Page 14 of Shift Change

“We both are,” Braelynn added.

I figured it was my turn to contribute. “What’s your major?”

Braelynn ignored the question. “What do you do, Chuck? You look like an athlete too.”

“I… Oof!” Her hand, completely uninvited, swooped down and slid up my thigh, her fingers on a mission.

“What were you saying?” she asked, all wide-eyed innocence while her fingers played a dangerous game.

“Just got called up to the Warriors,” I choked out, trying to maneuver my hand between us to block any further advances. No luck. She had me pinned, her chair welded to mine.

“Wow.” She flicked a glance at Willa. “Twohockey players.”

Her fingers went into action again, finding the inside of my thigh and missing my dick by a good sixteenth of an inch. My entire body jerked in response, and I damn near fell off the chair.

“We’re out of beer,” Holky said, “and you two don’t have one. Let’s order.”

I shot him a look, and the bastard was sitting there with a huge shit-eating grin on his face. Either he was getting felt up too, or he knew I was and was thoroughly enjoying my discomfort. He bounced his eyebrows. “Ready for another, Chuck?”

“Yeah, I need one.”

While Holky flagged down the server, Willa murmured something to Braelynn, but I didn’t catch it. My brain was too busy short-circuiting. At one time, I’d have been all over this kind of attention; hell, a couple of years ago, Braelynn might’ve been trying to get away from me. But that was then, and this was now. Tonight, I was sweating through my shirt and hoping for a lifeline.

If Holky wanted to fuck Willa—and judging by the grin on his face, he did—I might have to take one for the team and entertain Braelynn.God help me.

Things settled down a bit after the server brought our beers. Braelynn removed her hand from my thigh, and my dick practically sighed in relief. Finally, I could focus on something other than evasive actions.

The conversation shifted to my role with the Warriors, the girls’ post-grad plans—Buffalo, of course, said with a gleam in their eyes that made me nervous—and Holky’s new contract. Willa almost vibrated when she talked about how he’d signed for another seven years, but as soon as she brought up his salary increase, he stiffened. Fair enough. It had been all over the news, but I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to talk about it.

Using a move I’d never quite mastered, Holky flipped the conversation on its head. Instead of an awkward shutdown, he executed an amazing diversion by wrestling his arm free from where Willa had it pinned and slinging it around her shoulders. She didn’t flinch when he pulled her closer; if anything, she absorbed him. Was she achieving full-body osmosis?

Holky’s cheeks flushed, and when he glanced at me, his expression was unreadable. For all I could tell, he might’ve been about to drag her off to the bathroom for a private moment—which, honestly, I hoped he would. At least then we wouldn’t have to take them home. My hopes raised when he kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear.

Braelynn took the opportunity to reattach herself to me. She leaned in, her breath warm against my ear. “You are so hot, and I’ve been lonely lately. Reallyemptyinside.”

Oh boy.

Beer forgotten, she dropped her hand to my knee and started another slow, deliberate finger walk up my thigh. I glanced at Holky, but he was lost in some kind of flirty tangle with Willa. I had no idea what was going on over there, but the way she was giggling told me he might’ve been having fun.

Meanwhile, Braelynn was in full attack mode. She blew against my ear, sending a shudder down my spine, and then started tracing slow circles with her nails—right there on my inner thigh.Thespot, the one that had always done it for me. And because biology is a bastard, my body responded. She couldn’t miss it, and when she cupped her hand over my dick and squeezed, I gave an involuntary grunt. It was an instinctual response, but damn, I couldn’t deny it felt amazing.

“You like that?” she whispered. “You’re big.”

Fuck me if my dick didn’t start throbbing.What the hell?

In a way, I was relieved. After what happened with my ex, part of me had wondered if things still worked, or if I’d shut down for good. Now I had hard evidence that I could still get turned on by something other than my right hand. A woman’s touch still did it for me.

Braelynn was hot, and I was single. Taking her home would be easy, and it would feel so good to fuck her. The problem was that I didn’t want easy; I didn’t want to feel like I’d used her to get off. Being in a relationship had spoiled me, and having sex without feeling something would leave me hollow.

“What do you think, Chuck?”

Holky’s voice made me jump, which dislodged Braelynn’s hand. I jerked my head up and met Holky’s eyes. His sly smile told me he knew what was going on, and the twinkle in his eyes told me I should be worried. “Uh… what?”

“Since we have that thing tomorrow, we should probably go home.”

Does he mean we should go home alone or take them along?Without knowing the answer, I kept my reply simple. “Okay.”

He nodded and turned to the girls. “This has been nice, ladies. Thanks for spending time with us, but we have to get up early.”

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