are over.”

Elliot snorts.

“My problems are not over,” he says. He plops down in the chair at the other end of the table. “I swear to God, Alex. I almost didn’t hire her. I’m already sorry I did.”

“What? Why?”

“Are you kidding? Did you actually look at her?” He’s glaring at me, incredulity stamped all over his face.

“Right. I forgot about the rule.” Of course he wants her. Of fucking course he does. Who wouldn’t?

That means tonight’s drink never happened. I can’t see her again. Not that I’d made any plans to see her. I didn’t even get her phone number, an oversight for which I’d been kicking myself the whole ride home. Now it seems that was a blessing in disguise, because Elliot met her first and I’d rather drop myself in the river than cross that line with my best friend.

“It’s a stupid fucking rule,” he says. He’s damn near pouting and that full bottom lip of his makes me want to bite him.

I need to get a fucking grip.

“It sucks, man. It really does. But it’s not a stupid rule and you know it.”

Elliot sighs. “I know. So… you going to ask her out or what?”

“What makes you think I—”

“For fuck’s sake, Alex,” he says, glaring at me again. “When’s the last time you went out on a date?” I take another huge bite of food and Elliot smirks at me. “My point exactly. From what Meg told me tonight, you and Joelle hit it off. Ask her out.”

“I feel like I’m in high school all over again,” I mutter.

“Yeah, well, join the club,” he says. I get the feeling he’s not talking about us sitting here talking about girls and my skin gets hot. Since when do me and Elliot do subtext?

“So maybe I will,” I say because I have to say something. The silence around us grows thicker and I don’t know why.

“You do that,” he says.

---