Page 35 of Play It Sinful

I move out of the way so Chris can talk to her, and stand super close to Sean, touching his arm. I want her to think he’s my boyfriend, which is stupid when I’m trying to hide that I’m hooking up with him.

“What are you doing?” he whispers.

“Nothing.” I release his arm and follow Chris and Mom into the restaurant.

Our table is round, and I end up sandwiched between Kenzie and Sean, which is not ideal, but I’m not sure sitting across from him would have been better.

As soon as our waiter gives me a menu, I bury my face in it. But I’m too aware of Sean’s proximity, and I can’t read anything on it. Suddenly, he presses his leg against mine, and I tense. For a moment, I think it was an accident—Sean is a big boy. But when he doesn’t readjust his leg, I suspect he’s doing it on purpose. What is he playing at?

“Everything looks good here,” Kenzie pipes up. “What are you having, Ash?”

Crap. I really need to pay attention to the menu. “Oh... I don’t know yet.”

“I’ll have the deluxe breakfast combo, and the French toast,” Sean announces.

“That’s a lot of food,” I say, although I don’t know why. I’m sure he eats a lot on the regular.

“I’m famished this morning for some reason.” He squeezes my thigh under the table, making me squeak.

“Are you okay, hon?” Mom asks.

“I’m fine,” I croak.

My pulse accelerates. Forget reading the menu now. I should push Sean’s hand away, but I’m afraid someone will notice if I do.

Sure, Ash. It has nothing to do with the fact that you’re loving the contact.

“I’ll have the French toast too,” I say.

“Hmm... I want something savory. I’ll do the breakfast burrito,” Kenzie chimes in, then adds. “And a double expresso. I’m bone tired.”

“Oh, coffee is themainpriority,” I reply.

“Why is that, Ash? Did someone keep you up all night?” Sean asks with a straight face, but his hand moves up my thigh, inching closer to where I so desperately need it to be.

Fuck! His hand is no longer hidden under the table. If Kenzie looks down, she’ll see what he’s up to. Quickly, I drop my napkin on my lap. Sean’s playing a dangerous game, but I’m not going to stop him.

“Yep. Netflix. I finally startedThe Crown.”

Mom perks up in her chair. “And you couldn’t stop, could you? I told you that series was addictive.”

“Yeah, super,” I lie. I only watched the first two episodes, then got busy with schoolwork.

“Everyone in the UK is obsessed with that show, but anything that relates to the royal family has the country’s attention,” Kenzie chimes in.

Dad shakes his head. “I’ll never understand people’s fascination with the royal family.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Sean presses his thumb over my aching clit, and it’s a struggle to focus on the conversation.

Mercifully, the waiter returns to the table to take our orders, and Sean removes his hand from between my legs. But if I thought that’d give me a reprieve, I was wrong. Now I’m wishing for a release that won’t come.

CHAPTER 14

ASHLEY

Sean didn’t resume his wicked games at the restaurant, and yet I kept yearning for his touch during the entire meal. It was a miracle no one noticed something was wrong with me when my answers about school were shorter than usual.

I expected our family to stay longer in Fairbanks, but after a quick tour of the campus grounds for Kenzie’s benefit, Chris receives a call from work, and they need to return to Boston right away. Chris owns a managed-IT, security, and cloud services provider company. It’s as boring as it sounds. I hope he doesn’t have any notion that I’ll be working for him when I graduate. I’d be the perfect candidate to join his company now that I’m studying business. Sean has hockey, and if that doesn’t work out, he’s going into a completely different field. Kenzie is too wild, and she fights with her dad too much. It’d never work.

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