Page 48 of Along for the Ride

A wheedling little man in thick-framed glasses sits behind the lobby desk. When he spots us and offers a plastic smile, I fantasize about knocking his big teeth down his throat and watching him choke on them. My rage only intensifies when I ask for two rooms.

“Sorry, sir, but we’re nearly full tonight. There’s a big book signing in town, and we only have one room left.”

I groan. “A room with two beds, right?”

“Nope, only one. But it is a king!”

As if that makes it better.

I turn to Karson and Leana. “Next hotel it is.”

The little man raises his finger. “You won’t find a hotel with vacancies until the next town over, and that’s at least an hour away. This group of authors is very popular.”

I glare at the man. We’re all too tired to drive, and I won’t risk getting pulled over.

“Fine,” I growl, handing over a fake ID and cash.

After we receive the room keys, we begrudgingly head to the elevator.

“When was the last time we shared a bed together?” Karson asks. The pep in his step makes me want to stab him in the knee.

“When we were kids, Karson,” I deadpan. “Someone will have to sleep on the floor, but it won’t be me or her.”

We step inside our room and inhale the fresh scent of clean sheets and proper housekeeping. It’s a step up from our usual hotels. It’s fucking nice. My first stop is the bathroom because I’ve had to piss for the last two hours.

When I return to the main room, Karson is laid out on the white bed with his boots all over the pristine comforter. Leana perches on the other side.

“Get your shoes off my bed.” I go to the mini fridge and tug out a tiny bottle of vodka. “Want one?” I ask Leana.

“Yes, thanks for asking,” Karson interjects.

“Vodka is fine,” she says.

I toss the small bottle of vodka to her and fish out a bottle of bourbon for Karson. I walk to the side of the bed, where Leana is swigging her drink like it’s water. “Floor,” I tell Karson as I point to the carpet.

He just stares at me. “Or, hear me out...” He pulls Leana closer. “She can be our buffer, and I get to sleep in the bed.”

“Fuck off, Karson. Also, don’t think I didn’t notice it looked like you pissed your pants earlier. Take a fucking shower.”

“Oh yeah, no. I’m housebroken. That was just her come. A whole lot of it.”

I don’t know why I thought Karson was incapable of making someone come. I always imagined he was as selfish a lover as he was a person. I hate knowing he made her come. Even worse, he made her squirt hard enough to saturate his jeans like that.

“If this is going to be a thing, we need fucking ground rules,” I say. I don’twantthis to be a thing, but Karson has been less adamant about killing her since he started playing with her. I don’t like the idea of her being his little plaything because he always breaks his things—and by break, I mean accidentally murders them—but I also feel like I don’t have a choice in the matter. “First, I know you have a thing for blood. If she lets you cut her, fine, but you better control yourself. If I need to stop the bleeding, you’ll become the bloody one. Second, her pussy is mine to fill. Come anywhere else. Third, don’t do shit in front of me. I don’t want to see it.”

The last rule will be hard for him to follow, but I don’t know that I can watch them and not feel the need to break his neck.

“What?” Karson says. “That means no sportsmanlike competition.”

He slides his hand between her thighs and drops it down the front of her pants. Her breath hitches, and she doesn’t know how to react. I can’t breathe either, because I don’t know howI’llreact. Jealousy-fueled anger lights a time bomb inside me, and I can hear thetick, tick, tickof the clock. I can feel the heat of the fuse. Her eyes roll back just a bit, and it’s enough to detonate my rage. I explode, reaching past Leana to grab Karson by the throat and pin him against the headboard. Even as I put dangerous pressure against his airway, he keeps moving his hand beneath her jeans.

“Get your hand off her, Karson.”

“Don’t I have a say in this?” Leana’s soft voice says beneath me.

“No,” I say.

Karson’s face darkens to a red hue, but that still doesn’t stop his hand from moving against her pussy. I swear to god, this dude’s death dream is to piss me off as he dies.

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