Between Friends (Friends with Benefits) (6 page)

For some reason, the woman was obsessed with the network, even though she didn’t know a lick of Spanish. “Ooh,” she said as her eyes grew big, “this must be that new telenovela that just started.” She nodded. “
Yo como áspero
.” Nina wagged her eyebrows at me before turning her gaze back to the television.

“Nina, neither of us knows what that means.” I gave her a light punch in the shoulder. “Will you focus?”

She gave me a confused look. “What?”

“Don’t ‘what’ me.”

“Whom?”

“Nina!”

“Wha—” She held up her hands. “We’re not doing that again.”

“You just told me that I’ve made a huge mistake that probably can’t be fixed and then you start watching
Yo como esperado
like it’s no big deal?”

“Um, it’s
Yo como áspero
and it
is
a big deal.” Nina held a hand out toward the TV. “Have you seen the ads for this show?”

I narrowed my eyes and pressed my lips together. I loved Nina; I really did, but sometimes…

“Don’t go getting that look.” She laughed. “Sorry.” Nina turned the TV off and turned to face me. “You have my full attention.”

“You mean it?” I had to admit it; I was skeptical.

“Yes, nothing’s more important than being there for my best friend when she needs me,” she said earnestly.

I gave her a meek smile. That was an oddly sweet thing for her to say.

“Besides”—she jerked her head in the direction of the television—“I’m taping it anyway.”

Now
that
was Nina. I ignored the temptation to give her another, slightly heavier punch, and dove into my relationship fears. “The break up with Nathan was the last straw for me—at least for a very long time.” I sighed. “None of my relationships work. I have to face it. And that’s exactly why I don’t want to tempt fate by getting into another one. All I need is to be dumped yet again.” Maybe it was crazy to even attempt self-preservation at this point, but I needed to try. I had to give credit where credit is due: Nina actually gave me her full attention the entire time I ranted. After I finished, I sat back. “Help me.”

“Okay, first of all, take a deep breath.” She watched me for a moment. “No, seriously, take a breath, Stace, take a breath.”

I complied and I had to admit I did feel slightly more composed afterward.

“Now,” she continued, “you’re seeing Justin on at least a semi-regular basis, you’re having lots of sex with him, you’re having long talks with the man about everything and nothing.” Nina took her own deep breath just then. “Face it; the two of you are already in a relationship. Get over it.”

I scoffed. “We are
not
dating.”

Nina gave me a blank look.

“We’re not,” I repeated, wanting to convince myself as well as Nina.

“Have you seen anyone else since you’ve been seeing him?”

“Well, no—”

“Aha!”

“That’s not because I have feelings for him.”

She crossed her arms. “Then why is he the only one you’re seeing?”

I shrugged and picked at my chipped, dark red nail polish. “I’m not interested in anyone else right now.”

“No one?”

Evan’s killer smile and hazel eyes flew into my memory. “Well, there’s one someone.”

“Let me guess. Hot bartender guy?”

I looked up at her.

“What are you waiting for then?” she asked. “If you’re scared you could start falling for Justin, do something about it. Get the bartender dude to take your mind off of him.”

“Bartender dude’s name is Evan.”

“It’s been a while; I forgot.”

I gulped down the majority of my drink as I thought about her suggestion. “No, I couldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Evan’s one of Justin’s closest friends.”

“So?”

“So I’d be sleeping with two friends.”

“Again, so? I mean, haven’t you already done that?”

“Right, but that was before I—”

Nina squinted at me. “Before you what?”

Good question. Before I started dating Justin? Before I got to know him? Before I started falling for him? Oh, hell no! I cleared my throat. “I’ll do it.”

“I need specifics here, girl. You’ll do what?”

“I’ll find Evan and I’ll… see if he wants to get together.”

Nina smiled as she picked up the remote again and flicked the TV back on.

“What now?” I asked, suddenly very wary.

“I was just thinkin’…”

“What were you thinking?” I asked slowly, through clenched teeth.

“Well, maybe you should go for a different guy.” She gave me a serious look. “This Evan dude may get you in deeper trouble than you’re already in.”

I frowned. “I thought you wanted me to go after him?”

