Page 75 of A Conflict of Interest

“You know the bathrooms were the other way,” I said lightly, leaning against the wall next to her, and she shrugged.

“Ah, you know. I got cured.”

“Oh, that’s convenient.”

“What’s not convenient is that I don’t have a ride out of here, and I’ve probably overstayed my welcome… Danielson insisted I come in his car precisely so he could get me without an exit route when he cornered me for that whole thing.”

I scowled. “What a jerk. I can’t believe I worked so hard and found a jerk of a videographer.”

“I didn’t really know he had that in him, either, honestly. But apparently we’re all, uh… learning things about ourselves and each other lately.”

I beamed, sidling up against her side, resting a head on her shoulder, and it made something settle in a deep, spiritual way in my chest, just… awed at how easy it was, how natural it was. How right it felt to just be hers. “You’re talking about your parents? Isn’t it so sweet?”

Veronica laughed, resting her head against mine, and I thought that no two people had ever fit so naturally, so easily together. “Honestly, kind of impressed both of them have got it in them. Anna’s never going to recover though.”

“It’slove.What’s there to recover from?”

“Ah, you know my sister. Total hardass whenever it’s not about Lucy. I guess Prestons are just hard to deal with until they soften up for a girl, huh?”

I giggled, my chest bubbling with so much brilliant, bright energy that I thought I’d burst. “You don’t have to sweet-talk me to offer you a ride. I was already going to give it to you.”

She turned to smile sweetly at me, and up close like this—her soft, warm brown eyes absolutely radiant with the way she looked at me—I’d never seen anything so perfect. “Thanks, Kelce. I appreciate you a lot.”

“No problem. You can ride all night, if you want to.”

“Uh…” She paused, thinking it over. “I mean… I’m not saying no.”

“Hmm. Good.” I pecked her on the lips, and she slipped a hand to my back with a shy look passing over her features, looking down at the floor.

“Um… you’re not worried you’re going to get into trouble? You know, with everything you just…”

I laughed. “They’re going to be too distracted by everything else anyway. Speaking of which… I don’t know about you, but I think I’ve had enough partying for one day already. That whole thing took it out of me a little. Do you want to cash in that ride now?”

She smiled lightly at me. “Depends on how you mean that… I think I’d like to take the ride in the car first.”

I felt a laugh bubble up and break free. “You wouldn’t want to do it right here, right now?”

She grinned wider. “Situation like this calls for something more… under-the-table. So unless that’s what you’re feeling right now…”

I mean, it wasn’t like I wasn’t. I was riding on so much adrenaline I’d probably have let her just take me over the table right here in front of the room if she asked. Which was probably a bad idea, so it was a good thing she wasn’t asking. “I’ll probably be a little too loud if you do that right now,” I said, slipping a hand clandestinely lower down her back, down to the hem of her skirt, touching lightly at her thigh. She let out a short, sharp sound, catching my hand by the wrist but not pulling it away.

“You should really be careful what you’re trying right now,” she said, her voice light but bubbling with something under the surface. I bit my lip.

“Somehow I’m not too scared…”

“Mm. Are you not,” she mused, and before I could respond, she turned, pulling my hand away, and she turned me with a hand on my hip, facing me towards the wall and pressing up against my side. Her voice whispered in my ear gave me shivers. “Pull your phone out, Kelcey.”

“Uh—o-okay,” I said, fumbling with it.

“Pretend to be facing the wall here looking at it privately with me,” she said, and she rested her head against my shoulder, looking at the phone with me, as—concealed by our bodies—she slipped her hand down my front, igniting a trail of heat in her wake.

Oh, god. She was calling my bluff. Did it count as calling my bluff when I wanted her to? I quivered, nodding breathlessly, as I opened my phone and scrolled through something that didn’t matter, and the rest of the party, some distance behind us, didn’t exist anymore once she slipped her hand down to the band of my pants and paused there before she dipped inside.

I wasn’t noticing anything on my phone. I think I was scrolling through emails from last month. I didn’t care. Veronica’s hand slid into my underwear, and I let out a short, shaky breath as she brushed her fingers lightly over the hairs just above where I was tingling, prickling,wanting—

She teased me for a second before she dipped her fingers down through my folds, and just as I predicted, I couldn’t really managequietright now—a low, quiet moan slipped out through my lips, and she whispered in my ear, “Shh. Not too loud, Kelcey… be a good girl for me, okay?”

Oh, god. I gripped the phone tighter, nodding, my legs already feeling shaky, as she moved faster, teasing my clit, sending pleasure thrumming through me, and it took every ounce of focus not to cry out, not to rock my hips against her and moan her name.

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