Page 103 of For the Boys
When they reached the living room, he dropped her on the nest of blankets they had made in front of the fire earlier. She looked up at him, pupils blown, desire written on every curve and angle of her face and body. The firelight cast a warm glow across her skin, and with her hair spread out around her, she looked like an angel.
This girl is going to ruin me.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“It’s time for dinner,” he said, gaze dropping to her chest before trailing lower.
Berkley rose to her knees, reaching out to run her hands up his thighs.
“Me first.”
Returning to reality after the blissful hours spent with Berkley in bed…and the hot tub…and the living room floor…and the kitchen counter…and the shower…felt like a giant slap in the face to Brent.
Thankfully, while he and Berkley had been in their sex-induced haze, Mackenzie had found the video of Anna that Danica had referenced in their first conversation.
It showed Anna on New Year’s Eve at a club, presumably in Detroit, though the location of the video wasn’t nearly as important as the content. Anna could be seen allowing several men to suck liquor from her belly button before getting up onto the bar and dancing. That act quickly turned into a striptease, made all the more incriminating by the fact that she hadn’t been wearing much to begin with. The video ended shortly after a security guard pulled her down from the bar when her bra went flying across the room. Unfortunately, the guard hadn’t been fast enough to prevent her bare breasts from being captured on film.
“There’s your out,” Berkley had said when he’d shown her the video on the drive back to the city.
Brent winced. “I never wanted to humiliate her but I can’t deny that I’m glad she did it to herself. I’m hoping she’ll agree to my terms and save us both a lot of hassle.”
“Which are?” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Berkley studying him.
“I agree not to publicly defame her. In exchange, we amicably part ways, no fighting on her part. She can keep the swag she already received because of her contract, but she has to remove all ads from her social sites and can never post FLEX merchandise on her profiles again.”
Berkley nodded. “Sounds solid enough. Are you getting all of that in writing?”
“Of course I am. You think I want to go through this bullshit again?”
“I’m only asking. Future lawyer and all.”
“Sorry I snapped at you,” he said. “I’m just ready to be done with this.”
“I don’t blame you. She’s suffered enough, although I have a few choice words for her if I ever happen to run into her.”
“I’m sure you do,” he said, laughing. “My little firecracker.”
Berkley smirked in response.
Being this close to her, enveloped by her scent, separated only by the center console of his truck, was torture. He wanted nothing more than to rip her clothes off and bury himself deep inside of her. He wondered if this constant ache for her would ever fade. Now that he’d had her, knew the sounds she made, the look on her face as she came, he wanted it all the time.
He let out a long sigh, and Berkley squeezed his hand. “You’re thinking about sex with me, aren’t you?”
Brent huffed out a laugh. “That obvious?”
“Other than the fact that your eyes just went dark and that sigh a second ago was loaded with sexual frustration, it’s pretty obvious.” She glanced at his lap. “And as much as I’d love for you to pull this truck over and fuck me in the backseat, my body needs a break. My legs and stomach are so sore.”
Brent glanced sideways at her. “What can I say? I’m just that good.”
He felt more than saw Berkley roll her eyes. “You’re definitely something.”
Dropping Berkley off at her apartment and not following her in to fall back into bed took a level of self-control Brent hadn’t known he possessed.
She had given him a soft kiss, said, “See you soon,” and disappeared through the door.
As he drove back to his condo, sense returned. Though they had only been gone for about thirty-six hours, he felt as though he had been ignoring his responsibilities for far longer, consumed entirely by Berkley Daniels.
Despite the new and stronger emotional and physical intimacy their overnight trip had afforded them, Brent couldn’t quite shake the nagging irritation over Berkley not trusting him. Maybe he had let her off too easily when she snooped through his phone. He hadn’t pegged Berkley for the paranoid and jealous type, and the realization was a shock. It made him want to second-guess everything.