“Well, if you don’t want to get serious with one, be casual with more than one.” She shrugged as if her statement made perfect sense. “It’s just… you should be careful. You might end up getting serious with
both
guys.” She turned her attention back to the television.

I didn’t even want to know what her advice meant, so I didn’t ask. In fact, I totally ignored it. That would come back to bite me squarely in the ass.

For all my newly found casual, assertive ways, I was still quite the scaredy cat. This dawned on me as I sat in my car staring at Blaze through the windshield. It was well after two in the morning and the club was closed. I hadn’t been running late; I’d intended to get here at this time. I still wasn’t exactly sure how to go about asking Evan if he wanted to be his buddy’s sex buddy’s sex buddy, but I was certain it would go over better when I didn’t have to yell my request over the volume of both loud music
and
loud clubgoers.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know how else to get in touch with the man, so here I sat. I know, I could have asked Justin for Evan’s number. I laughed to myself as I thought about it. Not that Justin would care, but it still would have been awkward, to say the least. Instead, I’d called Blaze earlier in the evening and asked if Evan was working tonight. After being told yes, I decided to come over.

I’d parked my small sedan in the shadows of the small employees’ parking lot. So far, four people had come out and gotten into their respective vehicles. None of them had been Evan. I sighed and rolled my shoulders to work out as much tension as I could. Finally, the back door opened and two men stood under the overhead light. I leaned forward and squinted. I almost squealed with glee when I saw that Evan was one of the men.

Laughing, they walked toward their trucks. Fortunately, the other man went in the opposite direction and Evan came in mine. I took a deep breath before I got out of the car. It was now or never.

“Hi.”

Frowning, Evan did a double take. “Stacy?”

For lack of anything better to do, I waved.

Evan walked toward me. “What are you doing out here?”

I shrugged. “Waiting for you.”

He chuckled. “Why?”

“I wanted to see you.” I folded my arms. “Is that surprising?”

Evan mimicked my stance. “A little.” He took a step toward me. “I figured Justin was”—he cleared his throat—“keeping you pretty busy.”

There was that damn heat again. And not the good kind. This heat was centered on my face. I instantly felt as if I were facing a furnace. I squared my shoulders. “He has, but not so busy that I don’t have time to have thoughts.”

The corner of Evan’s mouth lifted ever so slightly. “And I was in your thoughts?”

We stared at one another as he took another step my way. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Why didn’t you come inside? Why wait out here until well after closing?”

“I wanted to talk to you alone.” His eyebrow lifted, but he said nothing so I continued. “What I have to say, I didn’t exactly want to shout out to the entire club.”

Evan looked around before resting his gaze on me again. “We’re alone now.” His voice was low and suggestive. It caressed my skin the same as the light breeze of the early morning hours did.

I wasn’t sure how to approach this… delicate, awkward subject. I decided to jump right in before I lost my nerve. “I was wondering if you’d want to keep seeing me.”

He tilted his head and his eyes narrowed.

“I mean, uh, not that we were ever
seeing
each other. I just thought maybe it would be nice if we could keep doing, uh”—I shrugged—“what we did.” I cast my eyes downward and waited for his response. What the hell had I been thinking coming here?

He chuckled low in his throat.

My head snapped up. “What’s funny?”

Evan ran his hands roughly through his hair. “So you want to have no-strings-attached sex with me while having it with my friend?”

I opened my mouth to make a smart-ass reply, but none was forthcoming, so I closed it. When I heard someone else say it out loud, it did sound worse than when I’d rationalized it in my head. Evan took another step toward me and I backed up right against my car. My heart slammed into my rib cage as I prepared myself for his rejection. I only hoped it wouldn’t sting
too
much.

“What does Justin say about this?”

I frowned. “I haven’t told him.”

Evan scoffed. “You haven’t even—”

“No, I haven’t. Justin and I aren’t anywhere close to being serious. He’s seeing other women; I can see other men.”

Evan looked past me as he considered that. “Stacy…” He sighed. “This could get awkward. Justin and I have never, you know, with the same woman before. How would that even work? Do we alternate nights or something?” He let out a harsh laugh. “Pretty twisted, right?”

