I smiled as I closed my eyes and caught my breath. Tits out in the kitchen, my stepbrother still pulsing inside me, I did feel that way. Amazing. Confident. Beautiful. Maybe a bit crazy, but in the best way possible. My blood was rushing and I could actually feel the glow on my skin. We took a moment to breathe, and I laughed when Liam showed me A.J’s text asking if it was safe to come out of the bathroom yet. Normally, I’d have felt self-conscious, but I’d been pumped too full of satisfaction t
o give that any thought. I hoped that was a good sign.
“You got this,” Liam said when he saw me out.
“Thanks,” I murmured as he pressed his lips to my forehead. “I hope so.”
“Don’t hope it. Just know it.”
“Fine.”
When I left, I still had his scent on me.
Chapter Twelve
I almost laughed when I walked into the Midtown steakhouse Jenna texted me to meet her at. It was quickly apparent to me why she’d picked this spot. The place was crawling with fat cat businessmen drinking Oban, shooting the shit and hitting on the only girl at the bar – Jenna.
“Damn. This the friend you’ve been waiting for?” The one next to her slid promptly off his seat when I came by.
“Indeed it is. Hello, gorgeous,” Jenna said with over-acted enthusiasm. She watched as I sat down, reaching to play with my ponytail because she knew I’d hate it. “Don’t you look adorable,” she purred, giving me a quick pinch of the cheek.
“Jenna.” I leaned away. She was trying to embarrass me – I knew that. She wanted me to snap and make a scene in public but I refused. I’d come here with the intention to have a mature conversation and there was no doing that without keeping it together. “Look, we obviously have something we need to talk about,” I said quietly, for only us to hear. “So let’s just try to act like adults here and – ”
“Gentlemen,” she interrupted me, turning grandly to face her audience. “I have to introduce you to my friend. This is Sasha, the one I was telling you about. You know,” she smirked. “The one who’s fucking her stepbrother so she doesn’t have to pay rent?”
My heart slammed against my chest. My jaw dropped to the floor as the men surrounding us burst into reaction.
“Holy – what?”
“You weren’t shitting me about that?”
Jenna grinned, watching me with a smug look on her face as she sipped her martini. “Not at all, gentlemen. Come on, Sasha. Tell ‘em.”
My hands were shaking as I held onto the edges of my seat. I was in disbelief at how quickly this situation had turned. Everything had gone to shit before it could even start. My cheeks were on fire as the men around me suddenly clamored for my attention, their smiles all dirty and leering.
“Hey, what’s your name, sweetheart?”
“How ‘bout you come work for me?”
“I’ll fire my receptionist in a heartbeat.”
Air barely made it through my throat as I sat there completely mortified. They all craned their necks to get a better look at me, as if I were some kind of rare zoo animal.
“Christ, Jen. From the way you talked about her, I thought she’d be a dog,” the one with the slicked hair said before sliding his heavy business card at me. “Hey, if you ever get tired of getting it on with your brother, you should give me a call.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. She thinks she’s gonna marry the guy,” Jenna laughed.
This isn’t happening.
The room was spinning around me, the sound of their raucous laughter fading out of my ears. Numb, I slid off my chair, my eyes stinging as I made a silent beeline for the door. Don’t you dare, I berated myself. Don’t you dare cry in front of Jenna Pettit. It was exactly what she wanted. I should’ve known that and I should’ve known I was walking into some sort of trap. Because mentally, Jenna was still in high school. She still bullied to boost her ego and get her way. And if she couldn’t get what she wanted, she’d find the person who had it and make that person’s life a living hell.
Public humiliation was always a good start on that one.
“Hey! Sasha!”
I ignored Jenna’s voice and walked as fast as possible, my heels clicking hard against the sidewalk.
“Sasha!”