Page 9 of Degrees of Control

Charlie’s chest felt like it was collapsing. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

He grinned. “Let’s get the hell out of here so I can bend you over my sofa. Find out how loud you scream when you’re full of me.”

The party was in full-swing and navigating the crowd was easier than Charlie expected. Hopefully a mortifying, post-coital congratulations from the softball team could be avoided. Actually she didn’t care if they did see her. She was going home with James Hunter. This night, this party, this whole crazy idea, had actuallyworked. She was going to send Sophia a fruit basket. Two fruit baskets. Three fruit baskets and a month of free yoga classes.

“Hey, hey, hey, Hunter, where you headed?”

A beefy guy in a football jersey stepped into their path. His bristly brown hair was wet and sweat patches were protruding from both armpits. Behind him his equally wasted-looking friends were struggling with the twisty tops on their beers. Charlie’s stomach clenched. This did not bode well. Sweat Patches gripped James’ shoulder. “Got time to catch up, man?”

James shook his head. “Got somewhere to be, Paul.”

Sweat Patches turned his bleary eyes to her with the kind of lecherous gaze her sister Tess called a ‘lesbian maker.’ “Man, more like you’ve got something todo.” His eyes were glued to her breasts. Charlie resisted the urge to glare at his dick with equal vigor.

Sweat Patches leaned forward and muttered something in James’ ear. Charlie couldn’t hear what he said but the accompanying gesture, cupping invisible boobs and motor boating them, certainly implied enough. She rolled her eyes wishing Sweat Patches would fuck the fuck off so she could fuck. Then she heard James chuckle. The shame that had failed to register when he was fingering her in the bathroom surged up inside her in a hateful gush. James was laughing about bagging her to a total stranger while he washolding her hand. Adrenaline jack-knifed into her system and she pulled her hand from his grip.

“Hey, excuse me?” Both men looked at her and she smiled very sweetly. “Hi, yes, hello. Would you mind not talking about me like that? It’s disrespectful and gross.”

Sweat Patches stared at her like he couldn’t fathom where the sound had come from. She felt James stiffen but refused to acknowledge it.

“Yeah, I just spoke, because I’m a person, not a collection of body parts for you to wank over.”

Sweat Patch’s drunken buddies nudged each other, their faces eager. Paul gave Charlie another dumbfounded look before turning to James. “Dude, what the fuck?” He pointed a thick finger in Charlie’s face. “This British chick’s a bitch.”

“Watch your fucking mouth.” James grasped Paul’s finger like he had every intention of breaking it off. Great, exactly what this situation needed, more testosterone. Charlie placed a hand on James’ chest in warning and turned toward the big sweaty interloper. “I’m Australian and your fly’s undone.”

Paul looked down at his crotch and his friends dissolved into fits of man-giggles. “Slut,” he muttered, fumbling with his pants.

With that Charlie decided she’d had enough. She ducked around Sweat Patches and through the exit, letting the night air cool her feverish skin. She began walking down Sophia’s driveway, determined to catch the last bus home and forget this whole damn night.

You are not dirty.You can wear anything you want, your body is nothing to be ashamed of, you are not dirty, going home with someone does not make you a slut, Dale was not right about you.

She heard heavy footsteps behind her and turned to see James smiling his handsome-guy smile. “Sorry about that. Guy’s a dick.”

Charlie shrugged. She hadn’t been sure James would follow her but she supposed a night of easy sex wasn’t something most men turned down.

You are not dirty, you are not dirty.

James reached for her hand. “C’mon, darlin’, let’s not ruin a perfectly good night.”

Charlie pulled away gently, but firmly. “I don’t think this is going to happen. I’m going home.”

He reached for her hand. “Darlin’…”

Charlie realized he couldn’t remember her name. Resentment flared inside her and she bit back the urge to demand he say it, throw his rudeness in his face. This evening had been way too much. She’d been extreme-makeovered, forced out of her comfort zone and had the man who coaxed her to the most intense orgasm of her life forget her name. Excellent. Hooray for being single.

Steeling her spine, Charlie looked directly into James Hunter’s eyes. Those damn, infuriatingly beautiful eyes. They were what got her into this mess. She took a deep breath. “I was willing to go home with a player, but I don’t operate on the same brotastic shagging circuit you do. I don’t appreciate being talked about like that in front of strangers and I don’t like being laughed at. I’m not going home with you tonight,James.”

Without waiting for a reply she turned and strode off into the darkness. She listened for the crunch of gravel that would indicate he’d followed her but it never came.

Good.

Chapter 3

When Charlie entered her yoga classroom the next day, she wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Sophia and Jordan front and center, their yoga mats unrolled and their expressions impatient. Hayley was missing, but that was also unsurprising. She was most likely at home with a hangover, waiting for Sophia to text her the dirty details. She led the class much more slowly than usual, trying to come up with a reason to dash home afterward. As much as she loved her friends, she was dreading rehashing her night with James. She had forgone her strict Sunday routine of meditation and cooking for the week ahead to spend the day in bed drinking a hundred cups of Earl Grey and contemplating what the hell had happened to her. Even though she didn’t drink, the morning after big events always left her feeling a bit hungover. There was a kind of unease that followed a heightened stretch of excitement and it didn’t get much more heightened than what had happened in Sophia’s bathroom. Or her driveway.

Recalling the night, she didn’t regret how she’d acted. Sophia’s party had been a success. It proved there were guys who could fulfill the urges she kept locked inside of her. Charlie so badly wanted that to be enough, but it wasn’t. Despite a vibrator-happy afternoon she was still aching for physical contact from a very specific southerner. The promise of James couldn’t be eased with a few solo orgasms, not when she’d come so close to having the man himself. Getting so attached to a guy who waslessthan a one-night stand wasn’t something Charlie wanted to confess to herself, let alone to her friends, yet here they were and they would soon be demanding details. She extended the final meditation a whole five minutes, desperately trying to come up with a less pathetic cover story than ‘I feel weird and have to leave’ and, failing to come up with anything, resigned herself to her fate.

Jordan and Sophia barely let her lock up the studio before they dragged her across the street and into the Humble Ruby café. Sophia ordered them green tea and waved the waitress away impatiently.

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