Page 60 of All's Fair In Love & War

RING…

My phone rang immediately after I finished speaking. I jolted my head to the side, and my heartbeat quickened as my bag vibrated with a vengeance. With trembling hands, I opened my purse, grabbed the device, and looked at the caller ID.

It was Naeem.

His name glowed on the screen, and all that righteous confidence went out the window. The color drained from my face as I clutched the phone to my chest, my heart flatlining at that very moment.

Snapping my head up, I glanced at Riley, my eyes wide as saucers. “It’s Naeem! What do I do? What do I dooooo?” I stared at her, panic thrumming through me.

Riley’s brow lifted, her expression flat. “Didn’t you just say he doesn’t own you?”

“Yes, bitch! I lied.” My voice shot up an octave. “I lied, okay? He owns me! Is that what you want to hear?” I slapped my hands against my thighs, frustration boiling over.

Riley’s shoulders shook as she tried and failed to contain her laughter. “Oh, I knew you were a weak bitch. I just didn’t want to say anything.” She raised her fist in the air. “Girl power and all.”

“You know what, heifer? Fuck you. I’m not a weak bitch. I got this. Watch.” I inhaled deeply, straightened my spine, and hit the talk button.

As I prepared myself for the conversation, my face smoothed into practiced confidence, my voice dripping with the kind of sugar-laced sweetness that could rot teeth. “Hey, babe,” I sang, my tone damn near honeyed poison.

Across from me, Riley shook her head, unimpressed.

There was a beat of silence, and then— “Where are you?” The low, lethal smoothness of Naeem’s voice slid through the receiver like silk over steel, and a shiver coasted down my spine.

Damn him.I swallowed.

“I’m out with Riley, running errands. Did you need something?”

“Yeah. You. I was looking for you when I got home. You were supposed to be my lunch. Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?”

Shit. My wide-eyed, panicked gaze shot to Riley, and she grinned like the worst best friend ever while mouthing, “Tell him!”

I scowled, whispering forcefully. “Hell no.”

“What was that? I didn’t hear you,” Naeem said, pulling my focus right back to him.

My tongue darted out to wet my lips, and I gripped the phone tighter. “I… I said I didn’t know I had to.”

Silence.

And then— “Tatum.”

My name curled off his tongue slowly, each syllable drawn out like he had all the time in the world to make me regret every decision I’d made today. I sucked in a breath, suddenly too aware of how hot it had gotten in the cramped bathroom stall.

“Yes?” I whispered.

Naeem exhaled hard through his nose. “You’re trying my patience. Do you remember what happens when it wears thin?”

My core clenched at the warning, and my thighs pressed together like a traitorous bitch. I loved punishment—but only when he let me cum. The days he didn’t? He could go to hell. That wasn’t something I’d ever forgive him for again.

And Naeem knew it.

That was why he enjoyed it.

“You punish me,” I breathed, my body heating with heady anticipation despite myself.

A low chuckle rumbled through the line, and the sound sent a fresh wave of arousal straight to my core.

“Do you want me to punish you?”

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