Page 28 of Caught Stealing

As much as I’d like to pretend it wasn’t Phoenix’s body and mouth on mine, there’s no way around it. Not when I’m staring at his half-naked form across the room, complete with flushed cheeks and kiss-swollen lips that make my cock take even more notice.

What I find more puzzling than anything is that I’m not even pissed about him tricking me or besting me in this messed up little game we’ve begun. As far as I’m concerned, it’s all par for the course.

The reason I’m so fucking irate is because of how turned on he made me. How sexy, fun, andfamiliarhis touch and kiss were. It’s disarming and more than a little maddening.

“What the hell, Nix,” I growl, bucking up from the bed against my restraints despite knowing it’s pointless. I’m cuffed in place until he decides otherwise; naked and at his mercy.

“I knew you couldn’t stop yourself from trying to get in his pants,” he says, chest rising and falling with quickened breathing, his dark eyes searching my face.

And just like that, everything clicks into place.

The dread and anxious feeling while I waited forKason,the way Phoenix didn’t even react to me egging him on out in the hallway, the way he so boldly touched and kissed me. All the way down to the very un-Kason-like texts.

Because it was never Kason to begin with.

“Did you steal his fucking phone?”

A smirk forms on his lips as he pulls Kason’s phone from his back pocket. “The great thing about being best friends with Kason? He trusts me. Implicitly. So when your text popped through on his phone while he went to the bathroom, it was pretty easy to use the passcode I’ve known since I was thirteen to text you back.”

I can practically see the whole scenario play out in my head as he grabs his discarded shirt from the ground, and even by my own scheming standards, it’s brilliant.

“Well played, Nix. You win this round,” I grind out. “Now uncuff me.”

His response is immediate. “Call it off with Kason, and I will.”

My brow arches, not at all surprised by his terms. What I find astonishing is his thinking I’d give up so easily just to save myself a little embarrassment.

“And if I don’t?” I ask slowly. “What happens then? You’ll leave me chained here? Or will you come back over and finish what you started?”

As he pulls his shirt over his head, Phoenix’s dark eyes flare with heat and rage. “You’re never gonna win this war with me, Sykes. I told you, there’s no way I’d allow it.”

“You think so? Because I’d be willing to bet my life that Kason won’t forgive you when he discovers what we just did.” I keep my voice low and as menacing as it can be when I’m naked and subdued. “Because when I tell him, there’s only one of us who isn’t complicit in what just happened. And it sure as hell isn’t the one holding the key to these cuffs.”

“Except, who do you think he’ll believe?” Phoenix leans against the wall and twirls the handcuff keys on his finger. “The best friend he’s known for half his life who tells him you drunkenly made a pass at me…or the cocky playboy with a reputation for meaningless one-night stands.”

My teeth sink into my cheek until I taste blood, having now found myself caught between a rock and a hard place. Or, in this case, a best friend and a set of handcuffs.

“That’s what I thought,” he murmurs. “So you can admit defeat and be released…”

I shake my head, ready to call his bluff. “You won’t leave me here like this. There’s no way.”

“If you say so,” he says, before dropping the keys to my freedom on the desk near the door.

“Nix,” I growl as he takes a step toward the door, a small amount of panic setting in.

He stops with his hand on the knob and arches a brow at me, waiting for me to wave the white flag.

I should. It would be the smart move here. Although something inside me—some sick, masochistic part that enjoys this back and forth with him—won’t let it happen.

So I remain silent and accept my fate, whatever it might be.

“All right,” His eyes are dark and hooded as he watches me. “Consider the scores even now.”

“We’re not even close to even, Nixy. But mark my words, we will be.”

A crooked smirk curls at his mouth, accepting the challenge. And then, without another word, he opens the door…and walks out.

I’m not sure how much time passes while I lie there, cuffed to the bed and debating my poor life choices, but it’s far longer than I’d like it to be. But it’s the only option I’ve left myself with, considering there’s no way anyone will hear me shouting over the music blaring through the speakers just outside my room.

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