CHAPTER 032: Get In My Pants
~~SLOANE~~
***
As soon as the door shuts behind Knox, I realize how cold the weather actually is.
The air nips at my bare skin, prickling goosebumps across my arms and legs, raising every fine hair in protest. Knox had been my heat–his body, his mouth, his hands, his presence. Now that he’s gone, he’s taken all of it with him.
Shivering, I get up from the chair and walk stiffly toward the heap of clothes tossed over the other seat. There’s a wetness between my legs that makes my steps stickier than they should be.
I reach down and tug my ruined panties from where they’re bunched against my inner thigh.
Wrapping the lace and the vibrator in a tissue, I shove them deep into my purse. My fingers brush against my phone, and i pull it out.
The screen lights up.
Missed calls. So many of them. And texts.
Finn.
I bite my lip and scroll through the list.
‘Where are you?‘
‘Sloane, please answer.‘
‘Tell me you’re okay.‘
‘I’m calling the police if I don’t hear from you in five minutes.‘
‘What the hell is going on?‘
‘I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Please just respond.’
I lower the phone slowly.
Guilt crawls its way up my body.
Yes, I’m still very much mad at him. But I don’t think I’m as mad as I should be. Those orgasms melted the fight right out of my bones.
Finn must be panicking. He probably thinks I got lost or abducted or worse. He has no idea I’ve been upstairs for the last-
How long have I been up here?
It felt like minutes. Ten, at most. But the lingering pulse between my thighs, the soreness in my body, the dazed blankness in my head–those are not the remnants of a quickie.
Now I’m thinking about the sex again.
I remember how Knox looked at me. His teeth at my nipple. The gravel of his voice when he said, Come ride me. The feel of him inside me, filling me completely while that toy hummed against the most sensitive part of me. I bite my lip, and heat flashes through my lower belly, straight to where I’m still aching.
- God.
I want him again.
This time without a condom.
Without anything between us.
I want to feel that piercing inside me.
“I’m turning into a damn freak,” I mutter out loud.
I shake the thought off and quickly pull on my dress, yanking it down over my hips and adjusting the straps. My coat follows, wrapping me in a little bubble of comfort. I run my hands through my hair, fluffing it up, fixing the parts he tugged on. Then I glance around.
Knox left his cigar in the ashtray, barely smoke
Successfully unlocked!
I walk over to it, stare at the dark, flattened edge, and before I can talk mysel, out of it, I lift it to my lips. The part his mouth
had touched.
It doesn’t taste like him, but it does remind me of something thicker and harder he’d shoved down my throat.
I’m officially losing my mind.
1/4
CHAPTER 032 Get In My Pants
I drop it in my purse, pick up the umbrella, and head for the door, dialing Finn on my way,
He answers on the first ring.
“Thank God,” he breathes. “Sloane, are you okay? I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“I’m fine,” I reply, trying to sound steadier than I feel.
“Where are you?”
“Not far.”
“Is that Sloane?” I hear Victoria’s voice faintly in the background.
“Yes, Mom,” Finn answers.
“See? I told you she was fine. She just panicked, that’s all.”
I open the rooftop door with my free hand.
“Finn,” I hear Knox say. “What’s your answer?”
Were they together? That’s… weird. It would even be weirder if they’re all searching for me when Knox knows exactly where I am.
“Can you just give me a moment, Knox?” Finn snaps. “At least let me know everything’s fine.”
“Ma’am,” a voice says near me.
I look up. The bouncer is standing just inside the rooftop access, walking toward me.
“Who is that?” Finn asks. “Where are you?”
“I’ll call you back.”
“Sloane, wait! Meet me just outside the event venue. In the hallway.”
“Alright,” I say and hang up.
I glance at the bouncer. “Hi,” I say. “Thank you for the umbrella. I’m heading back downstairs.”
“You’ll need to wait a bit, ma’am. The elevators are experiencing some technical issues.”
“They worked fine when I came up.”
He shrugs. “Temporary problem.”
“I’ll take the stairs.”
“Not in those shoes.” He blocks my path.
I narrow my eyes, just as I hear the unmistakable ding of an elevator arriving.
“Did Knox tell you to stall me?” I ask.
He smiles. “I’m just looking out for you.”
“You mean playing jailer.”
“Company policy,” he says. “No stairs for people in stilettos.”
“What’s your name?”
“Joseph.”
“You’re not a very good liar, Joseph.”
“Must be my Christian roots.”
“How much did he pay you?”
“Who?”
“Haha. Funny.”
I drop the umbrella and sidestep him, bolting down the stairs before he can stop me.
He doesn’t follow. I figured he wouldn’t. Anything else would’ve crossed into kidnapping territory.
At the bottom, I slip into the elevator and ride it down, adjusting my coat and ignoring the sting in my thighs with every shift. When the doors open to the main floor, I step out and start scanning the hallway.
There they are.
Finn. Knox. Victoria.
Finn sees me first and immediately crosses the space, wrapping me in a hug before I can even speak. His arms are tight around me, grounding and warm.
“I’m so sorry,” he says into my hair.
CHAPTER 032: Get In My Pants
“It’s okay,” I whisper. “I’m fine.”
He pulls back, inspecting my face. “Were you crying?”
“I’m fine, Finn.”
My eyes dart to Knox. He’s leaning against the wall, arms crossed, expression unreadable. Beside him, Victoria gives me a long look, her attention alternating between me and Knox, who still hasn’t moved or looked away from me.
“Let’s go back to the house,” Finn says.
“That’d be a great idea,” Victoria adds, stepping forward. “This party has really wom me down.”
I want to speak to Knox. Say something. Anything. But my throat is dry.
Finally, I manage, “See you tomorrow, Knox.”
He doesn’t respond.
“Come on, Sloane,” Finn says.
I follow, letting him lead me away, but after making it a few steps toward the exit, Knox calls behind us.
“Wait.”
We turn.
“Finn,” Knox says. “You’ve stalled enough. What’s your answer? Are you in or not?”
I stare at Finn, curious, but he looks away, guilt written all over him.
“I’m in,” he says quietly. “But do it tomorrow. So nothing goes wrong.”
“Great,” Knox says. “Do
mine tonight.”
Finn clenches his jaw, then turns without a word and starts walking, pulling me along. I follow him, casting one last look over my shoulder.
Knox is staring at me.
He blows a kiss. Mouths, “Goodnight, Kitten.”
My stomach flips.
I turn around again, suddenly needing to know what their code words back there meant.
“What was that about?” I ask Finn.
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
We walk out of the building and into the parking lot. I see Victoria heading to her car just ahead as I climb into the passenger seat of Finn’s father’s ride.
Finn starts driving.
His finger taps against the steering wheel. Again. Again. The silence in the car is heavy.
I check my phone.
I don’t know why I expect to see a message from Knox.
There’s nothing there.
It makes me… ache.
I glance up to find Finn quickly looking away.
“What is it?” I ask. “You’ve been acting weird the past few minutes.”
He hesitates.
“I just… I have this thing I want to ask you,” he says, voice low. “But I don’t know how.”
“What thing?”
“Promise to be honest?”
“When have I ever lied to you?”
He exhales. Long. Heavy.
“Sloane, do you have feelings for me?”
My heart skips. “What?”
He keeps talking. “It’s not like I never guessed you were crushing on me in college. I mean… who didn’t?”
My pulse quickens.
“I just need to know if it ever went beyond a silly crush,” he says, his voice tight. “Was our friendship ever real? Or have you
CHAPTER 032: Get In My Pants
spent the last ten years just trying to get in my pants?”
