Hazed (Palm South University)

Her smile slips with the words, and I frown, squeezing her shoulder. “What’s with the sad panda face?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. I’ve been all up in my lady feels lately.”

“Do tell.”

“It’s just… I was so excited when Kip surprised me last semester and told me he was going to be back at PSU. After all the long distance, it was like a dream come true, you know? But he’s been so caught up with his show that, other than Spring Break, I’ve barely seen him.”

I pause, trying to think of how to say what I want to. “Well, Sky, this is important to him. I mean, this could be his ticket to a job after graduation.”

“I know. I guess I just thought I’d be more of a priority to him.”

“Think about it this way — what if it was you going out to L.A. with the opportunity to kickstart your casino company? Don’t you think that would take up the majority of your time and energy? And don’t you think you’d want Kip to understand and support that?”

Skyler frowns. “I hate when you’re right.”

“You must hate me most of the time, then.”

She rolls her eyes. “It’s just… oh God, how do I say this without sounding petty…” She rolls her lips together. “So, remember how I helped out a little with casting?”

“Yeah. I remember you saying the girl you picked to play you was perfect.”

“Ha! Well, this is me eating my words.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Yeah,” she says with a long sigh. “Let’s just say the girl’s got it bad for Kip, and since he’s spending most of his time working on the show, they’re together like… all the time. I tried telling him to keep his guard up, that she wants him, but of course he’s oblivious.”

I chuckle. “Or he’s so obsessed with you that he wouldn’t notice a girl flirting with him even if she had her naked titties hanging in his face.”

“I’m surprised Natalia hasn’t tried that yet, honestly.”

I laugh. “Sky, I promise, you have nothing to worry about. Kip is yours. After all the shit you two went through, I can promise you that not even a hot-ass movie star could take your place in his heart.”

Even as she nods, I can see the worry etched into my best friend’s face, and I pull her to a stop on the sidewalk, telling Mom and Clayton to go on without us and we’ll catch up.

“Talk to him,” I say, framing her arms in my hands. “Okay? Tell him you miss him and you need some quality time. Tell him it’s important to you. He may be caught up in filming and the excitement of the show, but if you level with him, if you communicate,” I add, tickling her sides as she giggles and tries to break free. “He won’t let you down.”

Skyler sighs as I pull her into my chest for a long hug, and she squeezes my waist in return. “Thank you, Bear. I love you.”

“Love you more.”

I WAKE TO THE feeling of Kade’s warm palm running down my back.

Like a cat, I arch into the touch, practically purring as he grabs my hip and pulls me into his chest. His hard-on is rock solid through his boxers, and I rub my ass against it, hissing in my next breath.

“Morning, baby,” he husks into my ear, sucking the lobe between his teeth.

“Good morning, indeed.”

He chuckles, kissing down my neck and already working my sleep shorts down my hips, my thighs, until they’re restraining my knees. I kick them the rest of the way off, which is a feat through the heavy, drugged feeling of just waking up.

“God, you feel so good,” he whispers, running his hand up to grab my tits under my sleep tank. He palms one and then the other, pebbling my nipples into peaks.

“I want you,” I whisper back.

“What about me?”

I creak my eyes open and find Jarrett standing in the doorway.

My heart accelerates at the sight of him, naked as the day he was born, all those tattoos sprawling over his body, his beard freshly trimmed, eyes on fire as they watch me and Kade in the bed.

“Jarrett?”

He smirks, slowly stalking toward me like I’m his prey, his fist slowly pumping over his cock all the way. “Do you want me, too?”

I try to swallow, but my mouth is too dry.

“Answer him,” Kade says from behind me, biting my shoulder.

“I…”

Before I can get another word out, Jarrett stops at the edge of the bed and reaches down to grip my chin in his hand, forcing me to look up at him over the valleys and ridges of his abdomen.

“Tell me, Jess,” he commands. “Do you want me?”

“Yes.”

The word is a whisper and a plea and a guilty admission all at once. I wait for Kade to stop, to tear away from me, to scream and demand answers, but instead, he only growls in my ear as he runs his hard-on against my ass again.