Lauren looked away. “Well, I’m sorry I’m complicating your life. I promise I’ll try my best not to cause any more trouble than I already have.”

I sighed. “Lauren, I…”

She started to walk away. I wanted to grab her arm. I wanted to pull her into my arms and tell her I was sorry, and I didn’t mean the things I said. Hell, I wanted to kiss her and make her forget all of it. But I didn’t.

I just let her go, curling my hand into a fist as frustration welled up inside me.

It was better for me to keep my distance from Lauren. I would only end up hurting her after all. And she already had Max. She didn’t need me.

And I damn well didn’t need her.

I told myself that over and over, staying away from Lauren for the rest of the day. When she went out with Max in the evening, I finally felt a sense of relief, thinking I could cast her out of my mind.

But no.

As I lay in my bed, all I could think of was Lauren. The smell of flowers from her shampoo. The feel of her small, soft body in my arms. The sound of her moans and the look of pure pleasure on her face as Max touched her, her green eyes shimmering beneath half-closed eyelids, her cheeks flushed, her lips wet and parted.

I closed my eyes, trying to dispel the images, but they just grew clearer, vivid portraits illuminating the dim corridors of my mind. My hand moved to my crotch. My cock was already rock hard.

I pushed my pants and my boxers down, freeing my cock from its stifling prison. Then I wrapped my fingers around it. As I started stroking myself, I threw my head back against the pillow, savoring the friction and the electricity it sent buzzing through my veins.

I imagined it was Lauren stroking me, her lips wrapped around the leaking head of my cock while her hand moved up and down it. Her moist eyes glossed over with the haze of lust looked up at me, locking me in, daring me to keep gazing at her as she took me closer and closer to the brink of madness.

Her hand, my hand, moved faster, furiously. That gaze of hers had unlocked a beast inside me, and it roared to be satisfied. My breathing grew ragged. My thighs trembled. Every muscle in my body became taut. Heat swirled in my balls.

I came imagining it was Lauren’s mouth I was shooting my cum into as I gripped her hair. I shuddered as I unleashed every drop, emptying myself of every ounce of pent-up lust and searing frustration, and when I was done, I opened my eyes and stared at the gray ceiling as I chased after my breath.

Only seconds later did my mind start to clear, and as I looked at my fingers coated in my own semen, I realized what I had just done.

I had just jerked off to a woman I’d only just met and barely knew, one who probably didn’t even like me. Worse, she was Max’s girlfriend. Well, not his real girlfriend, but he had already kissed her. I wasn’t supposed to even think about her.

But I had. I had fantasized about having her, and I enjoyed every second of it.

And the worst part? I wasn’t satisfied. Not in the slightest.

Even as the air in my room was still full of the smell of my sweat and my orgasm, I wanted more of Lauren. I wanted the real her.

How fucked up was that?

Chapter Five

Lauren

That was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

And the hottest.

As I stood outside the slightly open door to Wade’s bedroom, my heart pounded in my chest. My panties were wet, and my bra felt tight, my nipples tingling in their lace cups. I tried to calm myself down, though, holding my breath and walking on tiptoes as I made my way to Max’s room. I had a feeling that if Wade found out I saw him jerking off, he would bite my head off.

Well, if he didn’t want anyone to see him, he should have closed his bedroom door.

Like him, I hadn’t expected to be home so soon. I was supposed to be on a date with Max, but I had to cut dinner short when I saw someone who looked like one of Clyde’s thugs. As it turned out, I was mistaken, but I felt as if reality had punched me in the face, reminding me of how dangerous my situation was.

Now was not the time to be going out on dates with my pretend boyfriend.

The voice of my conscience reared its big head again, scolding me for pretending I had amnesia and going along with Max’sscheme. But what was I supposed to do? He said he was going to take care of me, words I hadn’t heard in so long. After waking up in a hospital bed and remembering what I’d just been through, I was lost. I was broken. I was alone. I needed someone to save me, and he offered. My knight with the gorgeous blue eyes. Was I supposed to jump out of the tower to my death when he was offering to whisk me away to his castle?

How I wished I did have amnesia. I wanted to forget my parents’ accident. And Clyde. And the murder I had witnessed. I wanted a clean slate, a fresh start after the hell I’d been through. Was that so bad?