Page 5 of Boss Level

I gave him a wide-eyed look, but I’d never pulled offinnocent puppy dogvery well.

He chuckled and reached past me to slap the lid of his laptop shut. He turned off the TV.

Though I’d pulled my mouth away from him, I kept my hand wrapped around his cock.

Xander tugged me to my feet. “Let’s go to bed.”

I might be disappointed, if I didn’t recognize the heavy need in his tone, in his movements, and how it matched and fed my own.

We moved into the bedroom, and spent whole seconds stripping each other down. I was desperate to be close to him, to feel his skin on mine, and more than one button went flying in the flurry of tugging at clothing.

Then we stood body to body, heat flowing freely between us. Xander gripped my cock, and a sharp spike of desire drove into me. “I need you to come when I do.” His voice was gravel. “I need to feel it. To see your face when you come.”

Fuck.“Me too.” I wrapped my hand around his shaft again.

We watched each other while we jerked each other’s cocks. He’d been close in the living room, but I was peak-turned-on by bringing him to that point. The pain-plus-pleasure on his face told me he was holding back, and that he ached for release.

But he pushed me past my limits, stroking me harder and faster, drawing orgasm from me first. I groaned as I came, covering his hand, and when he hit that point shortly after, it drew out my climax.

We both kept tugging until our bodies shuddered from too much pleasure, then half-collapsed against each other, half-supported each other.

When we found the energy to pull apart, we cleaned up and climbed into bed.Ourbed.

Xander gripped the base of my neck as we lay face to face, and pressed his forehead to mine. “I hate this,” he said with resignation in his voice. “But I love you, and I wouldn’t trust anyone else with either of you than each other.”

“That almost made sense,” I teased.

He stroked a thumb along my skin. “You know what I mean.”

I did, and I wished he hadn’t brought Judith into the statement. He meant the one thing he never said, or even admitted to himself, and that was about where Judith lived in his heart.

Not that she was competition, but I’d never had any delusions about how I shared him.

Sleep didn’t come that night, as I lay there thinking about what was coming. What we’d put into motion with this entire fake engagement.

3

xander

My best friend was engaged to my husband. So apparently that was a thing I could check off myI never thought I’d say…list.

Around us, the world carried on as if this was an everyday occurrence. Just another blip in the weirdness that was reality. Christmas lights lined the streets, tinsel-lined shapes decorated poles, and traffic lit up the roads with row after row of taillights.

When I pulled my ’69 Impala into the restaurant parking lot, I swore Dom sighed, but I couldn’t tell if it was in disappointment or relief. Us being here wasn’t a surprise, and the three of us met here on a regular basis.

But this time of year, it felt different. We’d met here, as in Judith and I met Dominic here, seven years ago, almost to the day. Had I picked this place on purpose, tocelebratethis sham of an engagement?

Absolutely.

Was it petty of me?

Very probably.

I wanted him to remember the night he came into my life. To be reminded of it myself. And yes, it was true, that first night he and Judith had also gotten each other off under the table, and I wanted him to remember that was only sex that became friendship. Not romance.

Judith was already waiting for us inside, in almost the exact same spot Dominic had waited for her and me years ago. Exhaustion lined her face and drooped her shoulders, but when she saw us, the tiredness faded behind sunshine.

Always one of my favorite sights.

---