Wright Rival (Wright)

I reached for the door handle. “Have a good night.”

“You too,” he said, as if startled.

Then, I was through the door, slamming it shut behind me with a huff. I kicked my heels off and flicked the clasp on my strapless bra in a matter of seconds.

“Thank fuck,” I grumbled.

Luckily, no one else was home. Jennifer had date night with Julian. Blaire had gone out with Honey for something for the blog. They’d left in case I wanted the house to myself with Chase. But that clearly had not happened. No matter how much I’d put into that date, I couldn’t make myself interested in him. He was exactly what I should want, but I just didn’t. I was frustrated with myself as I grabbed a bottle of merlot and stomped back to my room.

I changed out of my dress and into an oversize T-shirt. Then, I sank down under the covers, flicked the television onto something mindless, and drank the wine straight from the bottle, like an adult.

What was I going to do? I’d had the date that I’d claimed I wanted. And it hadn’t been anything that I wanted. It should have been perfect. Still, it hadn’t been.

This had to be Hollin’s fault. Everything had been fine in my life until he inserted himself into it. I avoided him and antagonized him enough to hope he would never turn his sights on me. And then he did. It had all gone downhill from there.

The worst part was that I couldn’t. Stop. Thinking. About. Him.

Like, why?

Sure, he’d given me the best orgasms of my life. But I didn’t even want him. Not after what had happened to my friends. Not with who he was as a person. He wasn’t suddenly going to change. He’d never even been in a relationship. And I didn’t want one with him even if he had. It was a recipe for disaster.

Still, as I lay in that bed all alone, I couldn’t stop my mind from slipping back to that tour bus. The way he’d held me down against him. The ferocity of his kiss. The way he’d bent me over the table and spanked me like he’d been doing it his whole life. The way he’d come undone when I asked him not to go slow. How gentle he’d been after. He’d taken care of me the entire night until I got back into my room and promptly passed out.

All of it sent a shiver through me. I’d gotten off a few times, just thinking about him holding me down on that table.

I was considering sliding my fingers into my panties again when my phone began to buzz noisily. I sighed and set my merlot down on a side table. I hoped this wasn’t Chase. It would suck if he was more into me than I was into him.

But when I turned my phone over, the name on the front said Hollin.

Jesus, had he read my mind? Had he known that I was thinking about him? Or was he just an asshole, calling when he knew I had a date?

Probably the latter. And I should ignore him.

I bit my lip in indecision, silenced the TV, and pressed the green phone icon.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Piper,” he said into the line, his voice dark and sultry.

I swallowed. “Did you need something?”

“Just seeing how your date is going.”

Did I tell him? Fuck.

“Why?” I asked, diverting the conversation.

“You made sure I knew, and I wanted to make sure that you were getting taken care of.” He laughed softly in the phone. “So, is Chase standing right there, wondering who you’re talking to?”

I glanced around my empty room. “No.”

“Ah. Smart. Decided to take the call in the restroom?” he teased.

“Did you call to be an asshole?”

Hollin paused for a beat before laughing. “I can’t be concerned for you?”

“Hollin,” I grumbled.

“All right, all right. Get back to your date.”

“Did you really call to see how my date went?”

“Well, I was hoping you’d tell me it was awful,” he admitted. “And that you needed me to come make it all better.”

I snorted. “I do not need you to come over.”

He was silent for a few seconds. “You didn’t say whether or not the date was going well.”

Well, fuck. I hadn’t, had I? I didn’t want to lie. There was no point. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t find out anyway.

“It was okay,” I finally said.

“Was,” he said, catching on to the past tense. “Is it already over?”

“Yes, Hollin, it’s over. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“If I admit that I’m happy to hear that, will you hang up?” he asked with a soft laugh.

I rolled my eyes and burrowed down a little more under the covers. Of course he was happy about it. He’d been pissed that I was even going on a date with Chase.