Page 5 of Highest Bidder

There it was. That crack.

“You should probably punish me,” Grey Bracelet whispered, squirming on my lap.

“Yeah, baby. I probably should,” I replied, not breaking eye contact with the one who mattered.

I let my fingers trail up higher, spreading her wider, making sure Phoenix could see exactly what she’d turned down.

And then I smiled.

Right at her.

The kind of smile that saidI hope this fucking hurts.

Phoenix’s lips parted, and her brows dipped briefly. Most people would’ve missed it.

I didn’t.

The little shift in her expression, the stiff set of her shoulders. Like she was trying not to care.

But she cared.

She fucking cared.

That flash of something—disappointment, maybe even jealousy—was all I needed.

I tapped Grey Bracelet’s thigh. “Get up,” I murmured. “Let’s go finish this elsewhere where I can properly punish you.”

She got up, eager and oblivious, but I wasn’t thinking about her.

I was thinking about the girl in white, trying to pretend she wasn’t watching me walk away with another woman.

Pretending it didn’t bother her.

But it did.

And we both knew it.

That made me feel lighter as Grey Bracelet’s heels clacked down the hall.

Maybe I’d only hurt her a little now.

****

Vivian

Even though I wanted to, I didn’t leave after he walked away

Not that he noticed. He was already halfway across the room with Grey Bracelet Girl and her long legs, red lipstick, and no panties.

I shouldn’t have cared. Hell, I’d barely met him. I didn’t know his first name, or if I even liked him.

But I kept replaying the way he’d looked at me. The way his lips had brushed my wrist and sent shivers down my spine. The way my body had leaned in like it already knew what he could do.

Now he was giving that to someone else, without hesitation.

I couldn’t be mad he was hooking up with someone else—that’s what this party was all about. Besides, I was the one who’d said no.

But the way he took the rejection like it didn’t matter, like I was just one more pretty girl in a mask… that had stung my pride a little.

---