I dropped my arms. “It would be kind of like dating.”
No!
“But not actually dating. We’d just get together occasionally to do, ah, what we do. No strings, no drama, just sex.”

Evan nodded slowly. “You think that would work?” he asked softly.

“I think we should try.” I peered into his hazel eyes and, beyond a shadow of a doubt, knew he wanted to give in.

“I
have
missed you,” he said, more to himself than to me.

My heart did that blasted squeezing pressure thing. I ignored it. I also ignored my better judgment and placed my hand on his chest. God, that was a mistake. His chest was solid muscle beneath my palm and I couldn’t resist running my hand lightly over it. “I missed you, too.”

He smirked. “You didn’t.”

I smiled. “I did.”

Evan made a growling sound, and in an instant his large body was pressed against mine. He buried his fingers in my hair, leaned down, and pulled my face toward him. “Shit,” he said, his breathing slightly ragged, “this is probably a mistake.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist. “I don’t care.” And because I was truly an idiot, I meant it. Nothing mattered at that moment besides being as close to him as I could. I opened my mouth and breathed against his lips. He gently licked mine with his tongue. I moaned. “Evan…”

His tongue slipped inside my mouth as he pressed himself harder against me. I dug my fingers into the taut muscles of his back as the kiss deepened. The ache between my thighs intensified. I was as wet as if we’d had hours of foreplay. There was no way to deny my desire when Evan pushed my dress up and began to stroke my pussy with expert fingers.

“Mm,” he said, his breath hot against my neck, “you’re so wet, baby.”

I moved against his hand and my nipples hardened as I let my head fall back.

He licked the sensitive place on my neck as I continued to grind my pussy against his hand. “Come home with me,” he said, pulling my hand down to his cock. It was rock hard and I had a memory of seeing it in its full glory. I wanted very much to feel that again.

“Yes,” I said breathlessly. He moaned as I kept rubbing his dick through his jeans. “But I can’t wait that long.”

Our eyes met and he gave me a wicked smile. “Right here?”

I nodded as I unbuttoned his jeans.

“Whatever my baby wants,” Evan said as he pulled down the top of my strapless, black maxi dress. He leaned down to begin a delicious assault on my tits.

I closed my eyes and gave myself over to the sensation of his tongue circling my nipples and flicking against them. It was safer than analyzing the flutter his words had just caused in my heart at the pet name he’d given me. “Ooh,” I said softly, “yes.” I unzipped his jeans and pushed my hand inside, past his underwear, to the rigid, swollen shaft.

Evan groaned, the sound vibrating lightly against my nipple and causing a small shockwave to ricochet through my entire lower region. He raised his head to look me in the eye. “You’re about to get it.”

I gave him a shy smile. “I certainly hope so.”

He frowned suddenly. “Shit.”

“What?”

“I don’t have a condom.”

I winked and held one up.

He chuckled. “Where the hell did that come from?”

“Maybe I’m magic,” I said, teasingly. Okay, so my dress had some really inconspicuous pockets and I’d had the condom in one of them the whole time. Let’s just say I had really high hopes for tonight.

“I think you are.” He grabbed it from my fingers and ripped it open with his teeth while keeping his eyes locked on mine.

I tugged his jeans and underwear down to free his cock. He rolled the condom on before slipping his fingers inside my panties. He rubbed my clit and I moaned loudly. “Now,” he said, “where were we?”

I squeezed my breasts and ran my fingers back and forth over the hardened buds. “I was about to get it.”

“And you are,” he said, putting his strong hands on my ass and lifting me up. I wrapped my legs around him as I slid down onto his cock.

I cried out before biting down on my lip. This wasn’t soft or tender; it was hard and rough. I rode him with abandon, no longer caring, or even realizing, that we were in a parking lot. Evan leaned down to fondle my breasts with his tongue as he fucked me.

He maneuvered me around to the hood of my car and laid me on it. He never lost the tempo of his thrusts. His cock rammed into me faster and faster, harder and harder, until I was sure I would split in two.

I grabbed his ass, pulling him to me even more. I couldn’t get close enough. His grunts and moans drove me crazy; so close to my ear, they seemed to resonate through me right to my core. My pussy throbbed around him and as I felt my legs begin to quiver, I knew I was about to come.