Addicted to You (Addicted #1)(75)

“You can take those comics,” I tell Ryke, thinking of a new solution quickly. “And you can stop by and return them when you’re done.”

Ryke actually looks impressed that I created a decent lie for him to come back.

Lo glares at me, his fingers tightening around the glass. “I don’t think it’s necessary for him to take our comics. He can sign up for an online subscription.” Ryke’s whole master plan involves becoming friends with Lo. According to him, the relationship will somehow help Lo stop drinking. I don’t understand it completely, but if he’s been around alcoholism, then I trust he knows more than me on good solutions.

“Don’t be rude, Lo,” I say.

He downs the rest of his drink. No, no, no. Before he can make another, I grab his wrists.

His eyebrows cinch. “Lily…” I’ve never told him how I feel about his addiction, and I can see the wheels spinning in his head, wondering if I’m about to fuck with our well-oiled system.

I’m not. I place his hands on my breasts, and his lips upturn in a crooked smile. He shifts both hands. One goes underneath my shirt, the other hooks around my shoulders, drawing me to his body. My back stays to Ryke, and as Lo kneads my breast, my willpower poofs into nothingness.

“I’ll bring these back tomorrow,” Ryke says. “Have fun fucking.” Oh my God.

Lo says, “You can keep those. Think of it as a gift for helping us at the party.” Translation: We’re even.

“I’d feel better returning them. Thanks for the invite, Lily.” Way to throw me under the bus. The door shuts, and he’s gone.

For a second, I realize Lo may have teased me in front of Ryke only to kick him out. And now that he has left, he may go to his vice and stop feeding mine. My fear lasts a single moment. Lo starts to make good on his promise and slams my back into the fridge. He’s going to take me hard.

He pins my wrists above my head. I try to move my body to meet his, but he puts considerable distance between us.

“Lo,” I whine, breathing heavily.

“You want me to fuck you?”

“Yes,” I moan and try to reclaim my hands. Touch me!

He edges closer, his body melding into mine, but he stretches my arms even further above my head.

“Lo.” I want to undo his pants. I want him to rip off my shirt. Instead, he keeps teasing me in this locked position.

“I understand that you felt like you owed this guy, but after this, we don’t owe him a thing, okay?”

I try to find words to refute like he’s nice. He’s not. He’s lonely. He’s not. “He means well.” I land on a truth and squirm underneath him. “Lo, please.” I need him. Now.

“Did you fantasize about him?”

I cringe. “What? No.” Is he worried I like him? “I think every word out of his mouth made me dryer and dryer.” How’s that for dislike?

“Then what’s this about, Lily?” He uses one hand to hold my wrists together above my head and then the other to unbutton my jeans.

“He…uh…” I can’t concentrate! “He asked me about comics…and…”

Lo tugs my jeans down, and I easily step out of them. The cold hits my flesh and I ache for Lo’s warmth. “This is really about comics?” he questions, disbelieving.

“I…uh…forgot…condoms,” I say, my mind reverting to sex.

“If you’re on the pill and you haven’t fucked anyone else, we should be fine.”

I nod quickly. “Can I have my hands back?”

“No.” He rubs his fingers on the outside of my panties, not pushing in. I shake beneath him. “So when he returns,” Lo says, “are you going to kick him out?”

“What?” He stops the friction between my legs. No, no, no. “Lo…”

“I want to know if he’s really here for comics, Lily. Is that the last time we’re going to see him?”

I bite my lip, and he sees straight through me.

“What’d you do?” he breathes, his hands tightening on my wrists. The pressure feels better than it should.

Telling the truth will be a defeat I do not want to claim just yet. So I think on my toes. “He wants to write an article about us…about what it’s like to be the children of consumer moguls. And I said yes because I owed him, and I knew…I knew you wouldn’t agree because he has to follow us around. So I thought the Comic-Con lie would help introduce him to you...”

Lo stares at me with cold, narrowed eyes, and he drops my hands, taking four steps back from me. “He has to follow us around?”

I nod. “I’m sorry. I should have asked you—”

“You know why I would have said no?” He points to his chest. “I hate having to hide alcohol. You don’t get it because sex is something we do in private.”

I frown. “Like you mauling me in front of Ryke? That was private?”

Lo shakes his head. “The most he’ll think is that I’m a horny guy, Lil. He won’t connect that you’re a sex addict. And I don’t need him fucking writing about our problems in a published article for my father to see.”

“It’s for a class grade,” I lie. The article doesn’t even exist! But it’s the best excuse I have to validate Ryke hanging around us. “He won’t publish it.”