Page 118 of Plays Well With Others

Hazel lifts her wine glass and looks from Rachel to me. “So, Carter, how’s everything going?”

There’s so much more to her question. She means how are things goingwith the two of us.

“Everything is great,” I say, meaning it. I’ve let go of that frustration, and I should focus on trying to read Rachel.

Axel joins us, and the four of us talk and drink and laugh. After three beers, I stop drinking, worried I’ll blurt out a tipsy confession.

But I do want to get her naked all over again.

So after she finishes another mug of wine, I say, “Want to get on the horse?”

She reaches for my stethoscope and plays with it, speaking softly so no one else can hear. “Spoiler alert: I was thinking about banging you that night. When I looked at you at my breakup party, all I could think wasI want to sleep with him.”

I go up in flames. I want her so damn much. “It’s the shirtless effect,” I say with a cocky shrug.

“It’s theyoueffect,” she corrects, in that same sweet voice she used post-sex. It wraps around me. It weaves through me. It lives inside my soul.

That’s it. I call a Lyft and tell Beck I’ll get my car tomorrow.

Sometimes when you take your date to a party, all you really want is to be alone with her.

* * *

We head up the steps to her place, both buzzed and handsy, kissing and laughing.

We’ve done this before, but it feels different tonight. Once she unlocks the door and we’re inside, I reach for her hand, thread my fingers through hers, and meet her gaze, stripping away the laughter. “Let me take you to dinner for our fifth date.”

I don’t saylast date.

She tenses. She hasn’t wanted to go on a dinner date so far. “You want to go to a restaurant?”

“Doesn’t have to be fancy,” I assure her, linking our fingers more tightly. “I just want to show you how it feels. I want to erase all the bad memories you have. I want to take you out on a proper date to a restaurant so you can know what it’s like to be with a guy who only has eyes for you.”

Okay, that’s not quite boom box territory. But it’s getting closer.

She grabs the lapels of my coat, tugs on them with a particular intensity. “Yes. Take me out, Carter.”

I want to take her out for all the days and nights.

For now, I take her and our buzz to the bedroom, open the closet door so the mirror is just so, then I strip her naked.

* * *

Her legs are wrapped around my ass, and she’s watching our reflection. She can’t tear her gaze away from the sight of me fucking her.

With all my strength, I drive into her, giving her what she wants.

“Like the view?” I grunt as I swivel my hips.

She whimpers a yes as she stares shamelessly at the mirror. “Love it,” she adds on a staggered breath.

Let’s see if she loves this more. I pause mid-thrust, taking a beat, then I sink into her so deep and so powerfully that she lets go of my shoulders, her head flopping down on the pillow with a wild moan.

She looks lost in bliss.

My breath quickens. Electricity crackles in my veins. And I feel like I’m succumbing to something…wild.

Something I never expected.

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