Page 16 of Baked

Mary-Jane leaned closer as she kissed my ear, lightly tonguing it. She made her way to my mouth, kissing me, repositioning herself in my lap. Indi walked into the room, drying her hair with a towel. She immediately stopped as she noticed us. Seeing the disgust on her face made my dick jump. I wrapped my hands around Mary-Jane’s face, kissing her back as I watched past her and stared straight into Indi’s eyes. Those vibrant green irises quickly peeled away and trailed to the kitchen, noticing our mess, and returning back to me. She knew exactly what we did.

That’s right. I fucked your friend. Now, keep those eyes on me.

FOUR

INDI

The ring lightwas perfectly positioned, igniting the whole room in a bright, white light. My phone was clipped in the center, the camera flipped as I tried to position myself, but I was struggling. The angle I needed wasn’t working with the stand, and I started to get really upset. It didn’t help that Carter and I had been fighting for a few days. I had come across his post of him at a bar with a bunch of other women last week, noticing that Mary-Jane had liked the post. It wouldn’t have bothered me so much if he hadn’t just sent me a text beforehand telling me I needed to stop liking other men’s posts, uploading sexual content, and to remove myself from the platform that paid me to do so. He was such a hypocrite, going out and surrounding himself with women who did basically the same fucking thing as me, but then degrading me for it. He hated what I did and who I was until we were alone in his bedroom, and then suddenly, he wanted that very thing from me. He’d act like what I did hurt him so badly I had to make up for it, and the only way to do so was by treating me like I was his little whore. And like every other guy before him, I always fell for it, desperate to feel loved. Well, not this time. This time, I was going to fight back. If Carter didn’t want me to post photos of myself all over, that just meantI was about to flood his newsfeed with them, posting the raunchiest to my social media to not only piss him off, but feel good about myself. Only, I was struggling to get my head in the right mindset and find the right angles. I knew what I wanted to do but figuring out what exactly to post was the real challenge. I needed to post something that would really make him jealous. But what?

“Shit!” I accidentally knocked the ring light over as my phone bounced onto the hardwood. I rushed to pick it up, noticing my screen was cracked. “Oh, fuck me!”

Great, now I can’t take anything and I’m going to have to replace the screen.

The bedroom door creaked open as Kush rushed inside to me, meowing. My head spun to then notice Haze silently standing in the doorway. He quickly grabbed the chunky cat, knocking the bedroom door wide open. “My bad. This little man ran off with a mouthful of my stash.” I smiled as if everything was normal, but I knew my face gave me away. “Everything okay?” He looked down at my hand, holding the cracked phone.

“No,” I breathed. “My fucking stand fell and then I broke my phone. Now I can’t take photos for—” I stopped. Haze didn’t know about my subscription and what I truly did for a living. “Social media.”

“I see. And is there any particular reason you’re wanting to take photos dressed like that?” He pointed in my direction. I was wearing a lacey black sports bra under baggy, camouflage overalls, purposely leaving most of my midriff and chest exposed. My cheeks burned.

“Well—” I cleared my throat. “I was hoping to post something that would make Carter jealous and feel like shit.” I made a face. Haze raised a brow. “Don’t judge me!”

“Oh, I am sonotjudging!” He raised his hands in a playfully defensive way as Kush jumped down and stumbled away. “Butif you’re trying to make another man jealous, dressing like that isn’t going to do it.”

“What’s wrong with my outfit?” I crossed my arms in a huff.

“Nothing.” He grinned. “But if you really want to piss him off, the best way to do it is not by just showing your skin, it’s by fucking with his mind.”

Fucking with his mind?

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Haze stepped further into the room. “You want to drive this man crazy? Don’t just post sexy pictures of yourself. Post yourself with another man.” He sat me down on the edge of the bed, looking down as he spoke to me. “For example.” He removed his leather jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. “Wearing another man’s jacket will make him go batshit crazy. He’ll sit and stir, wondering if you hooked up with the owner. Then his thoughts will fall down a dark rabbit hole, thinking about the idea of the two of you together, seeing it so clear in his mind, questioning everything he’s ever done wondering if he is the reason you ran into another man’s arms. It’s torture. And if you really want to fuck him up—” He tipped my chin up towards him. The look in his eyes was something I had caught glimpses of over the last few years. It was dangerous and scaring the shit out of me, as if he was looking down at me like I was his. But deep down, I think I liked it.

“You post pictures of another man just out of frame with your body wrapped around him as if you’re having the best fucking time of your life without your precious little boyfriend.” I had to swallow. “Show him what exactly he’s missing.”

“So,” I whispered, “I need to make him jealous by posing with someone else?”

“Not just posing. You need to make it feel real. So real that he’ll want to slam his fist into the wall for even imagining another man with you, touching you, or even breathing the sameair.” Haze dropped my chin. “Make him so fucking jealous he’d be willing to kill any man that dares to even look at you.” He stepped back and moved towards the open bedroom door.

But where would I even find someone to help me? I can’t just go pick up some random dude from the side of the road. And I need someone I feel safe with, that I know won’t take advantage of me in such a moment—I looked down at my brother’s jacket, feeling his warmth around him.

“Haze, wait.” He stopped. “I need you.” The words felt heavy in my mouth. “You obviously know what you’re talking about, and—well, there’s really no one else I trust enough to do this with.”

“What’re you saying, Indi?”

I swallowed hard. “Let’s make him jealous, together. Pose with me.”

I could see his mouth curl as he looked over his shoulder in my direction. “Thought you broke your phone.”

Shit. I did.

“Can we use yours? You can just text me the photos, right?”

Haze brushed his hair back. “Anything for you, Indigo. Especially if it means I get to piss off Carter.” I felt way too excited.

What is wrong with me?

He turned to face me.“But we can’t take those photos here.” I shot him a puzzled look. My room wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t that bad, was it?

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