Friction(66)

“Yeah, well, thanks for that wonderful picture,” I say dryly and Jamie tells me I’m welcome.

She takes a step back and examines the emerald green sheath dress with narrowed eyes. “Oh, by the way, remember when Jace told us he partied with Bells once? I finally got a chance to ask her about it.” She goes silent for several moments, and I hold my breath as I wait for her to finish. Jace isn’t mine. I know that, even if it’s becoming more and more difficult to keep my emotions at bay. Still, I pray Jamie won’t reveal that he has slept with her sister—my friend.

“You’re killing me, woman.” I give her an impatient look, encouraging her to finish, and an apologetic smile breaks her features.

“She dropped him off at some girl’s place one night after he got too drunk and he passed out in the back of her car. It was like nine years ago, but you know Bella remembers everything.” Though I try to suppress it, the sigh that escapes my lips is loud enough to snap Jamie’s dark gaze in my direction. Her grin widens. “Don’t worry, by the way. I didn’t tell her you’re fucking him.”

I flinch. Glancing away from her, I stare at the cocktail on her nightstand for a long time. “To work with small children,” I start, grabbing my drink and turning it to my lips, “you really do have a filthy way of wording things.”

“The children I work with weigh less than a gallon of milk, so I think I’m safe.” Flicking my hazel eyes on her, I take in the sight of her hands on her hips and her white-gold hoop earrings skimming her shoulders as she shrugs. “How exactly did you want me to word it, Luce? You’re the one who’s claimed all along that you and Exley are nothing but a casual thing.”

God, I hate it when Jamie uses my words against me. And I hate that my chest burns when she points out what I said.

After a few moments of silence, she moves from her closet holding a red dress. Tossing it on the bed, she takes a few hesitant steps toward me. “Have things changed?” she probes.

Yes, I want to tell her. Things have changed—at least for me they have. I want to say that whenever I look at Jace now, the flutters of desire have melted away to something else that’s so soft it leaves me breathless. That, over the last several days, whenever he touches me, there's a new gentleness radiating from his fingertips that has me questioning our arrangement. That Jace is a man that I can see myself falling in love with.

I’ve been in love before.

And since the last couple of weeks on my life have been a miserable mess because of Carter’s retaliation, I’m scared out of my mind of falling again.

Especially for Jace, who’s made it clear that he’s not looking for more.

Catching a glimpse of Jamie's wrinkled brow out of the corner of my eye, I place my cocktail on the coaster on her nightstand and lean over to rub my fingertips over the red dress she’s chosen. “You know, I expected you to go for the black.”

She snorts. “Evasive maneuvers, Lucy?”

“It’s hard to sleep with him and not get a little attached.” And by a little attached, I mean that thoughts of Jace are constantly on my mind brain for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I carve my hands through my hair and move my head into a gesture that’s caught between a nod and a shake. “Please, let's just leave it at that.” I’ve so much bad luck with relationships, especially after what happened with Carter, and I'm just scared that voicing my feelings aloud will jinx what I do have with Jace.

She ponders my request for a moment, working her full lips back and forth together, and finally she leaned back on the balls of her feet and nods. “Fine, but the second there's a change in whatever you and Jace are, I want to know.” She plops down on the bed beside me, knocking several pillows to the floor. “You know I'm always rooting for you.”

“I know that.”

“Okay, Cinderella. Enough talk, now it's time to get you ready for your filthy ball with Prince Kinky.”

Clutching the silky red number she wants me to wear to B’s party, I throw my head back and laugh. “Prince Kinky? Hmm … I'll have to tell him you said that.”

Thinning her brown eyes into slits, she playfully punches me in the arm. When I wince, she twists her lips to the side. “Yeah, well, if you do, I'm boob punching your ass next time.”



Jace tells me multiple times on the way to Mr. B's house that I look good enough to eat, and my core tightens each time he murmurs those words. I’m still getting used to being so blatantly open about sex. The fact that he’s never had an issue letting me know every filthy thought on his mind has always been a little mind-blowing, but I accept his last round of praise with a slight smile.

“Thanks.” I dart my focus to a road sign we pass. “You look … nice, too.”

“I should pull over, love,” he says roughly, reaching over to brush his knuckles down my bare arm. I gasp when his touch skims beneath my red dress, nudging the swell of my breast. “We wouldn’t even need to climb into the back seat for me to get a good taste of you. I’ve got ways of licking your pussy without you moving an inch.”

God, he has the ability to drive me absolutely insane with mere words. No wonder I explode every time our skin collides. As if he knows exactly what I’m thinking, he lays a possessive hand over my thigh, spreading his fingertips apart until my skin warms to his touch.