Page 7 of Enticed

Standing from the floor, I discard my clothes and hop in the shower, washing away the stench of my dancing and the booze leaking out of my pores. I swear I can still feel Anthony’s hands on me, especially after having that dream again for the hundredth time. I scrub my skin until it’s raw and I feel somewhat normal, although the likelihood of that happening anytime soon is practically none.

Once I’m clean and in a fresh outfit, I walk outside to jump in my car, craving some greasy food to help settle my stomach when I realize that my car is still back at Tony’s. I know that Cooper drove me home last night, but the rest of the night after he put me in the back of his cruiser is pretty much a blur.

“Need a ride?” The voice of my neighbor pulls my attention next door as Penny steps down from her porch and greets me with that knowing grin.

“You mind, Penny? Cooper drove me home last night and my car is still at Tony’s,” I answer, but Penny doesn’t judge. That’s one of the things I love about her.

When I grow up, I want to be just like Penny Collins—a bad-ass sixty-year-old woman with tattoos up and down my arms and piercings wherever I damn well please. I want the purple-colored pixie cut and leather leggings and the mouth with no filter.

Well, the no filter thing I seem to have mastered. But the rest I’ll have to work on.

“I know. I saw him. He didn’t seem too pleased to be dropping your drunk ass off at home again,” she shoots my way as I follow her to her Mustang. She fires up the car as we both buckle up and head toward Tony’s.

“Yeah, well, he shouldn’t answer Tony’s calls then every time he summons him. He should just let me live my life. I don’t need a babysitter. I’m a grown ass woman,” I state matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, yeah… I’ve heard this garbage before. You can try to fool everyone else around you all you want, Clara… but I call bullshit. You’re hiding behind booze. And before you argue with me about it, Cooper sees it too.”

I look out the passenger side window, avoiding her eyes that are sure to be chastising me right now. Penny may not judge, but she’s kind of like a mom—she knows and sees everything, and she’s not afraid to tell you what she thinks, even though she’ll support you either way.

Suddenly a flash of Cooper standing in front of me in my house last night filters in my mind and then fuzzes right back out. I could see the seriousness in his gaze before a carnal look in his eyes hit mine.

I shake my head. “Well, I don’t give a shit what Cooper thinks. Men don’t need to think, except during sex. All they need to do is make sure they have a plan on how to make me come as many times as possible,” I toss at her over my shoulder as we cruise along the roads further into town.

Penny and I live in a nice neighborhood about fifteen minutes from the biggest part of town, the little downtown part of our city, where my job just happens to be and Tony’s bar is stationed.

“I don’t disagree with you there. But that’s what I think is part of the problem. You want more than just Cooper’s dick, don’t you Clara?”

I laugh uncontrollably and a little too boisterously, trying to hide the fact that Penny hit the nail right on the head.

Ever since the night I joined Olivia’s family for Sunday dinner after she moved back to Emerson Falls, I saw Cooper in a completely different way. Long gone was the lanky boy that annoyed his sister and her friends, replaced by a muscular man—oozing with self-assurance and self-respect, taking pride in a job that requires extreme dedication, and showcasing a face that no longer portrayed a young boy lacking experience or confidence, but a strong jaw lined with the type of stubble you crave rubbing along the inside of your thighs.

Cooper Walsh was now a man, and my vagina took notice. Or course, she never misses a man worth her attention. But Cooper wasn’t just any man—he was my best friend’s little brother, which made him both off-limits and in turn, more craveable.

Since that night, every time we encountered one another, I could sense this tension, this shift in our interactions. It’s like we both knew there was a mutual attraction, but we were afraid to act on it. In fact, I’m pretty sure Olivia threatened us both within inches of our lives if we crossed that line. But it didn’t keep me from noticing him.

And then when he saved me, something shifted—in me, in us. I saw my life flash before my eyes—and his—and I no longer cared not to voice what I was feeling. Of course, I only ever got the courage to do so when I was drinking, which was happening a lot more often lately than it had before. I’m pretty sure I came on to him again last night, but I was pretty wasted so I’m not remembering many details. Why I can’t muster the courage to shift our relationship while I’m sober is astonishing to me—because if it were anything or anyone else, I would have no problem asking for what I want.

Maybe it’s Liv’s warning. Maybe it’s the fear of rejection. Maybe it’s me being scared to be vulnerable with him again, after he saw me bare from the waist down fighting for my life.

But true to his claim of self-control, Cooper’s yet to give in.

However, that doesn’t mean I’ve given up. He’s an itch I need to scratch. I’ve convinced myself that my focus on him is just a reaction to the lack of sex I’ve had as of late. It’s been a long time since I’ve been laid and Cooper sure as hell looks like he could deliver. Yeah, that’s it. I just have to entice him further. I know he’ll give in, eventually. I can nail my best friend’s brother, never utter a word to anyone, and everything will go back to normal. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Although I can’t say that his refusal isn’t just a tiny bit damaging to my ego.

“You’re crazy, Penny. Sure, I’m almost positive Cooper is packing and I would love nothing more to unwrap the baton I’m convinced he’s hiding in his pants. He could cuff me to the bed and have his wicked way with me, and it would probably rock my world. But that’s all I would ever need from him. That’s all I need from any man.”

“You are so full of shit, Clara. But okay, I’ll let you go on convincing yourself of that today. You’re nursing quite the hangover, so I’ll give you a free pass,” she winks at me as she turns into the empty parking lot at Tony’s and parks right next to my car.

“Before I forget, I’m having a sex party on the tenth of next month. You have to come and bring those girlfriends of yours.”

I raise my eyebrows at her. “A sex party? Like where people have sex all around each other? I think that’s called an orgy, Penny.”

Penny lets out a loud laugh, showing me her tongue ring as she tips her head back. “No, girl. A sex toy party. Like where a consultant comes in and shows you all kinds of things to get you off, or you can use with your partner. They’re awesome. I always spend way too much money every time. And hey, don’t discount an orgy until you’ve tried it,” she points a stern finger at me.

The fact that sex toy parties are a regular occurrence for Penny or that she’s had an orgy doesn’t even make me bat an eye. It’s rare I find someone as sexually open as me, but Penny surpasses my openness by far.

“I wish I could, but that’s the night of Kane’s thirtieth birthday party, so we’ll all be there instead.” Penny knows all about Kane and Olivia. When Olivia started dating Kane and I didn’t see her as often, Penny and I spent many nights eating Ben and Jerry’s and hanging out. She’s the only other person besides my three oldest friends that I consider a close confidant. And she always has Ben and Jerry’s in the freezer. Those little cartons of heaven are my kryptonite, so I tend to regulate myself. But in a pinch, I know I can count on her to fulfill my craving.

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