Page 6 of Lethal Seduction

“Tragic,” I say and then nudge her. “Snap out of it. You’re embarrassing us both.”

She stops trying to form complete sentences and simply strikes a pose. I have to admit it’s a great strategy as she looks fabulous in the morning light.

“Is she okay?” Jake asks.

I nod. “She’ll be fine. Probably too much caffeine this morning,” I lie. “Once she awakens from this fugue state, she’ll be so embarrassed.”

Her glare, so white hot, could burn my skin if I weren’t wearing sunblock. I’ll answer for this later, I feel it in my soul.

Jake wags his eyebrows at me and smiles. His carefree demeanor is infectious and intoxicating. The way his dark brown hair meets his smooth white skin sends my heart fluttering. I can’t help but notice that despite the warm morning, Jake’s nipples are hard under his thin blue shirt. I steal a glance down and swallow hard. His gray sweatpants perfectly accentuate the uncut beef he hides inside them, making my mouth water.

“Okay, it was great seeing you both.” Jake readjusts his quiver and nods. “I’d better get to my lane before they give it away to someone else.”

“For sure,” I say with a forced, awkward laugh. “See you at work.”

“Bye,” Tina says.

“Tina,” I whisper. “What happened to you? Were you having a stroke?”

“I don’t know,” she says. “I made the mistake of looking down at his bulge. The way it moved from side to side when he walked toward us.” She bites her bottom lip and purrs. “There’s something bad… naughty about Jake that turns me on. I don’t care how this makes me sound, but I would ride him like a bull. Trust me, I’d hold on longer than eight seconds.”

We both turn and stand in silence, watching his thick muscular ass as he walks away. “He smells so good,” I say. “I want him… like, bad.”

“Don’t we all? You have to face it though, he’s straight and you’re never going to have him like that.”

“You don’t know he’s straight. Sexuality is a spectrum… he might like him some dick on the side.”

“True, but he was flirting with me.” Tina smiles, hopping in place. “He said I was prettier than Jennifer Lawrence.”

“I felt like he was flirting with me too.” I don’t have anything solid to go off, but it felt like it. Didn’t he hold my gaze longer than a straight man would have? “There’s only one way to find out.”

“Yeah, and what’s that?”

“We both ask him out and see who he goes with.” I arch my eyebrows. “You down for a friendly wager?”

“Now you’re talking my language. What are the terms?”

“Whoever goes out with him first wins and the loser has to pay for their date.”

Tina shakes her head. “Not just a date. That’s too easy. It has to be whoever gets him into bed… and not to sleep.”

I want to protest as I haven’t had luck getting anyone to have sex with me in what seems like forever, but I also wouldn’t mind putting some real effort into this one. “Deal,” I say. “What do we use as proof of copulation?”

“I’ll take your word for it if you trust me too.”

We’re best friends and have never lied to one another, so it works for me. “Deal.”

We shake on our wager.

“Anyway,” Tina says, rolling her eyes. “You know I love you and want you to be happy, but guess what else I love?” Her smile says it all, but she doesn’t give me time to respond. She holds up the target so I can see the hole dead in the center of the red dot. “The Hunger Gamesfranchise. The movies, books, clothing, and even the soundtrack speak to me on a subatomic level.”

“Fine, but you need to be more careful. I need you to promise me, you’re not going to run down the lane like that anymore.” I cross my arms and do my best to glare at her for her own good. “Promise me.”

“Okay,” she says. “I promise, bestie.”

I take the target from her and hold it up like Rafiki presenting Simba to the animals gathered below duringThe Lion King. “You’re the best archer I know.” I twirl in place and dance a little jig holding the paper in front of me. When I look up, I see Tina’s gaze has shifted from me and into the distance. I follow her sightline. Her eyes are locked on Jake. He’s a few lanes away looking in our direction. I smile and obnoxiously wave as if I’m embarking on a cross Atlantic trip in the early nineteenth century. I don’t blame him, but Jake turns away as if he didn’t see me.

“Smooth,” Tina says. “Honey, you’re embarrassing yourself. I really want to win, but I wouldn’t be a good friend if I didn’t tell you to chill.”

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