Page 96 of Rewrite the Rules

Me:Stay there. I’m coming to you.

Quinn is also texting. Judging by the silly smile on her face I have a sneaking suspicion that it is Cody on the other end of that message. I want to give her a hard time about it, but then decide against it. I’m already on the friend shit list. I haven’t been my usual self lately. Between my book and Joel, this is the first time I’ve seen Quinn in weeks. And now I need her to leave.

“I’m going to go talk to Joel.” I don’t even have to ask. She interprets my apologetic expression clearly. She grabs one more olive as she stands.

“Fine. But I swear if you try to bail on the lodge next weekend you will face my wrath,” Quinn warns as she kisses my head and moves for the door.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I call out. The lodge is sacred. The one time a year that’s reserved for our friendships with no distractions. Even Mani flies out for the lodge. Because it’s that important…and because we’re all just a touch afraid of Quinn.

“Hey, Addie, one more thing if you’re still following rules—bring a condom, you know, for yourtalk.”

She blows me a kiss before the door closes behind her. Joke or not, I need to make a pit stop at CVS on the way to Joel’s office.

thirty-two

Joel

When I was twenty-three and just starting to get used to my new wealth, I went on a bit of an adventure binge. In the span of just a couple years I saw so many breathtaking landmarks like the Taj Mahal and The Great Pyramid of Giza. I swam in the Great Barrier Reef and Galapagos Islands. I have seen some life-altering, awe-inspiring sights. And none of them, not one, compares to the sight of Adler Haley standing in front of me right now. She’s in my office in nothing but my favorite thigh-high boots and the bright pink lingerie I had the damn good sense to buy for her.

I lean against my desk nearly drooling on the trench coat she boldly dropped in front of me moments ago. We’ve come a long way since the first time we slept together. Adler’s no longer nervous around me. She’s not shy. She stands there with her hands on her hips knowing in this moment she completely owns my ass.

“Holy shit,” I murmur. She smiles at my gawking—her mission accomplished. But she’s not trying to tease me or play any games tonight. She’s instantly in my embrace and my hands graze over the smooth curves of her body. I touch the pink satin fabric between her legs to see if she’s as into this as I am. It’s like grazing the glass covering of a furnace. I take her heat as an invitation and pull the ties at her side letting her panties fall to the ground. I try to sink to my knees between her legs, but she pulls me back up.

“I need to ask you something,” she breathes.

“Right now?” My eyes dart between hers.

“Later is fine, but I just wanted to mention it before things got away from us…so I don’t chicken out.”

Adler hoists herself onto the short end of my desk. She lies backwards and tugs on the ribbon in the middle of her bra exposing her perfect tits and pink nipples that are as erect as I am.

“Adler, whatever you want, the answer is yes. You can have my penthouse. My car. My kidney—take your pick.” I hungrily lap up the visual of her nakedness.

“No foreplay. Take your pants off. I want you.” Adler bends her legs and scoots her ass to the very edge of the desk. “Right now.”

It’s my favorite command. I pop open the button of my jeans and unzip myself free before an awful realization hits me.

“Shit. I don’t have any condoms here.”

Adler sits up and wraps her hand around my neck pulling my mouth to hers. Her smooth plump lips fall and lock with mine as she runs her fingers through my hair tenderly. She trails kisses across my jaw and then down my neck. She talks against my ear, her lips sending electric pulses down my throat and straight to my hardness. “Do we really need it?”

“What?”

“I’m on the Pill. And I can assure you, I had quite the dry spell before you. Plus you said you got tested recently, right? I want to feel what it’s like without it. Just you and me.”

“Maybe if we were in a relationship. But we’re not—right? Condoms are always safer for hookups, baby—oh wait, I might have some in my car from when we…” I trail off because of the horrified look on Adler’s face. It makes my stomach sink. She reels, like I just slapped her in the face. Even her cheeks flush a deep red.

I scramble to formulate a new response, but Adler pushes me away and hops off my desk. I’m certain she’s going to leave, but instead she digs into the pocket of her coat and pulls out a foil packet. She slaps it against my chest. My hand meets hers to catch the black condom packet. Adler crawls back into her previous position on top of my desk.

“That should be your size, right?” she says with her eyes on the ceiling.

I don’t even bother checking. We are about ten hops past awkward and there’s no way she still wants to do this.Right?

“What are you waiting for?” Adler asks, unable to mask the irritation in her voice. “Just put it on and fuck me like we always do it.”

“Are you sure?”

Adler rolls her eyes and sits up. She reaches up to my face and lightly traces my cheek. Her hand slips underneath the buttons of my shirt. She removes them one by one then tugs at the sleeves so my shirt falls to the floor. We’re both completely naked except for the suede boots she’s wearing. She waits for me to roll the rubber on, then lies back and hikes up her legs so I feel the fuzzy suede on top of my shoulders.

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