Playing Hard to Master (Masters Unleashed 2)

If he and Everly got close and she ditched him, too . . .

Fuck. He ran a hand over his face.

“It’s not about Kate—or Shae, before you ask. I did something I shouldn’t have done.” He thought of the look of betrayal on Everly’s face and groaned. “I don’t know if I can fix it. I don’t know if I even want to fix it.”

Konstantin looked at him expectantly. “What are you saying? Do I need to get a shovel? Do we need to find a remote location?” With his thick Russian accent, whenever he said things like that Kon sounded like a villain from an eighties action movie.

“No. It’s Everly.”

“Shit. She seemed perfect for you, from what I saw at the club the other night. What’s wrong? Your kinks don’t match up? She’s got a Dom? She’s into pegging? You know, you might want to keep an open mind there. Some guys love it.”

“Shut up. It’s too damn close to pegging every time we double-team a girl and your dick slips out of her. I swear my life flashes before my eyes.”

“You’re such a baby.”

“You have a big dick!”

They both laughed, which made Ambrose feel a bit better. It was good to have friends. Especially crazy ones.

“Did you fuck her?”

Ambrose sighed and leaned his head back against the chair, which was one of the least comfortable versions of a chair he’d ever encountered. “Yes. I just left her place a little while ago.”

“It’s early. Why didn’t you stay? Did she kick you out?”

“No. We had amazing sex twice, then fell asleep, but then when we woke up I panicked and bolted.”

Konstantin snorted. “Smooth.”

“Fuck off,” Ambrose grumbled. “It’s not funny.”

“You’re damn right it’s funny. You knew I was going to laugh before you even walked in the door, so don’t be a whiny bitch. What happened?”

Ambrose groaned and tried not to think about the way Everly whimpered when he was deep inside her. “It’s complicated. The girls are all dressed up, so I assume you’re going out. Just never mind me, I’m going to go home and think.”

His friend twirled a pen between the fingers of one hand like he belonged in a circus act. Knowing he could do similar things with a knife made it sinister, but no less amazing. He’d tried to teach Ambrose, but he’d never gotten the knack.

“Do you seriously think I’m going to take my girls out to a club while you’ve got that look on your face? They can wait days, for all I care. They’ll take care of each other if I take too long with you.”

“It’s weird that they’ll sleep together even though they hate each other.”

“It’s not so much that they hate each other, they just both want to be my favorite.” He shrugged. “Even though they know I don’t pick favorites. When I’m not around they seem to like each other fine. But enough about my bits of fluff. Why did you run away? I thought you liked her.”

Fucked if he knew.

“I’m not sure. Something went wrong. We were in bed, goofing around, and the next thing I knew I was . . . I don’t know. I was looking at her and she was so hot and perfect and a complete goofball. I flipped out.”

Konstantin grunted. “Now I get it.” He put the pen down and steepled his fingers in front of his face.

“Do you? Well, I wish you’d explain it to me.”

“You like her too much. I think you’re over Shae, finally, but now you’re shutting people down before they get too close.” He cocked his head to the side, narrowing his dark eyes. “You know that’s why you used to fuck Banner’s exes, right? You thought they were safe because they were on the rebound, and you’d never get serious with a girl one of us had first.”

A pained noise escaped Ambrose, and he banged his forehead on Konstantin’s desk repeatedly. “You do realize I hate you?”

“You hate me most when you know I can see through your bullshit. You, my friend, spend a lot of time in denial.”

“Maybe. So what do I do now?”