Page 36 of Power Play

“Okay, show off.” She smiles too and picks up where she left off. “Add in the bonus of you not having a date to your sister’s wedding, and I figured we could both benefit from it. Taking me would be easier than finding someone on a dating app.”

“A dating app? Please. I’d use forged documents instead.”

“Really? You don’t think showing off a photo where you’re holding up a fish you caught is cool?”

“I’d rather bury my head in the sand.”

“I would’ve been shocked if you felt otherwise. Is being here a complete invasion of your privacy?”

“No. An invasion of my privacy would be taking a picture of my dick and posting it online.”

Her eyes bounce to the front of my shorts and linger there. A blush crawls up her neck, and now I’m thinking about her on her knees. What my cock would look like in her mouth and how deep she could take me down her throat.

This is all her fucking fault.

I wasn’t thinking like this before.

“I’d never do that.”

“I know you wouldn’t. Why are you asking me? You’re an attractive woman. You could find a guy on Tinder, or down the street at any restaurant who would be willing to sleep with you. It wouldn’t be very difficult.”

“I meant what I said earlier: I trust you, and I know—well, I assume—a big part of intimacy is rooted in trust. I don’t want to be with someone who might laugh at me, and Ireallydon’t want to wind up on the internet. I read a whole thread about the worst blow jobs guys have ever received, and I’m afraid to ever put something in my mouth again.”

I did not have Piper Mitchell sitting on my couch and saying things likeblow jobsorputting things in my mouthon my bingo card for the night, but I still snort out a laugh.

“What makes you think you can trust me?” I ask.

She’s so nice. The kind of woman who finds the good in everyone, even if they aren’t deserving of it. I want to make sure she’s not holding me up on some pedestal.

“The night at the club when I got drunk, I woke up safe in my hotel room the next morning. I know that was because of you.” Her eyes meet mine, and she smiles. “It wouldn’t have ended that way with every man.”

Christ.

I didnotexpect her to remember that.

She could barely walk straight, for fuck’s sake, and she knows I tucked her in bed?

My cheeks heat. I don’t know the last time I blushed, but right now, my skin is on fire.

“Let’s start from the beginning,” I mumble, switching gears. Trying to get away from whatever the hell I’m feeling right now.

“I figured we could?—”

“The very beginning. Tell me about your ex.”

“Steven?” Piper deflates. “We met in college and dated while he worked at a tech startup. He proposed to me when we were in our early twenties, and we got married really young. He made a lot of money very quickly when his business took off, thanks to his dad’s connections, and he kept making more of it. There was this obsession with being successful. Being the best. All of his time, energy, and attention went into work, and I got pushed to the side.”

“Then you got divorced.”

“I, um, saw a text I wasn’t supposed to see. He played it off like I was imagining things. Like I was crazy. Then—” She groans. “This next part never gets any less embarrassing.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“It’s important to the story. We hadn’t slept together in almost a year. I wanted to convince myself it was all in my head and decided to surprise him during his lunch break. He landed a big investor the day before, and things like that always put him in a good mood. When I walked into his office, he was going down on his secretary.”

“What a fucking prick.”

I’ve played with guys like her ex. The ones who mess around and don’t think they’ll ever get caught because they consider themselves invincible. Maybe their wives or girlfriends know what they’re doing behind their backs and don’t give a shit,but I can’t imagine having the life everyone else wants and still wantingmore. Like being at the top of the pyramid isn’t enough.

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