Night Owl(20)

I looked toward the house just in time to see someone flouncing across the lawn.

"What the—"

"Oh god," Hannah groaned. She stumbled out of the car and tried to intercept the girl. It must have been Hannah's sister. Same dark hair, same pretty eyes and expressive mouth, but where Hannah had soft curves and flawless skin, this girl had tight muscle and tattoos. Oh, and one too many piercings.

The girl blew by Hannah and thrust her head in the open passenger-side window.

"Hey! Oh wow. Wow. Very nice..."

I glared ahead. I couldn't tell if she meant me or my car or both.

"Hi," I muttered.

"Ha! You must be Mr. Frostypants."

"And you must be the stripper."

"Damn straight. I'm Christine. Chrissy if you like." She slapped the side of my car. "I'm a dyno girl. You know, the Dynamite Club. Ever been? It's downtown Boulder. Oh my god, you and Hannah should so come some time."

I glanced at Hannah, who was hovering behind her sister and wringing her hands.

"Did you hear that Hannah? Apparently we should come."

Hannah blanched, then blushed furiously. Adorable. She glared at me and began to tug on Chrissy's hand.

"Let's go," she hissed.

"I'm serious!" Chrissy insisted.

"I can tell," I said, grinning helplessly, "but I think the last thing your sister and I want to see is you shaking your tits, no offense hun."

"Oh my god, not when I'm working you doofus. Seriously though, couples have a lot of fun. Think about it!"


"Okay going now bye!" Hannah waved frantically at me and hauled her sister back toward the house.

I waved and then sat motionless behind the wheel.

What the hell...

The night had been surreal, but Hannah's crazy sister beat all. I was laughing as I pulled away from the curb. In a way, I was grateful for Chrissy's interruption. I didn't know if anything else could have pulled me from Hannah.

When I got home, I refreshed Laurence's water and went straight to my desk.

Sleep could wait.

My latest project was open on the computer screen—a pseudo dystopia titled The Surrogate. Until Hannah, the writing was going really well. Even though I had never written science fiction (in fact I hated the genre, until this story got hold of me), I knew The Surrogate could turn out to be my most important work.

But the novel could wait.

I minimized Word, opened Firefox, and navigated to lelo.com.

I had some shopping to do.

CHAPTER 10

Hannah

I FROWNED AT the list I was supposed to be preparing for my mother.

Geez, she hadn't been kidding about delegating some of her work, but did I have any say in when I started? Evidently not, because I could have picked a better day.

I'd slept in until 2 p.m. and woke up horny. I remembered dream fragments—Matt's strong arms pinning me to him, the urgent press of his head to my slit—and for a panicked moment I thought I might have dreamed the whole night.

But I hadn't. I felt the ache in my back and limbs thanks to sex in Matt's car and sex in a lumpy field. Plus, when I staggered into the main area of the basement, Chrissy immediately assaulted me.

"Morning sunshine!" Chrissy and Jay were playing the PS3. She tossed her controller. "Are you going to tell me if you banged that babe yet? Because if he's just a friend, I would reallllly like his number."

I glared at her. The thought of Matt with my sister—the thought of Matt with anyone, actually—made my hands tighten into fists. Still, I knew Chrissy wasn't Matt's type. Chrissy was too abrasive; Matt was too bossy. Watching their interaction that morning was like watching a cage fight, and given enough time, I think they'd go Highlander on each other.

"He's mine," I announced. "Um, sort of. He's also seven years older than you."

"Hey, there's a manther in all of us!" Chrissy called as I left the basement.

Okay, I had forgotten the PS3 and Xbox360 in the basement. So much for privacy. Then again, I didn't plan on bringing Matt into my room. Not for... not for sex, at least.

My skin tingled pleasantly and I hummed as I made my coffee. Not for sex, who was I kidding? I'd f*ck that guy in a coat closet.

My thoughts drifted back over all the ways he'd touched me. My ass, my breasts, my sex. God, I loved the way he handled me, like he had a right to my body. Like I was his. I loved his voice, demanding, dictating, demeaning, and, in the end, desperate.

That had to be my favorite part—hearing Matt go crazy.

I need to come. Baby I need to come.

I wished I could wield a little feminine power over him.

Too bad I turned into a total ditz in his presence. I had to work on that.

I shuffled into the office.

Dad must have unpacked and set up my desktop before leaving for work. I frowned when I saw it. First my bed, now the computer. I had to do some unpacking before dad did everything for me. I felt like enough of a mooch just moving home.

I had to show my parents that I was going to be productive. In other words, I had to be useful around the house, start looking for a job, and not lunge into the first shitty relationship that came my way.

So... going out for drinks, staying out all night, getting laid, and sleeping in until 2:00 p.m. was an awesome start to my bum summer. Ugh.