Page 30 of My Ex's Roommates
I cupped her face and stroked my thumbs over her jaw. “What? You just what?”
“I slept with Dylan and then I slept with Silas and I’m probably a slut, I guess. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I don’t want the three of you to fight.” She tried to look away from me but I grunted, keeping her focus right where I wanted it. “I’m sorry, Carter.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Why are you sorry? You’re not a slut. We all know you lost your virginity to Jake. Even if you hadn’t, sleeping with people you’re attracted to doesn’t make you a slut. You’re just living your life, Harper. I’m sorry if I made you feel like I thought you were anything other than fucking great. I was just pissed. At Silas and Dylan. Not because anyone did anything wrong but because I’m jealous and that’s not something I handle very well.”
Silas snorted. “Silver spoon boy always had everything he wanted so what was there to be jealous of?”
I knew there was no malice in his words. We’d been best friends for long enough that I could read his moods. Rolling my eyes at him, I smiled down at Harper. “He’s not entirely wrong. I do normally get whatever I want.”
Her eyes widened even more as she looked up at me, hearing the way my voice deepened. She saw the way my eyes moved to her mouth and she didn’t attempt to move. If anything, she tipped her head back even more, like she was waiting for my lips.
Cognizant of Dylan and Silas behind me, I threw caution to the wind and dropped my mouth to hers. She gasped and I stolethe chance to slide my tongue past her lips. Feeling how soft she was, tasting her, it was enough to clear any hard feelings I had against my best friends. I got it. One taste and I was a goner. I backed her into the wall next to Silas and kept one hand on her face while running the other down to grip her thigh and pull it against my hip. I kissed her like I was a dying man and she was my only chance at salvation. As hungry as I was, she met me there, kissing me back with just as much enthusiasm.
I could feel her heat where I had my dick pressed against her and I wanted to finish it. I wanted to pull my cock out and slid it home. I remembered myself just in time, though. I slowed the kiss until it was just soft brushes of my mouth over hers before pulling back completely. She stared up at me with swollen lips and eyes heavy with need.
Forcing myself to go back to being easy-going Carter wasn’t easy but I managed with a smirk. I could tell my eyes hadn’t lost any of their intensity by the look on Harper’s face and the way her mouth dropped open when I gave my parting shot did nothing to calm me down.
“I’m not opposed to sharing.”
28.
***Harper***
I’m not opposed to sharing. Carter’s words banged around in my head all morning. Nothing stopped the ruckus he’d caused inside me with those five simple words. I’d sat through an anatomy class with my thighs clenched together because the more I thought about what he’d said, the more turned on I felt. Then came the shame. It burned through me, hot and violent, until I was shaking and wondering if everyone around me could sense how dirty I’d been. No matter the shame, though, the words crept back in and started the entire cycle over again.
I’d blown off the help desk at the library in favor of shelving old periodicals in the basement so I wouldn’t have to face anyone. Instead of getting anything done, though, I was staring at old copies of some obscure tech magazine while lost in thought about Carter. If it wasn’t Carter, it was Silas teasingmy sanity. Or Dylan. I’d seen the way his eyes darkened that morning when he looked at me. The three of them weren’t hiding their interest and I felt like a clueless little bunny hopping between three wolves who were hungry for a snack.
I doubted the bunny ever wanted to be caught and eaten, though, whereas me… I wasn’t proving to be a very good prey animal. Not when I was so easily tempted to roll over and expose my throat to the wolves closing in.
I dropped the magazines to the floor and leaned back against one of the massive rolling shelves. It was silent in the basement, as it typically was. No one ever visited the archives. I was alone with my thoughts and my fears and even my desires. Especially my desires. I didn’t want to be. I wanted to find Carter and demand that he explain to me exactly what he meant that morning.Howdid he want to share me?
It probably wasn’t a good thing that I needed specifics to even begin to think of an answer. Shouldn’t I have immediately said no? I had lost my virginity and dated the same guy for two years. I’d never done anything else with another soul until Dylan. How quickly Silas had followed and it seemed Carter was an inevitability. At least that’s how it felt when he kissed me like he did.
“Hiding?”
I spun around and screamed, the sound of Carter’s voice such a shock that I nearly stumbled to the ground. “Oh, my god! Don’t sneak up on me like that! Do you know how creepy it is down here? You can’t sneak up on a woman. God, my heart is racing. What are you even doing here?”
He stood at the end of the aisle I’d created with the rolling shelves and gripped a higher shelf on each side. His signature smirk was back in place but there was something different about him. “I didn’t mean to sneak up. I don’t think I was very quiet. Which means you must’ve been lost in thought. Care to share?”
“You know exactly what I’m thinking about, Carter.” I crossed my arms and frowned at him, doing my best to come off as uptight so he’d decide to leave me alone. That way I wouldn’t have to make a choice when I was terrified of the choice I’d make.
His smirk stretched into a real smile as he stepped closer. “Mad at me?”
Dammit. I blew out a rough breath and looked away. “I should be.”
“But you’re not?”
“But I should be!” I turned back to face him and saw that he’d been steadily moving closer. He was only six feet away then. “I should be mad because you kissed me this morning! After you knew I’d slept with Silas. You should’ve been disgusted by me or told me off for creating drama in the house but instead, you kissed me!”
He stopped. “You think I should’ve been disgusted by you?”
The basement suddenly felt hot and stuffy. I wanted to leave but I’d have to go by him to get out and I didn’t trust myself. “I slept with your best friends, Carter. Both of them. Doesn’t that make me-”
“Don’t call yourself a slut again, Harper.” He’d lost the smile and had started inching closer again. “You’re not. I imagine if I’d been stuck in a sexually stunted relationship for two years that I’d go through a few houses, too.”
I gasped. “I’m not going through a few houses!”
He’d gotten close enough that I could see his nostrils flare at my words. “Yeah, I don’t like that idea, either. It still wouldn’t make you a slut, though.”
