Page 95 of Caught Stealing

Phoenix opens his mouth, but he must not have a rebuttal ready since only a moment goes by before he closes it again.

“Gotcha there.” I shoot him a playful wink. “When are you gonna learn, you can’t outwit me?”

I don’t have a chance to think, let alone catch the pen he launches at my chest. It smacks me straight in the pecs, the plastic stinging on impact.

“Ow. Asshole,” I say with a laugh as I rub the spot.

“Aw, poor Holden,” he says dryly, sarcasm dripping from his tone. “Do you need me to kiss and rub it to make it all better?”

There’s a hint of desire mixed with the playfulness in his gaze, and it makes my stomach do more cartwheels than the Leighton cheerleading squad. But I play it off and toss the pen back at him. Which he catches.

Damn.

“I’d prefer not to be used like some piece of meat.”

“Seriously, you wanna go there?” He tosses the pen at me again, then reaches into his bag and throws three more. “Do I need to remind youagainabout which one of us did the jumping when I got here?”

He keeps throwing pens my way and laughing while I shield myself with my textbook from the onslaught of projectiles flying at my face. “Jesus, how many pens do you have?”

He chuckles some more when I peek out from behind the book and tosses two more. “I have a whole bag.”

“Why?”

“Because assholes like you who never come to class prepared always ask to borrow one and then never give it back.” Another pen smacks against the textbook. “So I have a stockpile now, and apparently it’s coming in very handy for situations when you’re being a dick and the uncontrollable urge to pelt you with them—”

His words cut off when I bolt straight at him from my spot on the sectional. I land half on him, half on the couch, and I quickly make a grab for his ammunition—ready to take matters into my own hands. He’s quicker though, and yanks it from my grip, effectively pulling me off the couch to the ground.

After that, it becomes an all-out wrestling match, each of us getting the upper hand for half a second before the other takes control again. But he doesn’t know I did a little bit of wrestling back in the day, and the second he gives me the right opening, I put him flat on his back with both his wrists in my palms. The only issue is the sudden movement has the bag—and all the pens—flying in every direction.

On instinct, I hunch down over him to cover both our faces as they all fall to the ground around us, not wanting this to literally be one of thoseit’s all fun and games until someone loses an eyemoments.

We’re both a little breathless when I lean back enough to look down at him, his wrists still in my hold.

“Well, this is awfully familiar,” I rasp through my panting. “You were saying?”

“You’re crazy. Like, literally lost your mind,” he says, yet the throaty chuckle has me thinking maybe he likes it that way.

“Just a little.” I loosen my hold on him and roll away, landing on my back beside him. “But circling back to me jumping you…in the other way. You know you can always say no.”

“Oh, sure. And I’m also the Queen of England, right?”

“Nix, I’m serious,” I murmur, rolling to my side and propping up on an elbow. “Yeah, I have a high sex drive, but I’m fine. I wouldn’t ever want you to feel pressured.”

His head turns and he gives me a dubious look, brows arched in disbelief. “So if I told you I wanted to stop having sex, you would be fine with that?”

My brows kick up in surprise, not expecting the conversation to take this turn. “Is that…what you want?”

His eyes roll. “No, it’s not. It was a hypothetical.”

I let out a dramatic sigh of relief, and thankfully, he cracks a smile.

“Well, for the record, if you wanted to stop having sex, I’d respect your wishes.” I pause, leaning in to whisper in his ear. “But after what happened earlier? I certainly wouldn’t be happy about it.”

His eyes flare with heat, clearly recalling the way we put those handcuffs he left in my room to good use; first while he took me down his throat until I couldn’t think straight from wanting to touch him, and then when he fucked me mindless after sucking my brains out through my dick.

It was sexy and addictive, but it was insanely fun too, and I think that’s a helluva lot more important.

I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much in bed as I do with him, though that’s probably because we’re constantly bickering and challenging each other. For good reason. It’s a little tricky to keep a straight face when you’re naked and arguing about who gets to suck who’s dick first.

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