Page 28 of Let Me Say It Again

I turned back around, and she moved to say something, but before anything more than a chortled noise came out, I bent down, grabbed her thong, and twirled it around my finger. “Too bad you can’t callDougand ride his cock for relief.”

She crossed her arms. “I already got my relief. I’m only thinking about you.” Her eyes dropped to my hard-on. “Wouldn’t want you to get blue balls.”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry. I plan on masturbating in the shower to the memory of you coming undone.”

Before she could respond, I tossed her thong at her. She caught it with one hand. “Good night, Jade,” I said, walking to the door and leaving Jade standing in her apartment, speechless.

Turned out the night went a lot better than I thought it would.

Chapter Eleven

Jade

I’d had betterdays. Ones that didn’t involve wining and dining with the wealthy and playing the doting fiancée to Red. Ones that also didn’t include getting eaten out, wanting to take a man’s pants off, but being stopped before I got a glimpse of the goods.

“All right, that’s it,” Jake said, his voice traveling down the hallway as he walked back to the couch. He pointed a finger in the general vicinity of the coffee table, which was currently holding my feet up as well as a half-eaten box of pizza.

Name one thing that was better than eating cold pizza for breakfast. Go ahead, I’d wait for you to think on it. But you wouldn’t—no, couldn’t—come up with anything. Well, there was that feasting session with Red, and that was pretty amazing. I was a big fan of my vibrator. Finger fucking was always a win. Oh, and don’t even get me started on giving head. There was nothing else like it. Nathaniel, the pompous ass, had never liked it when I went down on him, but I was pretty sure that was because he had small dick syndrome. You know what, sexual acts didn’t count in this little game. It was too easy, so besides sexcapades (that had a nice ring to it), there was nothing better than cold pizza for breakfast. Geez, for a second there I was helping you guys out. I wasn’t that charitable, contrary to what Red was saying about me to anyone who would listen, so it didn’t sit well with me. Although, that might’ve been the three slices of pizza I’d eaten.

Jake grunted, giving me a deadly stare that saidI knew it, and you’re so predictable. “I go to the bathroom to take a whiz and you steal the pepperoni off my pizza.”

I cleared my throat, shrugged, and flung my arm over my knee that was now up against my chest as I got even more comfortable on the couch. “You should know by now that if you go to the bathroom, you forfeit your pepperoni.”

He sat on the arm of the couch and ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated.Get over it, pal. They’re my leftovers, and pepperoni has my heart.“You know, that’s where I was when Red and I decided to kick things up a notch and—”

He crinkled his nose and shook his head, holding up a hand. “Spare me the gory details. I told you not to sleep with him.”

“And I didn’t,” I defended, my voice hitting a new octave as I toyed with the soft, fuzziness of my gray socks. “Although, that’s only because he’s a pain in my ass.”

“I have a feeling I’d like this guy. He seems somewhat intelligent.”

“Somewhat?”

Scratching his chin, he looked up as though he was deep in thought. Something told me the only thoughts he was having were about all the reasons he thought Red was actually stupid. I couldn’t say I hated where his mind was going if that was the case. “Let’s see”—he began counting on his fingers—“he lied about you two being engaged, he’s your ex’s older brother, he dolled you up for photos, made you go to an engagement party when this is all a bigger load of bullshit than a heap of actual shit at a stable, and now he complicated things even further by giving your pussy attention.Somewhatseems appropriate. It’s the most I can give him, sorry.”

I licked my lips and tried to ignore the twinge that went straight to my crotch as the memories I’d been trying to keep at bay of Red eating me out swam through my mind. That wassome performance. It was like he was starving, and I was the only food he’d had in days—no, weeks. I shook my head back and forth, trying to bring myself to the present. “You know me. I don’t let silly things like a man’s tongue on my lady parts mess with my head.”

He cocked a brow and pointed at my face. “Then why are you blushing?”

What? My own cheeks were betraying me. Don’t get the wrong idea and make this out to be something it wasn’t, like Jake seemingly was in his own head. I loved Jake (as a friend), but sometimes he had too optimistic of a mentality for my liking. I much preferred a narcissist or realist’s point of view, much like my own. “Because it’s like a furnace in here.” My hand flew to my cheek, and I let the back of my hand settle on it. “I’m not blushing. I’m hot as hell. You could fry an egg on my forehead. See?” I lunged forward, trying to push my head close to him so he could feel it if he didn’t believe me. Who was I kidding, even I didn’t believe me. It was a weak lie. Although I hated being read like a book.

He let out a low whistle and ignored my attempt at having him touch my forehead. Good thing, too, because the only thing he would’ve come to know was that I was a lying liar who lied. This was all Red’s fault. Him and his perfect body. And that mouth that went toe-to-toe with me. “Whatever you say,” Jake chided.

“I hate it when you do that.” I sniffled and leaned forward to grab another slice of pizza. “Here.” I handed it to him. “Maybe if you have food in your mouth, you won’t be able to put your foot in it.”

He shook his head but took the pizza from me just the same. Then he walked over to the loveseat, sitting manspread now. Phew, maybe the investigation I was being put through like I was being charged with first-degree murder was over. Fine, maybethat was a slight exaggeration (I wasn’t admitting to more thanslight,though), but that was how I felt, and my feelings were valid. At least, that was what my deceased adopted parents had always told me.

“I guess I can’t help but wonder if you wished something else was going in your mouth, though,” Jake said between bites.

I clicked my tongue on the roof of my mouth, grabbed a discarded pizza crust from the box, and chucked it at him. It hit his forehead and landed on his lap. “Anything Red and I do is as one fake fiancé to another. It means less than the speech that phony bitch, Savannah, gave at our high school graduation.”

“Oh, and let the record reflect that I am so damn glad I couldn’t go to your engagement party. Sounds like it was a real snooze.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

He went back to eating the slice of pizza, and I lowered my head, focusing on my socks.

“What about you?” I asked, nudging my jaw toward him.

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